Light scalar particles arise naturally in many extensions of the standard model and are compelling dark-matter candidates. Gravitational interactions near black holes can trigger the growth of dense scalar configurations that, if sustained during inspiral, alter binary dynamics and imprint signatures on gravitational-wave signals. Detecting such effects would provide a novel probe of fundamental physics and dark matter. Here, we develop a semianalytic waveform model for binaries in scalar environments, validate it against numerical relativity simulations, and apply it in a Bayesian analysis of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA catalog. We obtain physically meaningful upper limits on scalar densities around most compact binaries. For GW190728 and GW190814, vacuum lies outside the 95% credible region. When including superradiance priors, GW190728 shows tentative evidence for a scalar environment with a Bayes factor of ln ${\mathcal{B}}_{\mathrm{vac}}^{\mathrm{env}}\approx 3.5$, consistent with a light scalar of mass $\sim {10}^{-12}\mathrm{eV}$.

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• Classical black holes
• Dark matter
• Gravitational waves
• Particle dark matter
• Axions