Testing the mean field theory of scalar field dark matter

Kavli Affiliate: Tom Abel

| First 5 Authors: Andrew Eberhardt, Alvaro Zamora, Michael Kopp, Tom Abel,

| Summary:

Scalar field dark matter offers an interesting alternative to the traditional
WIMP dark matter picture. Astrophysical and cosmological simulations are useful
to constraining the mass of the dark matter particle in this model. This is
particularly true at low mass where the wavelike nature of the dark matter
particle manifests on astrophysical scales. These simulations typical use a
classical field approximation. In this work, we look at extending these
simulations to include quantum corrections. We look into both the ways in which
large corrections impact the predictions of scalar field dark matter, and the
timescales on which these corrections grow large. Corrections tend to lessen
density fluctuations and increase the effect of "quantum pressure". During
collapse, these corrections grow exponentially, quantum corrections would
become important in about ~30 dynamical times. This implies that the
predictions of classical field simulations may differ from those with quantum
corrections for systems with short dynamical times.

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