• Accepted Paper

Bayesian constraints on bosonic dark matter in neutron stars within a covariant density-functional equation-of-state ensemble

Davood Rafiei Karkevandi, Alexander Ayriyan, and Armen Sedrakian

Phys. Rev. D - Accepted 2 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zdyq-bwbp

Abstract

We investigate neutron stars admixed with repulsively self-interacting bosonic dark matter (DM) using current multi-messenger observations. The dark component is modeled as a complex scalar field coupled to baryonic matter only through gravity, allowing both dark-core and dark-halo configurations. To quantify baryonic equation-of-state (EOS) uncertainties, we combine a three-dimensional scan over the dark-sector parameters (mχ,λ,Fχ), namely the boson mass, the quartic self-interaction coupling, and the DM mass fraction, with 27 DDME2-based covariant density-functional EOSs $L_{\rm sym}=30,50,70$ MeV and $-600\le Q_{\rm sat}\le 1000$ MeV. The models are confronted in a Bayesian framework with NICER mass–radius measurements from the Amsterdam and Maryland/Illinois analyses and with the GW170817 tidal-deformability constraint. After Bayesian evidence weighting over the EOS ensemble, the EOS-relevant dark-sector scale μχ≡mχ/λ1/4 is localized around μχ≃250 MeV for both NICER data sets. In the original (mχ,λ) parameterization, the marginalized boson-mass posterior peaks at mχ≃300–330 MeV, while λ remains broadly distributed. Since the bosonic EOS depends on mχ and λ only through μχ, their separate marginals are conditional on the adopted independent priors. The inferred DM mass fraction is more data-set dependent, with posterior modes near Fχ≃4% for Maryland/Illinois and Fχ≃12% for Amsterdam. Allowing for bosonic DM also shifts the inferred high-density nuclear parameter $Q_{\rm sat}$ from negative toward intermediate and positive values, whereas the response of $L_{\rm sym}$ is weaker. This indicates a model-dependent trade-off between the compactifying effect of the dark component and the high-density stiffness of baryonic matter. These constraints remain conditional on the selected EOS family and on the assumption of a common effective Fχ for all sources.

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