Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Despali, Giulia, Giocoli, Carlo, Moscardini, Lauro, Pillepich, Annalisa, Vogelsberger, Mark, Meneghetti, Massimo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.15869
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866918420111425536
author Despali, Giulia
Giocoli, Carlo
Moscardini, Lauro
Pillepich, Annalisa
Vogelsberger, Mark
Meneghetti, Massimo
author_facet Despali, Giulia
Giocoli, Carlo
Moscardini, Lauro
Pillepich, Annalisa
Vogelsberger, Mark
Meneghetti, Massimo
contents In the standard Cold Dark Matter (CDM) scenario, the density profiles of dark matter haloes are well described by analytical models linking their concentration to halo mass. Alternative scenarios, such as warm dark matter (WDM) and self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), modify the inner structure of haloes and predict different profile shapes and central slopes. We employ the AIDA-TNG simulations to investigate how alternative dark matter physics and baryonic processes jointly shape the internal structure of haloes. Using dark-matter-only and full-physics runs, we measure the dark matter density profiles of haloes spanning six orders of magnitude in mass, from 10^9.5 Msun to 10^14.5 Msub, and characterise them with multiple analytical models. We provide the distribution of the best-fitting parameters, as well as the concentration-mass relation in WDM and SIDM. The Einasto profile well reproduces the inner flattening produced in WDM models, both in the collisionless and in the full-physics runs. In SIDM dark-matter-only runs, haloes are better described by explicitly cored profiles, with core sizes that depend on mass and on the self-interaction model. When baryons are included, the differences between CDM and SIDM decrease, and such large dark-matter cores no longer form because adiabatic contraction in the baryon-dominated region counteracts self-interactions. Nevertheless, the coupling between baryons and self-interactions induces a broader range of inner slopes, including cases that are steeper than CDM at Milky Way masses. Alternative dark matter physics thus leaves clear signatures in the inner halo structure, even if baryons significantly reshape these differences. Our results are useful for future studies that need to predict the properties of haloes in multiple dark matter models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_15869
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The AIDA-TNG project: dark matter profiles and concentrations in alternative dark matter models
Despali, Giulia
Giocoli, Carlo
Moscardini, Lauro
Pillepich, Annalisa
Vogelsberger, Mark
Meneghetti, Massimo
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
In the standard Cold Dark Matter (CDM) scenario, the density profiles of dark matter haloes are well described by analytical models linking their concentration to halo mass. Alternative scenarios, such as warm dark matter (WDM) and self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), modify the inner structure of haloes and predict different profile shapes and central slopes. We employ the AIDA-TNG simulations to investigate how alternative dark matter physics and baryonic processes jointly shape the internal structure of haloes. Using dark-matter-only and full-physics runs, we measure the dark matter density profiles of haloes spanning six orders of magnitude in mass, from 10^9.5 Msun to 10^14.5 Msub, and characterise them with multiple analytical models. We provide the distribution of the best-fitting parameters, as well as the concentration-mass relation in WDM and SIDM. The Einasto profile well reproduces the inner flattening produced in WDM models, both in the collisionless and in the full-physics runs. In SIDM dark-matter-only runs, haloes are better described by explicitly cored profiles, with core sizes that depend on mass and on the self-interaction model. When baryons are included, the differences between CDM and SIDM decrease, and such large dark-matter cores no longer form because adiabatic contraction in the baryon-dominated region counteracts self-interactions. Nevertheless, the coupling between baryons and self-interactions induces a broader range of inner slopes, including cases that are steeper than CDM at Milky Way masses. Alternative dark matter physics thus leaves clear signatures in the inner halo structure, even if baryons significantly reshape these differences. Our results are useful for future studies that need to predict the properties of haloes in multiple dark matter models.
title The AIDA-TNG project: dark matter profiles and concentrations in alternative dark matter models
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.15869