Dark Matter Subhalos Leave Wave-Optics Imprints on Gravitational Waves

This research explores the potential of using strongly lensed gravitational waves (GWs) as a novel probe of dark matter substructure. The study focuses on wave-optics effects, which manifest as frequency-dependent amplifications in GW signals due to the presence of dark matter subhalos along the line of sight. By computing the full diffraction integral for GWs propagating through statistically generated cold dark matter subhalo populations, the researchers quantify the resulting amplitude and phase distortions in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) band. The findings indicate that realistic galaxy-scale lenses can produce percent-level amplitude and phase distortions in strongly magnified images, primarily induced by subhalos in the mass range of 10^4 to 10^7 solar masses. These signatures are predicted to arise naturally within the standard cold dark matter paradigm and should be detectable in high signal-to-noise LISA events. This approach offers a direct and complementary window on dark matter structure at subgalactic mass scales, a realm that is currently inaccessible to electromagnetic measurements. The ability to detect and characterize these wave-optics imprints could provide crucial insights into the distribution and properties of dark matter, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of the universe's composition and evolution.

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