Probing dark sector with decihertz gravitational wave observations of compact binary inspirals in IndIGO-D

Abstract

We investigate the potential of decihertz gravitational-wave (GW) observations of compact-binary inspirals to probe atomic dark matter (aDM) and its interactions through an ultralight massive dark photon. We consider a scenario in which neutron stars accumulate DM charged under a dark Abelian massive vector mediator, leading to an additional long-range Yukawa interaction between compact objects and associated dipolar radiation. In this framework, the GW waveform acquires characteristic corrections parameterized by the Yukawa coupling strength $α$, the dipole-radiation parameter $γ$, and a parameter related to the mediator mass $μ$. These corrections include a leading $-1$ post-Newtonian dipole contribution and finite-mediator-mass effects. We relate the aDM corrections to existing parameterized tests of general relativity and perform Bayesian parameter-estimation analyses for simulated binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star-black hole (NSBH) systems incorporating the modified binary inspiral in a proposed space-based decihertz detector, named IndIGO-D. For a GW170817-like BNS with nonzero aDM couplings chosen near current observational bounds, we find that the dark-photon rest energy can be inferred with a $90\%$ credible uncertainty of $O(10^{-20})\,\mathrm{eV}$, conditional on a detectable dark-sector contribution. Analyses with weaker dark-sector interactions $(α\lesssim O(10^{-8}))$ show that the mediator mass remains unconstrained when both the Yukawa coupling and dipole-radiation contribution are negligible, but can be measured even for a negligible Yukawa coupling if the dipole-radiation contribution is sufficiently strong. Our results demonstrate that future decihertz GW observatories can serve as powerful laboratories for testing dark-sector physics and probing dark matter interactions in compact binaries through precision GW measurements.