First-Principles Formalism for Simulating Self-Interacting Dark Matter

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Ramos, Maria, Cohen, Timothy, Lisanti, Mariangela
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866915688035123200
author Ramos, Maria
Cohen, Timothy
Lisanti, Mariangela
author_facet Ramos, Maria
Cohen, Timothy
Lisanti, Mariangela
contents It is plausible that the dark matter particles have non-gravitational interactions among themselves. If such self interactions are large enough, they could leave an imprint on the morphology of galaxies. These effects can be studied with numerical simulations, which serve as the primary tool to predict the non-linear evolution of galactic structure. A standard assumption is that the course-grained phase-space distribution of the macroscopic simulation particles follows the same evolution equation as that of the fundamental dark matter particles. This Letter tests this assumption directly for the case of frequent dark matter scatterings, demonstrating that this is not generically true. Specifically, we develop a first-principles map from a microscopic particle physics description of self-interacting dark matter to a representation of macroscopic simulation particles for theories in the short-mean-free-path regime. Using this procedure, we show the emergence of an effective force between the simulation particles and derive their interaction cross section, which depends on the one from fundamental particle physics. This work provides the first explicit map from particle physics to simulation, which will facilitate exploring the phenomenological implications for galactic dynamics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_17998
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First-Principles Formalism for Simulating Self-Interacting Dark Matter
Ramos, Maria
Cohen, Timothy
Lisanti, Mariangela
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
It is plausible that the dark matter particles have non-gravitational interactions among themselves. If such self interactions are large enough, they could leave an imprint on the morphology of galaxies. These effects can be studied with numerical simulations, which serve as the primary tool to predict the non-linear evolution of galactic structure. A standard assumption is that the course-grained phase-space distribution of the macroscopic simulation particles follows the same evolution equation as that of the fundamental dark matter particles. This Letter tests this assumption directly for the case of frequent dark matter scatterings, demonstrating that this is not generically true. Specifically, we develop a first-principles map from a microscopic particle physics description of self-interacting dark matter to a representation of macroscopic simulation particles for theories in the short-mean-free-path regime. Using this procedure, we show the emergence of an effective force between the simulation particles and derive their interaction cross section, which depends on the one from fundamental particle physics. This work provides the first explicit map from particle physics to simulation, which will facilitate exploring the phenomenological implications for galactic dynamics.
title First-Principles Formalism for Simulating Self-Interacting Dark Matter
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.17998