The "Little Dark Dot": Evidence for Self-interacting Dark Matter in the Strong Lens SDSS J0946+1006?

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Main Authors: Li, Shubo, Li, Ran, Wang, Kaihao, Jia, Zixiang, Cao, Xiaoyue, Frenk, Carlos S., Jiang, Fangzhou, Amvrosiadis, Aristeidis, Cole, Shaun, He, Qiuhan, Lange, Samuel C., Massey, Richard, Nightingale, James W., Robertson, Andrew, von Wietersheim-Kramsta, Maximilian, Ma, Xianghao
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Li, Shubo
Li, Ran
Wang, Kaihao
Jia, Zixiang
Cao, Xiaoyue
Frenk, Carlos S.
Jiang, Fangzhou
Amvrosiadis, Aristeidis
Cole, Shaun
He, Qiuhan
Lange, Samuel C.
Massey, Richard
Nightingale, James W.
Robertson, Andrew
von Wietersheim-Kramsta, Maximilian
Ma, Xianghao
author_facet Li, Shubo
Li, Ran
Wang, Kaihao
Jia, Zixiang
Cao, Xiaoyue
Frenk, Carlos S.
Jiang, Fangzhou
Amvrosiadis, Aristeidis
Cole, Shaun
He, Qiuhan
Lange, Samuel C.
Massey, Richard
Nightingale, James W.
Robertson, Andrew
von Wietersheim-Kramsta, Maximilian
Ma, Xianghao
contents Previous studies, based on precise modeling of a gravitationally lensing image, have identified what may be an extremely compact, dark perturber in the well-known lensing system SDSS J0946+1006 (the "Jackpot"). Its remarkable compactness challenges the standard cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. In this paper, we explore whether such a compact perturber could be explained as a core-collapse halo described by the self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) model. Using the isothermal Jeans method, we compute the density profiles of core-collapse halos across a range of masses. Our comparison with observations indicates that a core-collapse halo has an inner density profile and mass enclosed within 1 kpc that fit the data well, but only if the halo has a total mass $\sim10^{11}~{\rm M_{\odot}}$. While a halo of this mass should host a detectable galaxy, the current observational upper limit on the perturber's luminosity remains uncertain. Resolving whether or not the data support the presence of a core-collapse SIDM halo therefore requires future deep observations to measure its luminosity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_11800
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The "Little Dark Dot": Evidence for Self-interacting Dark Matter in the Strong Lens SDSS J0946+1006?
Li, Shubo
Li, Ran
Wang, Kaihao
Jia, Zixiang
Cao, Xiaoyue
Frenk, Carlos S.
Jiang, Fangzhou
Amvrosiadis, Aristeidis
Cole, Shaun
He, Qiuhan
Lange, Samuel C.
Massey, Richard
Nightingale, James W.
Robertson, Andrew
von Wietersheim-Kramsta, Maximilian
Ma, Xianghao
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Previous studies, based on precise modeling of a gravitationally lensing image, have identified what may be an extremely compact, dark perturber in the well-known lensing system SDSS J0946+1006 (the "Jackpot"). Its remarkable compactness challenges the standard cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. In this paper, we explore whether such a compact perturber could be explained as a core-collapse halo described by the self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) model. Using the isothermal Jeans method, we compute the density profiles of core-collapse halos across a range of masses. Our comparison with observations indicates that a core-collapse halo has an inner density profile and mass enclosed within 1 kpc that fit the data well, but only if the halo has a total mass $\sim10^{11}~{\rm M_{\odot}}$. While a halo of this mass should host a detectable galaxy, the current observational upper limit on the perturber's luminosity remains uncertain. Resolving whether or not the data support the presence of a core-collapse SIDM halo therefore requires future deep observations to measure its luminosity.
title The "Little Dark Dot": Evidence for Self-interacting Dark Matter in the Strong Lens SDSS J0946+1006?
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.11800