Related papers: Femtolensing and Picolensing by Axion Miniclusters
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 should be in the range $M_{\rm mc}\sim10^{-12}…
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…
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…
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…
The Peak-Patch algorithm is used to identify the densest minicluster seeds in the initial axion density field simulated from string decay. The fate of these dense seeds is found by tracking the subsequent gravitational collapse in…
We study the small scale structure of axion dark matter in the post-inflationary scenario, which predicts the formation of low-mass, high-density clumps of gravitationally bound axions called axion miniclusters. To this end, we follow…
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…
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 identify axion miniclusters collapsing in the radiation-dominated era and follow them to redshift $z=99$ with N-body simulations. We find that the majority of the densest miniclusters end up in the center of larger minicluster halos at…
The properties of axion miniclusters and of the voids between them can have very strong implications for the discovery of axions and the dark matter of the Universe. These properties can be strongly affected by axion dynamics in the early…
The default assumption of early universe cosmology is that the postinflationary universe was radiation dominated until it was about 47000 years old. Direct evidence for the radiation dominated epoch extends back until nucleosynthesis, which…
When Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking happens after inflation, the axion field takes random values in causally disconnected regions. This leads to fluctuations of order one in the axion energy density around the QCD epoch. These…
We model the formation, evolution and astrophysical effects of dark compact Scalar Miniclusters (``ScaMs''). These objects arise when a scalar field, with an axion-like or Higgs-like potential, undergoes a second order phase transition…
Evolution of inhomogeneities in the axion field around the QCD epoch is studied numerically, including for the first time important non-linear effects. It is found that perturbations on scales corresponding to causally disconnected regions…
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…
Axion-like dark matter whose symmetry breaking occurs after the end of inflation predicts enhanced primordial density fluctuations at small scales. This leads to dense axion minihalos (or miniclusters) forming early in the history of the…
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…
Axionic dark matter can form miniclusters and minicluster halos from inhomogenuities in the early Universe. If MCHs are sufficiently massive, their existence can be revealed by small-scale gravitational tidal perturbation to halo-like…
We study the gravitational collapse of axion dark matter fluctuations in the post-inflationary scenario, so-called axion miniclusters, with N-body simulations. Largely confirming theoretical expectations, overdensities begin to collapse in…
A fraction of light scalar dark matter, especially axions, may organize into Bose-Einstein condensates, gravitationally bound clumps, "boson stars", and be present in large number in galactic halos today. We compute the expected number of…