Implication of nano-Hertz stochastic gravitational wave background on ultralight axion particles

Abstract

Recently, the Hellings Downs correlation has been observed by different pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations, such as NANOGrav, European PTA, Parkes PTA, and Chinese PTA. These PTA measurements of the most precise pulsars within the Milky Way show the first evidence for the stochastic gravitational wave background of our Universe. We study the ultralight axion interpretation of the new discovery by investigating the gravitational wave from axion transitions between different energy levels of the gravitational atoms, which are composed of cosmic populated Kerr black holes and their surrounding axion clouds formed through the superradiant process. By Bayesian analysis, we demonstrate that this new observation naturally admits an ultralight axion interpretation around 10-21 eV, which is consistent in magnitude with the typical mass of fuzzy dark matter.