# Browsing by Subject "dark matter"

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Now showing items 1-20 of 34
• (2017)
• (2019)
Aims. We perform clustering measurements of 800 X-ray selected Chandra COSMOS Legacy (CCL) Type 2 active galactic nuclei (AGN) with known spectroscopic redshift to probe the halo mass dependence on AGN host galaxy properties, such as galaxy stellar mass M-star, star formation rate (SFR), and specific black hole accretion rate (BHAR; lambda(BHAR)) in the redshift range z;=;[0-3]. Methods. We split the sample of AGN with known spectroscopic redshits according to M-star, SFR and lambda(BHAR), while matching the distributions in terms of the other parameters, including redshift. We measured the projected two-point correlation function w(p)(r(p)) and modeled the clustering signal, for the different subsamples, with the two-halo term to derive the large-scale bias b and corresponding typical mass of the hosting halo. Results. We find no significant dependence of the large-scale bias and typical halo mass on galaxy stellar mass and specific BHAR for CCL Type 2 AGN at mean z;similar to;1, while a negative dependence on SFR is observed, i.e. lower SFR AGN reside in richer environment. Mock catalogs of AGN, matched to have the same X-ray luminosity, stellar mass, lambda(BHAR), and SFR of CCL Type 2 AGN, almost reproduce the observed M-star - M-h, lambda(BHAR) - M-h and SFR-M-h relations, when assuming a fraction of satellite AGN f(AGN)(sat) similar to 0.15fAGNsat similar to 0.15$f_{\mathrm{AGN}}{\mathrm{sat}} \sim 0.15$. This corresponds to a ratio of the probabilities of satellite to central AGN of being active Q;similar to;2. Mock matched normal galaxies follow a slightly steeper M-star - M-h relation, in which low mass mock galaxies reside in less massive halos than mock AGN of similar mass. Moreover, matched mock normal galaxies are less biased than mock AGN with similar specific BHAR and SFR, at least for Q > 1.
• (2017)
We present a stacked weak-lensing analysis of 27 richness selected galaxy clusters at 0.40
• (2021)
Possible dark matter candidates in particle physics span a mass range extending over fifty orders of magnitude. In this review, we consider the range of masses from a few keV to a few hundred TeV, which is relevant for cold particle dark matter. We will consider models where dark matter arises as weakly coupled elementary fields and models where dark matter is a composite state bound by a new strong interaction. Different production mechanisms for dark matter in these models will be described. The landscape of direct and indirect searches for dark matter and some of the resulting constraints on models will be briefly discussed.
• (2012)
• (2022)
The interacting dark energy (IDE) model, which considers the interaction between dark energy and dark matter, provides a natural mechanism to alleviate the coincidence problem and can also relieve the observational tensions under the ?CDM model. Previous studies have put constraints on IDE models by observations of cosmic expansion history, cosmic microwave background, and large-scale structures. However, these data are not yet enough to distinguish IDE models from ?CDM effectively. Because the non-linear structure formation contains rich cosmological information, it can provide additional means to differentiate alternative models. In this paper, based on a set of N-body simulations for IDE models, we investigate the formation histories and properties of dark matter haloes and compare with their ?CDM counterparts. For the model with dark matter decaying into dark energy and the parameters being the best-fitting values from previous constraints, the structure formation is markedly slowed down, and the haloes have systematically lower mass, looser internal structure, higher spin, and anisotropy. This is inconsistent with the observed structure formation, and thus this model can be safely ruled out from the perspective of non-linear structure formation. Moreover, we find that the ratio of halo concentrations between IDE and ?CDM counterparts depends sensitively on the interaction parameter and is independent of halo mass. This can act as a powerful probe to constrain IDE models. Our results concretely demonstrate that the interaction of the two dark components can affect the halo formation considerably, and therefore the constraints from non-linear structures are indispensable.
• (2016)
In the thermal dark matter (DM) paradigm, primordial interactions between DM and Standard Model particles are responsible for the observed DM relic density. In Boehm et al., we showed that weak-strength interactions between DM and radiation (photons or neutrinos) can erase small-scale density fluctuations, leading to a suppression of the matter power spectrum compared to the collisionless cold DM (CDM) model. This results in fewer DM subhaloes within Milky Way-like DM haloes, implying a reduction in the abundance of satellite galaxies. Here we use very high-resolution N-body simulations to measure the dynamics of these subhaloes. We find that when interactions are included, the largest subhaloes are less concentrated than their counterparts in the collisionless CDM model and have rotation curves that match observational data, providing a new solution to the 'too big to fail' problem.
• (2022)
Euclid is a mission of the European Space Agency that is designed to constrain the properties of dark energy and gravity via weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering. It will carry out a wide area imaging and spectroscopy survey (the Euclid Wide Survey: EWS) in visible and near-infrared bands, covering approximately 15 000 deg(2) of extragalactic sky in six years. The wide-field telescope and instruments are optimised for pristine point spread function and reduced stray light, producing very crisp images. This paper presents the building of the Euclid reference survey: the sequence of pointings of EWS, deep fields, and calibration fields, as well as spacecraft movements followed by Euclid as it operates in a step-and-stare mode from its orbit around the Lagrange point L2. Each EWS pointing has four dithered frames; we simulated the dither pattern at the pixel level to analyse the effective coverage. We used up-to-date models for the sky background to define the Euclid region-of-interest (RoI). The building of the reference survey is highly constrained from calibration cadences, spacecraft constraints, and background levels; synergies with ground-based coverage were also considered. Via purposely built software, we first generated a schedule for the calibrations and deep fields observations. On a second stage, the RoI was tiled and scheduled with EWS observations, using an algorithm optimised to prioritise the best sky areas, produce a compact coverage, and ensure thermal stability. The result is the optimised reference survey RSD_2021A, which fulfils all constraints and is a good proxy for the final solution. The current EWS covers approximate to 14 & x2006;500 deg(2). The limiting AB magnitudes (5 sigma point-like source) achieved in its footprint are estimated to be 26.2 (visible band I-E) and 24.5 (for near infrared bands Y-E, J(E), H-E); for spectroscopy, the H alpha line flux limit is 2 x 10(-16) erg(-1) cm(-2) s(-1) at 1600 nm; and for diffuse emission, the surface brightness limits are 29.8 (visible band) and 28.4 (near infrared bands) mag arcsec(-2).
• (2022)
We present a new infrared survey covering the three Euclid deep fields and four other Euclid calibration fields using Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC). We combined these new observations with all relevant IRAC archival data of these fields in order to produce the deepest possible mosaics of these regions. In total, these observations represent nearly 11% of the total Spitzer Space Telescope mission time. The resulting mosaics cover a total of approximately 71.5 deg(2) in the 3.6 and 4.5 mu m bands, and approximately 21.8 deg(2) in the 5.8 and 8 mu m bands. They reach at least 24 AB magnitude (measured to 5 sigma, in a 2 ''.5 aperture) in the 3.6 mu m band and up to similar to 5 mag deeper in the deepest regions. The astrometry is tied to the Gaia astrometric reference system, and the typical astrometric uncertainty for sources with 16 < [3.6] < 19 is less than or similar to 0 ''.15. The photometric calibration is in excellent agreement with previous WISE measurements. We extracted source number counts from the 3.6 mu m band mosaics, and they are in excellent agreement with previous measurements. Given that the Spitzer Space Telescope has now been decommissioned, these mosaics are likely to be the definitive reduction of these IRAC data. This survey therefore represents an essential first step in assembling multi-wavelength data on the Euclid deep fields, which are set to become some of the premier fields for extragalactic astronomy in the 2020s.
• (2017)
Many models of Higgs portal Dark Matter (DM) find themselves under pressure from increasingly tight direct detection constraints. In the framework of gauge field DM, we study how such bounds can be relaxed while retaining the thermal WIMP paradigm. When the hidden sector gauge symmetry is broken via the Higgs mechanism, the hidden sector generally contains unstable states which are lighter than dark matter. These states provide DM with an efficient annihilation channel. As a result, the DM relic abundance and the direct detection limits are controlled by different parameters, and the two can easily be reconciled. This simple setup realizes the idea of "secluded" dark matter naturally. (C) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.
• (Helsingin yliopisto, 2020)
The nature of dark matter (DM) is one of the outstanding problems of modern physics. The existence of dark matter implies physics beyond the Standard Model (SM), as the SM doesn’t contain any viable DM candidates. Dark matter manifests itself through various cosmological and astrophysical observations of the rotational speeds of galaxies, structure formation, measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and gravitational lensing of galaxy clusters. An attractive explanation of the observed dark matter density is provided by the WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle) paradigm. In the following thesis I explore this idea within the well motivated Higgs portal framework. In particular, I explore three options for dark matter composition: a scalar field and U(1) and SU(2) hidden gauge Fields. I find that the WIMP paradigm is still consistent with the data. Even though it finds itself under pressure from direct detection experiments, it is not yet in crisis. Simple and well motivated WIMP models can fit the observed DM density without violating the collider and direct DM detection constraints.
• (2017)
The observed stellar kinematics of dispersion-supported galaxies are often used to measure dynamical masses. Recently, several analytical relationships between the stellar line-of-sight velocity dispersion, the projected (2D) or deprojected (3D) half-light radius and the total mass enclosed within the half-light radius, relying on the spherical Jeans equation, have been proposed. Here, we use the APOSTLE cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of the Local Group to test the validity and accuracy of such mass estimators for both dispersion and rotation-supported galaxies, for field and satellite galaxies, and for galaxies of varying masses, shapes and velocity dispersion anisotropies. We find that the mass estimators of Walker et al. and Wolf et al. are able to recover the masses of dispersion-dominated systems with little systematic bias, but with a 1 sigma scatter of 25 and 23 per cent, respectively. The error on the estimated mass is dominated by the impact of the 3D shape of the stellar mass distribution, which is difficult to constrain observationally. This intrinsic scatter becomes the dominant source of uncertainty in the masses estimated for galaxies like the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites of the Milky Way, where the observational errors in their sizes and velocity dispersions are small. Such scatter may also affect the inner density slopes of dSphs derived from multiple stellar populations, relaxing the significance with which Navarro-Frenk-White profiles may be excluded, depending on the degree to which the relevant properties of the different stellar populations are correlated. Finally, we derive a new optimal mass estimator that removes the residual biases and achieves a statistically significant reduction in the scatter to 20 per cent overall for dispersion-dominated galaxies, allowing more precise and accurate mass estimates.
• (2018)
Galaxy clusters are expected to form hierarchically in a Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) universe, growing primarily through mergers with lower mass clusters and the continual accretion of group-mass haloes. Galaxy clusters assemble late, doubling their masses since z similar to 0.5, and so the outer regions of clusters should be replete with accreting group-mass systems. We present an XMM-Newton survey to search for X-ray groups in the infall regions of 23 massive galaxy clusters (<M-200 > similar to 10(15)M(circle dot)) at z similar to 0.2, identifying 39 X-ray groups that have been spectroscopically confirmed to lie at the cluster redshift. These groups have mass estimates in the range 2 x 10(13)-7 x 10(14)M(circle dot), and group-to-cluster mass ratios as low as 0.02. The comoving number density of X-ray groups in the infall regions is similar to 25x higher than that seen for isolated X-ray groups from the XXL survey. The average mass per cluster contained within these X-ray groups is 2.2 x 10(14)M(circle dot), or 19 +/- 5 per cent of the mass within the primary cluster itself. We estimate that similar to 10(15)M(circle dot) clusters increase their masses by 16 +/- 4 per cent between z = 0.223 and the present day due to the accretion of groups with M-200 >= 10(13.2)M(circle dot). This represents about half of the expected mass growth rate of clusters at these late epochs. The other half is likely to come from smooth accretion of matter not bound within haloes. The mass function of the infalling X-ray groups appears significantly top heavy with respect to that of 'field' X-ray systems, consistent with expectations from numerical simulations, and the basic consequences of collapsed massive dark matter haloes being biased tracers of the underlying large-scale density distribution.
• (2016)
We use cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of the APOSTLE project along with high-quality rotation curve observations to examine the fraction of baryons in I > CDM haloes that collect into galaxies. This 'galaxy formation efficiency' correlates strongly and with little scatter with halo mass, dropping steadily towards dwarf galaxies. The baryonic mass of a galaxy may thus be used to place a lower limit on total halo mass and, consequently, on its asymptotic maximum circular velocity. A number of observed dwarfs seem to violate this constraint, having baryonic masses up to 10 times higher than expected from their rotation speeds, or, alternatively, rotating at only half the speed expected for their mass. Taking the data at face value, either these systems have formed galaxies with extraordinary efficiency - highly unlikely given their shallow potential wells - or their dark matter content is much lower than expected from I > CDM haloes. This 'missing dark matter' is reminiscent of the inner mass deficit of galaxies with slowly rising rotation curves, but cannot be explained away by star formation-induced 'cores' in the dark mass profile, since the anomalous deficit applies to regions larger than the luminous galaxies themselves. We argue that explaining the structure of these galaxies would require either substantial modification of the standard I > CDM paradigm or else significant revision to the uncertainties in their inferred mass profiles, which should be much larger than reported. Systematic errors in inclination may provide a simple resolution to what would otherwise be a rather intractable problem for the current paradigm.
• (2016)
• (2021)
Generating pre-initial conditions (or particle loads) is the very first step to set up a cosmological N-body simulation. In this work, we revisit the numerical convergence of pre-initial conditions on dark matter halo properties using a set of simulations which only differs in initial particle loads, i.e. grid, glass, and the newly introduced capacity constrained Voronoi tessellation (CCVT). We find that the median halo properties agree fairly well (i.e. within a convergence level of a few per cent) among simulations running from different initial loads. We also notice that for some individual haloes cross-matched among different simulations, the relative difference of their properties sometimes can be several tens of per cent. By looking at the evolution history of these poorly converged haloes, we find that they are usually merging haloes or haloes have experienced recent merger events, and their merging processes in different simulations are out-of-sync, making the convergence of halo properties become poor temporarily. We show that, comparing to the simulation starting with an anisotropic grid load, the simulation with an isotropic CCVT load converges slightly better to the simulation with a glass load, which is also isotropic. Among simulations with different pre-initial conditions, haloes in higher density environments tend to have their properties converged slightly better. Our results confirm that CCVT loads behave as well as the widely used grid and glass loads at small scales, and for the first time we quantify the convergence of two independent isotropic particle loads (i.e. glass and CCVT) on halo properties.
• (Helsingin yliopisto, 2020)
The Standard model of particle physics has been very successful in describing particles and their interactions. In 2012 the last missing piece, the Higgs boson, was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider. However even for all its success the Standard model fails to explain some phenomena of nature. Two of these unexplained phenomena are dark matter and the metastability of the electroweak vacuum. In this thesis we study one of the simplest extensions of the Standard model; the complex singlet scalar extension. In this framework the CP-even component of the singlet mixes with the Standard model like Higgs boson through the portal operator to form new mass eigenstates. The CP-odd component is a pseudo-Goldstone boson which could be a viable dark matter candidate. We analyse parameter space of the model with respect to constraints from particle physics experiments and cosmological observations. The time evolution of dark matter number density is derived to study the process of dark matter freeze-out. The relic density of the Dark Matter candidate is then calculated with the micrOmegas tool. These calculations are then compared to the measured values of dark matter relic density. Moreover, the electroweak vacuum can be stabilised due the contribution of the singlet scalar to the Standard Model Higgs potential. We derive the β-functions of the couplings in order to study the renormalisation group evolution of the parameters of the model. With the contribution of the portal coupling to the β-function of the Higgs coupling we are able to stabilise the electroweak vacuum up to the Planck scale. The two-loop β-functions are calculated using the SARAH tool.
• (2014)
• (2017)
We study galaxy formation in sterile neutrino dark matter models that differ significantly from both cold and from 'warm thermal relic' models. We use the EAGLE code to carry out hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of pairs of galaxies chosen to resemble the Local Group, as part of the APOSTLE simulations project. We compare cold dark matter (CDM) with two sterile neutrino models with 7 keV mass: one, the warmest among all models of this mass (LA120) and the other, a relatively cold case (LA10). We show that the lower concentration of sterile neutrino subhaloes compared to their CDM counterparts makes the inferred inner dark matter content of galaxies like Fornax (or Magellanic Clouds) less of an outlier in the sterile neutrino cosmologies. In terms of the galaxy number counts, the LA10 simulations are indistinguishable from CDM when one takes into account halo-to-halo (or 'simulation-to-simulation') scatter. In order for the LA120 model to match the number of Local Group dwarf galaxies, a higher fraction of low-mass haloes is required to form galaxies than is predicted by the EAGLE simulations. As the census of the Local Group galaxies nears completion, this population may provide a strong discriminant between cold and warm dark matter models.
• (2016)
Rotation of galaxies is examined by the general principle of least action. This law of nature describes a system in its surroundings, here specifically a galaxy in the surrounding Universe. According to this holistic theory the gravitational potential due to all matter in the expanding Universe relates to the universal curvature which, in turn, manifests itself as the universal acceleration. Then the orbital velocities from the central bulge to distant perimeters are understood to balance both the galactic and universal acceleration. Since the galactic acceleration decreases with distance from the galaxy's center to its luminous edge, the orbital velocities of ever more distant stars and gas clouds tend toward a value that tallies the universal acceleration. This tiny term has been acknowledged earlier by including it as a parameter in the modified gravitational law, but here the tiny acceleration is understood to result from the gravitational potential that spans across the expanding Universe. This resolution of the galaxy rotation problem is compared with observations and contrasted with models of dark matter. Also, other astronomical observations that have been interpreted as evidence for dark matter are discussed in light of the least-action principle.