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Multimessenger astroparticle physics: The first constraint on light millicharged dark matter via time-delay analysis of GRB GW170817A

Wenxing Zhang1,2,3, Junle Pei4, Xin Zhang5,6, and Tianjun Li7,8,9,*

  • *Contact author: tli@itp.ac.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 035015 – Published 10 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jkjj-9z2c

Abstract

Multimessenger astroparticle physics provides a new approach to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model. We propose to probe the light dark matter which can interact via the electromagnetic force. To be concrete, we derive the new constraint on the millicharged dark matter from the multimessenger observations of GW170817. In the neutron star merger event GW170817, the first detection of a γ-ray burst delayed by approximately 1.7 seconds relative to the gravitational wave emission was observed. Utilizing this delay, we constrain the parameter space of the millicharged dark matter within the large-scale structure of the Universe. For dark matter mass below 10−17  eV, the parameter ε is constrained to be less than 10−14, representing the most stringent limits achieved to date.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 035015– Published 10 August, 2026
  • Received 26 July 2025
  • Accepted 16 July 2026
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