1,980 research outputs found
Galaxy phase-space density data exclude Bose-Einstein condensate Axion Dark Matter
Light scalars (as the axion) with mass m ~ 10^{-22} eV forming a
Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) exhibit a Jeans length in the kpc scale and were
therefore proposed as dark matter (DM) candidates. Our treatment here is
generic, independent of the particle physics model and applies to all DM BEC,
in or out of equilibrium. Two observed quantities crucially constrain DM in an
inescapable way: the average DM density rho_{DM} and the phase-space density Q.
The observed values of rho_{DM} and Q in galaxies today constrain both the
possibility to form a BEC and the DM mass m. These two constraints robustly
exclude axion DM that decouples just after the QCD phase transition. Moreover,
the value m ~ 10^{-22} eV can only be obtained with a number of
ultrarelativistic degrees of freedom at decoupling in the trillions which is
impossible for decoupling in the radiation dominated era. In addition, we find
for the axion vacuum misalignment scenario that axions are produced strongly
out of thermal equilibrium and that the axion mass in such scenario turns to be
17 orders of magnitude too large to reproduce the observed galactic structures.
Moreover, we also consider inhomogenous gravitationally bounded BEC's supported
by the bosonic quantum pressure independently of any particular particle
physics scenario. For a typical size R ~ kpc and compact object masses M ~ 10^7
Msun they remarkably lead to the same particle mass m ~ 10^{-22} eV as the BEC
free-streaming length. However, the phase-space density for the gravitationally
bounded BEC's turns to be more than sixty orders of magnitude smaller than the
galaxy observed values. We conclude that the BEC's and the axion cannot be the
DM particle. However, an axion in the mili-eV scale may be a relevant source of
dark energy through the zero point cosmological quantum fluctuations.Comment: 8 pages, no figures. Expanded versio
Warm Dark Matter Galaxies with Central Supermassive Black-Holes
We generalize the Thomas-Fermi approach to galaxy structure to include
self-consistently and non-linearly central supermassive black holes. This
approach naturally incorporates the quantum pressure of the warm dark matter
(WDM) particles and shows its full powerful and clearness in the presence of
supermassive black holes (SPMHs). We find the main galaxy and central black
hole magnitudes: halo radius r_h , halo mass M_h, black hole mass M_BH,
velocity dispersion, phase space density, with their realistic astrophysical
values, masses and sizes over a wide galaxy range. The SMBH masses arise
naturally in this framework. Our extensive numerical calculations and detailed
analytic resolution show that with SMBH's, both WDM regimes: classical
(Boltzmann dilute) and quantum (compact) do necessarily co-exist in any galaxy:
from the smaller and compact galaxies to the largest ones. The transition from
the quantum to the classical region occurs precisely at the same point r_A
where the chemical potential vanishes. A novel halo structure with three
regions shows up: A small quantum compact core of radius r_A around the SMBH,
followed by a less compact region till the BH influence radius r_i, and then
for r> r_i the known halo galaxy shows up with its astrophysical size. Three
representative families of galaxy plus central SMBH solutions are found and
analyzed:small, medium and large galaxies having SMBH masses of 10^5, 10^7 and
10^9 M_sun respectively. A minimum galaxy size and mass ~ 10^7 M_sun larger
than the one without SMBH is found. Small galaxies in the range 10^4 M_sun <
M_h < 10^7 M_sun cannot harbor central SMBHs. We find novel scaling M_BH - r_h
- M_h relations. The galaxy equation of state is derived: The pressure P(r)
takes huge values in the SMBH vecinity and then sharply decreases entering the
classical region following a local perfect gas behaviour.(Abridged)Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, new materia
Equation of state, universal profiles, scaling and macroscopic quantum effects in Warm Dark Matter galaxies
The Thomas-Fermi approach to galaxy structure determines selfconsistently and
nonlinearly the gravitational potential of the fermionic WDM particles given
their quantum distribution function f(E). Galaxy magnitudes as the halo radius
r_h, mass M_h, velocity dispersion and phase space density are obtained. We
derive the general equation of state for galaxies (relation between the
pressure and the density), and provide an analytic expression. This clearly
exhibits two regimes: (i) Large diluted galaxies for M_h > 2.3 10^6 Msun
corresponding to temperatures T_0 > 0.017 K, described by the classical self
gravitating WDM Boltzman regime and (ii) Compact dwarf galaxies for 1.6 10^6
Msun > M_h>M_{h,min}=30000 (2keV/m)^{16/5} Msun, T_0<0.011 K described by the
quantum fermionic WDM regime. The T_0=0 degenerate quantum limit predicts the
most compact and smallest galaxy (minimal radius and mass M_{h,min}). All
magnitudes in the diluted regime exhibit square root of M_h scaling laws and
are universal functions of r/r_h when normalized to their values at the origin
or at r_h. We find that universality in galaxies (for M_h > 10^6 Msun) reflects
the WDM perfect gas behaviour. These theoretical results contrasted to robust
and independent sets of galaxy data remarkably reproduce the observations. For
the small galaxies, 10^6>M_h>M_{h,min} corresponding to effective temperatures
T_0 < 0.017 K, the equation of state is galaxy dependent and the profiles are
no more universal. These non-universal properties in small galaxies account to
the quantum physics of the WDM fermions in the compact regime. Our results are
independent of any WDM particle physics model, they only follow from the
gravitational interaction of the WDM particles and their fermionic quantum
nature.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1309.229
Statistical Mechanics of the Self-Gravitating Gas: Thermodynamic Limit, Unstabilities and Phase Diagrams
We show that the self-gravitating gas at thermal equilibrium has an infinite
volume limit in the three ensembles (GCE, CE, MCE) when (N, V) -> infty,
keeping N/V^{1/3} fixed, that is, with eta = G m^2 N/[ V^{1/3} T] fixed. We
develop MonteCarlo simulations, analytic mean field methods (MF) and low
density expansions. We compute the equation of state and find it to be locally
p(r) = T rho_V(r), that is a local ideal gas equation of state. The system is
in a gaseous phase for eta < eta_T = 1.51024...and collapses into a very dense
object for eta > eta_T in the CE with the pressure becoming large and negative.
The isothermal compressibility diverges at eta = eta_T. We compute the
fluctuations around mean field for the three ensembles. We show that the
particle distribution can be described by a Haussdorf dimension 1 < D < 3.Comment: 12 pages, Invited lecture at `Statistical Mechanics of Non-Extensive
Systems', Observatoire de Paris, October 2005, to be published in a Special
issue of `Les Comptes rendus de l'Acade'mie des sciences', Elsevie
Warm dark matter primordial spectra and the onset of structure formation at redshift z
Analytic formulas reproducing the warm dark matter (WDM) primordial spectra
are obtained for WDM particles decoupling in and out of thermal equilibrium
which provide the initial data for WDM non-linear structure formation. We
compute and analyze the corresponding WDM overdensities and compare them to the
CDM case. We consider the ratio of the WDM to CDM primordial spectrum and the
WDM to CDM overdensities: they turn to be self-similar functions of k/k_{1/2}
and R/R_{1/2} respectively, k_{1/2} and R_{1/2} being the wavenumber and length
where the WDM spectrum and overdensity are 1/2 of the respective CDM
magnitudes. Both k_{1/2} and R_{1/2} show scaling as powers of the WDM particle
mass m while the self-similar functions are independent of m. The WDM
primordial spectrum sharply decreases around k_{1/2} with respect to the CDM
spectrum, while the WDM overdensity slowly decreases around R_{1/2}. The
nonlinear regions where WDM structure formation takes place are shown and
compared to those in CDM: the WDM non-linear structures start to form later
than in CDM, and as a general trend, decreasing the DM particle mass delays the
onset of the non-linear regime. The non-linear regime starts earlier for
smaller objects than for larger ones; smaller objects can form earlier both in
WDM and CDM. We compute and analyze the differential mass function dN/dM for
WDM at redshift z in the Press-Schechter approach. The WDM suppression effect
of small scale structure increases with the redshift z. Our results for dN/dM
are useful to be contrasted with observations, in particular for 4 < z < 12. We
perfom all these studies for the most popular WDM particle physics models.
Contrasting them to observations should point out the precise value of the WDM
particle mass in the keV scale, and help to single out the best WDM particle
physics model (Abridged).Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Phys Rev
Quantum WDM fermions and gravitation determine the observed galaxy structures
Quantum mechanics is necessary to compute galaxy structures at kpc scales and
below. This is so because near the galaxy center, at scales below 10 - 100 pc,
warm dark matter (WDM) quantum effects are important: observations show that
the interparticle distance is of the order of, or smaller than the de Broglie
wavelength for WDM. This explains why all classical (non-quantum) WDM N-body
simulations fail to explain galactic cores and their sizes. We describe
fermionic WDM galaxies in an analytic semiclassical framework based on the
Thomas-Fermi approach, we resolve it numerically and find the main physical
galaxy magnitudes: mass, halo radius, phase-space density, velocity dispersion,
fully consistent with observations, including compact dwarf galaxies. Namely,
fermionic WDM treated quantum mechanically, as it must be, reproduces the
observed galaxy DM cores and their sizes. [In addition, as is known, WDM
simulations produce the right DM structures in agreement with observations for
scales > kpc]. We show that compact dwarf galaxies are natural quantum
macroscopic objects supported against gravity by the fermionic WDM quantum
pressure (quantum degenerate fermions) with a minimal galaxy mass and minimal
velocity dispersion. Interestingly enough, the minimal galaxy mass implies a
minimal mass m_{min} for the WDM particle. The lightest known dwarf galaxy
(Willman I) implies m > m_{min} = 1.91 keV. These results and the observed halo
radius and mass of the compact galaxies provide further indication that the WDM
particle mass m is approximately around 2 keV.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, expanded version to appear in Astroparticle
Physics. admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1204.309
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