BBN constraints on universally-coupled ultralight scalar dark matter
  Ultralight scalar dark matter can interact with all massive Standard Model
particles through a universal coupling. Such a coupling modifies the Standard
Model particle masses and affects the dynamics of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We
model the cosmological evolution of the dark matter, taking into account the
modifications of the scalar mass by the environment as well as the full
dynamics of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We find that precision measurements of
the helium-4 abundance set stringent constraints on the available parameter
space, and that these constraints are strongly affected by both the dark matter
environmental mass and the dynamics of the neutron freeze-out. Furthermore, we
perform the analysis in both the Einstein and Jordan frames, the latter of
which allows us to implement the model into numerical Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
codes and analyze additional light elements. The numerical analysis shows that
the constraint from helium-4 dominates over deuterium, and that the effect on
lithium is insufficient to solve the lithium problem. Comparing to several
other probes, we find that Big Bang Nucleosynthesis sets the strongest
constraints for the majority of the parameter space.
