Related papers: Astrophysical Effects of Scalar Dark Matter Minicl…
If the symmetry breaking responsible for axion dark matter production occurs during the radiation-dominated epoch in the early Universe, then this produces large amplitude perturbations that collapse into dense objects known as axion…
Axions are a viable candidate for Cold Dark Matter (CDM) which should generically form minihalos of sub-planetary masses from white-noise isocurvature density fluctuations if the Peccei-Quinn phase transition occurs after inflation. Despite…
Although the standard cosmological model, the so-called $\Lambda$ Cold Dark Matter ("$\Lambda$CDM"), appears to fit well observations at the cosmological level, it is well known that it possesses several inconsistencies at the galactic…
We examine the possibility that galactic halos are collisionless ensembles of scalar field ``massive compact halo objects'' (MACHOs). Using mass constraints from MACHO microlensing and from theoretical arguments on halos made up of massive…
Chameleon fields are scalar fields whose mass depends on the ambient matter density. We investigate the effects of these fields on the growth of density perturbations on sub-galactic scales and the formation of the first dark matter halos.…
We propose to search for scalar dark matter via its effects on the electromagnetic fine-structure constant and particle masses. Scalar dark matter that forms an oscillating classical field produces `slow' linear-in-time drifts and…
Non-linear effects in the evolution of the axion field in the early Universe may lead to the formation of gravitationally bound clumps of axions, known as ``miniclusters.'' Minicluster masses and radii should be in the range $M_{\rm…
If the symmetry breaking leading to the origin of the axion dark matter field occurs after the end of inflation and is never restored, then overdensities in the axion field collapse to form dense objects known in the literature as axion…
We introduce simplified models for enhancements in the matter power spectrum at small scales and study their implications for dark matter substructure and gravitational observables. These models capture the salient aspects of a variety of…
We show how observations of multiply-imaged quasars at high redshift can be used as a probe of dark matter clumps (subhalos with masses ~ 10^9 solar masses) within the virialized extent of more massive lensing halos. A large abundance of…
A consequence of QCD axion dark matter being born after inflation is the emergence of small-scale substructures known as miniclusters. Although miniclusters merge to form minihalos, this intrinsic granularity is expected to remain imprinted…
We study the evolution of the stellar and dark matter components in a galaxy cluster of $10^{15} \, \rm{M_{\odot}}$ from $z=3$ to the present epoch using the high-resolution collisionless simulations of Ruszkowski & Springel (2009). At…
If dark matter is an axion-like-particle a significant fraction of the present day relic abundance could be concentrated in compact gravitationally bound miniclusters. We study the minicluster masses compatible with the dark matter relic…
Light scalar fields typically develop spatially varying backgrounds during inflation. Very often they do not directly affect the density perturbations, but interact with other fields that do leave nontrivial signals in primordial…
Dark matter in the form of axions is expected to form miniclusters, and their dense regions can harbor compact axion stars. Such axion stars could be discovered by microlensing events. In particular, some candidate events reported by Subaru…
The dark matter in Galactic halos, or some fraction of it, may be in the form of dark clusters which consist of small mass objects. Carr & Lacey (1987) have derived the permissible properties of such systems, and proposed the existence of…
Axion miniclusters are dense bound structures of dark matter axions that are predicted to form in the post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking scenario. Although dense, miniclusters can easily be perturbed or even become unbound by…
Small-scale clumps of dark matter are gravitationally bounded structures that have masses comparable to or lower than stellar masses and consist of noninteracting or weakly interacting dark matter particles. In this paper, the current…
Binary neutron star mergers provide a laboratory for probing fundamental physics through their gravitational-wave emission and electromagnetic counterparts. In particular, they may allow us to explore signatures of physics beyond the…
Light scalar particles arise naturally in many extensions of the Standard Model and are compelling dark-matter candidates. Gravitational interactions near black holes can trigger the growth of dense scalar configurations that, if sustained…