Fuzzy cold dark matter

Fuzzy cold dark matter is a hypothetical form of cold dark matter proposed to solve the cuspy halo problem. It would consist of extremely light scalar particles with masses on the order of eV; so a Compton wavelength on the order of 1 light year. Fuzzy cold dark matter halos in dwarf galaxies would manifest wave behavior on astrophysical scales, and the cusps would be avoided through the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.[1] The wave behavior leads to interference patterns, spherical soliton cores in dark matter halo centers,[2] and cylindrical soliton-like cores in dark matter cosmic web filaments.[3]

Fuzzy cold dark matter is a limit of scalar field dark matter without self-interaction.[4][5] It is governed by the Schrödinger–Poisson equation.

New research (2023) has uncovered evidence that fuzzy dark matter, specifically ultralight axions, may better fit gravitational lens data than WIMP dark matter.[6]

  1. ^ Hu, Wayne; Barkana, Rennan; Gruzinov, Andrei (2000). "Cold and Fuzzy Dark Matter". Physical Review Letters. 85 (6): 1158–61. arXiv:astro-ph/0003365. Bibcode:2000PhRvL..85.1158H. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1158. PMID 10991501. S2CID 118938504.
  2. ^ Schive, Hsi-Yu; Chiueh, Tzihong; Broadhurst, Tom (2014). "Cosmic structure as the quantum interference of a coherent dark wave". Nature Physics. 10 (7): 496–499. arXiv:1406.6586. Bibcode:2014NatPh..10..496S. doi:10.1038/nphys2996. S2CID 118725080.
  3. ^ Mocz, Philip; Fialkov, Anastasia; Vogelsberger, Mark; Becerra, Fernando; Amin, Mustafa A.; Bose, Sownak; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Chavanis, Pierre-Henri; Hernquist, Lars; Lancaster, Lachlan; Marinacci, Federico; Robles, Victor H.; Zavala, Jesús (2019). "First Star-Forming Structures in Fuzzy Cosmic Filaments". Physical Review Letters. 123 (14): 141301. arXiv:1910.01653. Bibcode:2019PhRvL.123n1301M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.141301. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 31702225. S2CID 203734641.
  4. ^ Bohua Li; Tanja Rindler-Daller; Paul R. Shapiro (2014). "Cosmological Constraints on Bose-Einstein-Condensed Scalar Field Dark Matter". Phys. Rev. D. 89 (8): 083536. arXiv:1310.6061. Bibcode:2014PhRvD..89h3536L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.89.083536. S2CID 118654592.
  5. ^ Lee, Jae-Weon (2018). "Brief History of Ultra-light Scalar Dark Matter Models". EPJ Web of Conferences. 168: 06005. arXiv:1704.05057. Bibcode:2018EPJWC.16806005L. doi:10.1051/epjconf/201816806005. S2CID 54649264.
  6. ^ Timmer, John (2023-04-21). "No WIMPS! Heavy particles don't explain gravitational lensing oddities". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2023-06-08.