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    Probing spin-2 ultralight dark matter with space-based gravitational wave detectors in the mHz regime

    Jing-Rui Zhang1,5,6,*, Ju Chen2,6,†, Heng-Sen Jiao3,7, Rong-Gen Cai4,1,5, and Yun-Long Zhang3,1,‡

    • *Contact author: zhangjingrui22@mails.ucas.ac.cn
    • †Contact author: chenju@ucas.ac.cn
    • ‡Contact author: zhangyunlong@nao.cas.cn

    Phys. Rev. D 112, 064030 – Published 12 September, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cz2w-5cfj

    Abstract

    Spin-2 ultralight dark matter (ULDM) is a viable dark matter candidate and it can be constrained using gravitational wave (GW) observations. In this paper, we investigate the detectability of spin-2 ULDM by space-based GW interferometers. By considering a direct coupling between spin-2 ULDM and ordinary matter, we derive the corresponding response functions and sensitivity curves for various time-delay interferometry channels and calculate the optimal sensitivity curves for future millihertz GW detectors. Our results demonstrate that the space-based detectors can place stringent constraints on the coupling constant of spin-2 ULDM, reaching α∼10−10 around a mass of m∼10−17  eV, surpassing current limits from ground-based detectors and pulsar timing arrays. Thus, the space-based GW detectors can serve as powerful tools not only for detecting GWs but also for probing fundamental properties of ultralight dark matter.

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