Related papers: Self-Interacting Dark Matter, Core Collapse and th…
Observations on galactic scales seem to be in contradiction with recent high resolution N-body simulations. This so-called cold dark matter (CDM) crisis has been addressed in several ways, ranging from a change in fundamental physics by…
Luminous stars in background galaxies straddling the lensing caustic of a foreground galaxy cluster can be individually detected due to extreme magnification factors of $\sim 10^2$--$10^3$, as recently observed in deep HST images. We…
The rotation curves of spiral galaxies exhibit a great diversity that challenge our understanding of galaxy formation and the nature of dark matter. Previous studies showed that in self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) models with a cross…
We present high-resolution mass reconstructions for five massive cluster-lenses spanning a redshift range from z = 0.18 - 0.57 utilizing archival Hubble Space Telescope data and applying galaxy-galaxy lensing techniques. These detailed mass…
We investigate the effects of numerous dark matter subhalos in a galaxy-sized halo on the events of strong lensing, to assess their presence as expected from the cold dark matter scenario. Lens galaxies are represented by a smooth ellipsoid…
Strong gravitational lensing offers a compelling test of the cold dark matter paradigm, as it allows for subhaloes with masses of $\sim10^{9}$ M$_\odot$ and below to be detected. We test commonly-used techniques for detecting subhaloes…
Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) is an intriguing alternative to the standard cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm, which predicts that dark matter halos typically have large, isothermal cores. Numerical simulations have shown that dynamical…
Cosmological models with cold dark matter composed of weakly interacting particles predict overly dense cores in the centers of galaxies and clusters and an overly large number of halos within the Local Group compared to actual…
In two-component self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) models with inter-species interactions, mass segregation arises naturally from collisional relaxation, enhancing central densities and gravothermal evolution. We demonstrate that models…
Warm Dark Matter (WDM) has been invoked to resolve apparent conflicts of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) models with observations on subgalactic scales. In this work we provide a new and independent lower limit for the WDM particle mass (e.g.…
Theories of structure formation in a cold dark matter dominated Universe predict that massive clusters of galaxies assemble from the hierarchical merging of lower mass subhalos. Exploiting strong and weak gravitational lensing signals…
Magnification bias, an observational effect of gravitational lensing in the weak regime, allows testing the cosmological model through angular correlations of sources at different redshifts. This effect has been observed in various…
We consider a self-interacting dark matter model in which the massive dark photon mediating the self-interaction decays to light dark fermions to avoid over-closing the universe. We find that if the model is constrained to explain the dark…
Joint lensing and dynamical mass profile determinations of galaxy clusters are an excellent tool to constrain modification of gravity at cosmological scales. However, search for tiny departures from General Relativity calls for an accurate…
The possible interaction between the dark components of the Universe (dark matter and dark energy) stands as an attractive alternative to the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model. In this work, we present a novel analysis of three…
Merging galaxy clusters have been touted as one of the best probes for constraining self-interacting dark matter, but few simulations exist to back up this claim. We simulate equal mass mergers of 10$^{15}$ M$_\odot$ halos, like the El…
The formation and evolution of galaxies is known to be sensitive to tidal processes leading to intrinsic correlations between their shapes and orientations. Such correlations can be measured to high significance today, suggesting that…
Constraining the distribution of small-scale structure in our universe allows us to probe alternatives to the cold dark matter paradigm. Strong gravitational lensing offers a unique window into small dark matter halos ($<10^{10} M_\odot$)…
We review theories of dark matter (DM) beyond the collisionless paradigm, known as self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), and their observable implications for astrophysical structure in the Universe. Self-interactions are motivated, in part,…
Strong gravitational lensing observations can test structure formation models by constraining the masses and concentrations of subhaloes in massive galaxy clusters. Recent work has concluded that cluster subhaloes are more abundant and/or…