Speaker
Description
Neutron stars provide unique laboratories for probing fundamental physics under extreme conditions of density, gravity, and magnetic field strength. In this talk, I will review several intriguing aspects of axions, ALPs and other well-motivated dark matter candidates in the ultradense and strongly magnetized interiors and magnetosphere of neutron stars. As complementary indirect probes of the dark sector, neutron stars offer the possibility of testing the coupling of dark particles to intense electromagnetic fields, as well as their potential impact on the generation and damping of gravitational-wave signals. I will discuss observational windows in which correlated electromagnetic and gravitational-wave signatures may arise, particularly in compact binary coalescences. I will also comment on possible modifications of neutron-star properties induced by dark matter, should it be sufficiently abundant in these environments.