Constraints on fifth forces and ultralight dark matter from OSIRIS-REx target asteroid Bennu

Abstract

Abstract It is important to test the possible existence of fifth forces, as ultralight bosons that would mediate these are predicted to exist in several well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model. Recent work indicated asteroids as promising probes, but applications to real data are lacking so far. Here we use the OSIRIS-REx mission and ground-based tracking data for the asteroid Bennu to derive constraints on fifth forces. Our limits are strongest for mediator masses m ~ (10−18-10−17) eV, where we currently achieve the tightest bounds. These can be translated to a wide class of models leading to Yukawa-type fifth forces, and we demonstrate how they apply to U(1)B dark photons and baryon-coupled scalars. Our results demonstrate the potential of asteroid tracking in probing well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model and ultralight bosons near the fuzzy dark matter range.