Self-Interacting Dark Matter with Mass Segregation: A Unified Explanation of Dwarf Cores and Small-Scale Lenses

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Main Authors: Yang, Daneng, Fan, Yi-Zhong, Hou, Siyuan, Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Yang, Daneng
Fan, Yi-Zhong
Hou, Siyuan
Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming
author_facet Yang, Daneng
Fan, Yi-Zhong
Hou, Siyuan
Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming
contents 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 with velocity-dependent interactions, both within and between species, can connect several small-scale observations while remaining consistent with cluster-scale constraints. This combination enables core formation in dwarf halos, where the presence of baryons increases the inner densities and enhances the predicted strong lensing signatures. Using cosmological and controlled simulations alongside an accurate parametric model, we present proof-of-principle examples showing that this framework can explain the structure of dark perturbers observed in strong lensing systems, and can enhance the efficiency of small-scale lenses by a factor of a few, in line with the excess reported in galaxy-galaxy strong-lensing observations. Importantly, mass segregation can enhance the Einstein radii of SIDM halos relative to their cold dark matter (CDM) counterparts, overcoming a key challenge in one-component SIDM scenarios. Our results present mass segregation in two-component SIDM as a self-consistent, testable framework with the potential to address multiple small-scale challenges in structure formation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_14898
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Self-Interacting Dark Matter with Mass Segregation: A Unified Explanation of Dwarf Cores and Small-Scale Lenses
Yang, Daneng
Fan, Yi-Zhong
Hou, Siyuan
Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
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 with velocity-dependent interactions, both within and between species, can connect several small-scale observations while remaining consistent with cluster-scale constraints. This combination enables core formation in dwarf halos, where the presence of baryons increases the inner densities and enhances the predicted strong lensing signatures. Using cosmological and controlled simulations alongside an accurate parametric model, we present proof-of-principle examples showing that this framework can explain the structure of dark perturbers observed in strong lensing systems, and can enhance the efficiency of small-scale lenses by a factor of a few, in line with the excess reported in galaxy-galaxy strong-lensing observations. Importantly, mass segregation can enhance the Einstein radii of SIDM halos relative to their cold dark matter (CDM) counterparts, overcoming a key challenge in one-component SIDM scenarios. Our results present mass segregation in two-component SIDM as a self-consistent, testable framework with the potential to address multiple small-scale challenges in structure formation.
title Self-Interacting Dark Matter with Mass Segregation: A Unified Explanation of Dwarf Cores and Small-Scale Lenses
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.14898