Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales

The suppression of the small-scale matter power spectrum is a distinct feature of warm dark matter (WDM), which permits a constraint on the WDM mass from galaxy surveys. In the thermal relic WDM scenario, quantum statistical effects are not manifest. In a unified framework, we investigate the quantu...

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Main Authors: Zhijian Zhang, Weikang Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad772c
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author Zhijian Zhang
Weikang Lin
author_facet Zhijian Zhang
Weikang Lin
author_sort Zhijian Zhang
collection DOAJ
description The suppression of the small-scale matter power spectrum is a distinct feature of warm dark matter (WDM), which permits a constraint on the WDM mass from galaxy surveys. In the thermal relic WDM scenario, quantum statistical effects are not manifest. In a unified framework, we investigate the quantum statistical effects for a fermion case with degenerate pressure and a boson case with Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC). Compared to the thermal relic case, the degenerate fermion case only slightly lowers the mass bound, while the boson case with a high initial BEC fraction (≳90%) significantly lowers it. On the other hand, the BEC fraction drops during the relativistic-to-nonrelativistic transition and completely disappears if the initial fraction is below ∼64%. Given the rising interest in resolving the late-time galaxy-scale problems with boson condensation, a question is posed on how a high initial BEC fraction can be dynamically created so that a dark matter condensed component remains today.
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publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher IOP Publishing
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series The Astrophysical Journal Letters
spelling doaj-art-eefa361b28c94af7a1edd41ee2771bb02025-08-20T01:54:26ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019732L4210.3847/2041-8213/ad772cQuantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small ScalesZhijian Zhang0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3227-2225Weikang Lin1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2240-7031South-Western Institute For Astronomy Research, Yunnan University , Kunming 650500, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China ; weikanglin@ynu.edu.cnSouth-Western Institute For Astronomy Research, Yunnan University , Kunming 650500, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China ; weikanglin@ynu.edu.cnThe suppression of the small-scale matter power spectrum is a distinct feature of warm dark matter (WDM), which permits a constraint on the WDM mass from galaxy surveys. In the thermal relic WDM scenario, quantum statistical effects are not manifest. In a unified framework, we investigate the quantum statistical effects for a fermion case with degenerate pressure and a boson case with Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC). Compared to the thermal relic case, the degenerate fermion case only slightly lowers the mass bound, while the boson case with a high initial BEC fraction (≳90%) significantly lowers it. On the other hand, the BEC fraction drops during the relativistic-to-nonrelativistic transition and completely disappears if the initial fraction is below ∼64%. Given the rising interest in resolving the late-time galaxy-scale problems with boson condensation, a question is posed on how a high initial BEC fraction can be dynamically created so that a dark matter condensed component remains today.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad772cDark matterWarm dark matterLarge-scale structure of the universe
spellingShingle Zhijian Zhang
Weikang Lin
Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Dark matter
Warm dark matter
Large-scale structure of the universe
title Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales
title_full Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales
title_fullStr Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales
title_full_unstemmed Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales
title_short Quantum Statistical Effects on Warm Dark Matter and the Mass Constraint from the Cosmic Structure at Small Scales
title_sort quantum statistical effects on warm dark matter and the mass constraint from the cosmic structure at small scales
topic Dark matter
Warm dark matter
Large-scale structure of the universe
url https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad772c
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