Detecting Ultralight Axions with Black Holes and Gravitational Waves

Explore the cutting-edge research on detecting ultralight axions using black holes and gravitational waves in this 57-minute lecture by Maria Baryakhtar at BIMSA. Delve into theories addressing the Standard Model's puzzles and the prediction of new, light, feebly-interacting particles. Learn about the QCD axion's potential to solve the strong-CP problem and its cousins as dark matter candidates. Discover how extreme astrophysical environments, particularly black holes, produce axions in large numbers, leading to indirect signatures or potential direct measurements. Examine the phenomenon of rotating black holes creating gravitationally-bound axions and emitting gravitational waves, enabling gravitational wave observatories to search for new particles. Investigate the concept of black holes as axionic beacons when axions interact, potentially populating the universe with axion waves.