English

Dwarf Galaxies United by Dark Bosons

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2024-03-20 v3

Abstract

Low mass galaxies in the Local Group are dominated by dark matter and comprise the well studied ``dwarf Spheroidal" (dSph) class, with typical masses of 10910M10^{9-10}M_\odot and also the equally numerous ``ultra faint dwarfs" (UFD), discovered recently, that are distinctly smaller and denser with masses of only 1078M10^{7-8}M_\odot. This bimodality amongst low mass galaxies contrasts with the scale free continuity expected for galaxies formed under gravity, as in the standard Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model for heavy particles. Within each dwarf class we find the core radius RcR_c is inversely related to velocity dispersion σ\sigma, quite the opposite of standard expectations, but indicative of dark matter in a Bose-Einstein state, where the Uncertainty Principle requires Rc×σR_c \times \sigma is fixed by Planks constant, hh. The corresponding boson mass, mb=h/Rcσm_b=h/R_c \sigma, differs by one order of magnitude between the UDF and dSph classes, with 1021.410^{-21.4}eV and 1020.310^{-20.3}eV respectively. Two boson species is reinforced by parallel relations seen between the central density and radius of UDF and dSph dwarfs respectively, each matching the steep prediction, ρcRc4\rho_c \propto R_c^{-4}, for soliton cores in the ground state. Furthermore, soliton cores accurately fit the stellar profiles of UDF and dSph dwarfs where prominent, dense cores appear surrounded by low density halos, as predicted by our simulations. Multiple bosons may point to a String Theory interpretation for dark matter, where a discrete mass spectrum of axions is generically predicted to span many decades in mass, offering a unifying "Axiverse" interpretation for the observed "diversity" of dark matter dominated dwarf galaxies.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2302.00181,
  title  = {Dwarf Galaxies United by Dark Bosons},
  author = {Alvaro Pozo and Tom Broadhurst and George F. Smoot and Tzihong Chiueh and Hoang Nhan Luu and Mark Vogelsberger and Philip Mocz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.00181},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

45 pages, 36 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-28T08:28:40.734Z