Massive scalar fields are promising candidates to address many unresolved problems in fundamental physics. We report the first model-agnostic Bayesian search of massive scalar fields in LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA gravitational-wave data. We find no evidence for such fields and place the most stringent upper limits on their coupling for scalar masses $\lesssim 2\times10^{ -12}\,{ \rm eV}$. We exemplify the strength of these bounds by applying them to massive scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, finding the tightest constraints on the coupling constant to date, $\sqrt{ \alpha_{ \rm GB}}\lesssim 1\,{ \rm km}$ for scalar masses $\lesssim 10^{ -13}\,{ \rm eV}$ to 90% confidence.
Categories: gr-qc hep-th