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International audience; We introduce a new logotropic model based on a complex scalar field with a logarithmic potential that unifies dark matter and dark energy. The scalar field satisfies a nonlinear wave equation generalizing the Klein-Gordon equation in the relativistic regime and the Schrödinger equation in the nonrelativistic regime. This model has an intrinsically quantum nature and returns the Λ cold dark matter (CDM) model in the classical limit ℏ→0. It involves a new fundamental constant of physics A/c2=2.10×10-26 g m-3 responsible for the late accelerating expansion of the Universe and superseding the Einstein cosmological constant Λ. The logotropic model is almost indistinguishable from the ΛCDM model at large (cosmological) scales but solves the CDM crisis at small (galactic) scales. It also solves the problems of the fuzzy dark matter model. Indeed, it leads to cored dark matter halos with a universal surface density Σ0th=5.85(A/4πG)1/2=133 M⊙/pc2. This universal surface density is predicted from the logotropic model without adjustable parameter and turns out to be close to the observed value Σ0obs=141-52+83 M⊙/pc2. We also argue that the quantities Ωdm,0 and Ωde,0, which are usually interpreted as the present proportions of dark matter and dark energy in the ΛCDM model, are equal to Ωdm,0th=11+e(1-Ωb,0)=0.2559 and Ωde,0th=e1+e(1-Ωb,0)=0.6955 in very good agreement with the measured values Ωdm,0obs=0.2589 and Ωde,0obs=0.6911 (their empirical ratio 2.669 is close to the Euler number e=2.71828…). We point out, however, important difficulties with the logotropic model, similar to those encountered by the generalized Chaplygin gas model. These problems are related to the difficulty of forming large-scale structures due to an increasing speed of sound as the Universe expands. We discuss potential solutions to these problems, stressing in particular the importance to perform a nonlinear study of structure formation.

Despite efforts over several decades, direct-detection experiments have not yet led to the discovery of the dark matter (DM) particle. This has led to increasing interest in alternatives to the Lambda CDM (LCDM) paradigm and alternative DM scenarios (including fuzzy DM, warm DM, self-interacting DM, etc.). In many of these scenarios, DM particles cannot be detected directly and constraints on their properties can ONLY be arrived at using astrophysical observations. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is currently one of the most powerful instruments for wide-field surveys. The synergy of DESI with ESA's Gaia satellite and future observing facilities will yield datasets of unprecedented size and coverage that will enable constraints on DM over a wide range of physical and mass scales and across redshifts. DESI will obtain spectra of the Lyman-alpha forest out to z~5 by detecting about 1 million QSO spectra that will put constraints on clustering of the low-density intergalactic gas and DM halos at high redshift. DESI will obtain radial velocities of 10 million stars in the Milky Way (MW) and Local Group satellites enabling us to constrain their global DM distributions, as well as the DM distribution on smaller scales. The paradigm of cosmological structure formation has been extensively tested with simulations. However, the majority of simulations to date have focused on collisionless CDM. Simulations with alternatives to CDM have recently been gaining ground but are still in their infancy. While there are numerous publicly available large-box and zoom-in simulations in the LCDM framework, there are no comparable publicly available WDM, SIDM, FDM simulations. DOE support for a public simulation suite will enable a more cohesive community effort to compare observations from DESI (and other surveys) with numerical predictions and will greatly impact DM science., Contributed white paper to Snowmass 2021, CF03; minor revisions

European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics 2021, EPS-HEP2021, Online, Germany, 26 Jul 2021 - 30 Jul 2021; Proceedings of Science / International School for Advanced Studies 398, 6 (2022). doi:10.22323/1.398.0177, We explore whether the axion which solves the strong CP problem can naturally be much lighter than the canonical QCD axion. The $Z_\mathcal{N}$ symmetry proposed by Hook, with $\mathcal{N}$ mirror and degenerate worlds coexisting in Nature and linked by the axion field, is considered and the associated phenomenology is studied in detail. On a second step, we show that dark matter can be accounted for by this extremely light axion. This includes the first proposal of a “fuzzy dark matter” QCD axion. A novel misalignment mechanism occurs – trapped misalignment– due to the peculiar temperature dependence of the $Z_\mathcal{N}$ axion potential, which in some cases can also dynamically source the recently proposed kinetic misalignment mechanism. The resulting universal enhancement of all axion interactions relative to those of the canonical QCD axion has a strong impact on the prospects of ALP experiments such as ALPS II, IAXO and many others. For instance, even Phase I of Casper Electric could discover this axion., Published by SISSA, Trieste

We present a novel framework to solve simultaneously the electroweak hierarchy problem and the strong-CP problem. A small but finite Higgs vacuum expectation value and a small $\theta$-angle are selected after the QCD phase transition, without relying on the Peccei-Quinn mechanism or other traditional solutions. We predict a distinctive pattern of correlated signals at hadronic EDM, fuzzy dark matter and axion experiments., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Version published on PRL

We present a novel framework to solve simultaneously the electroweak hierarchy problem and the strong-CP problem. A small but finite Higgs vacuum expectation value and a small $\theta$-angle are selected after the QCD phase transition, without relying on the Peccei-Quinn mechanism or other traditional solutions. We predict a distinctive pattern of correlated signals at hadronic EDM, fuzzy dark matter and axion experiments. We present a novel framework to solve simultaneously the electroweak-hierarchy problem and the strong-CP problem. A small but finite Higgs vacuum expectation value and a small θ angle are selected after the QCD phase transition, without relying on the Peccei-Quinn mechanism or other traditional solutions. We predict a distinctive pattern of correlated signals at hadronic EDM, fuzzy dark matter, and axion experiments.

Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics 2021(10), 001 (2021). doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2021/10/001, We show that dark matter can be accounted for by an axion that solves the strong CP problem, but is much lighter than usual due to a $Z_\mathcal{N}$ symmetry. The whole mass range from the canonical QCD axion down to the ultra-light regime is allowed, with $3\le\mathcal{N}\lesssim65$. This includes the first proposal of a 'fuzzy dark matter' QCD axion with $m_a\sim10^{-22}$ eV. A novel misalignment mechanism occurs - trapped misalignment - due to the peculiar temperature dependence of the $Z_{\mathcal{N}}$ axion potential. The dark matter relic density is enhanced because the axion field undergoes two stages of oscillations: it is first trapped in the wrong minimum, which effectively delays the onset of true oscillations. Trapped misalignment is more general than the setup discussed here, and may hold whenever an extra source of Peccei-Quinn breaking appears at high temperatures. Furthermore, it will be shown that trapped misalignment can dynamically source the recently proposed kinetic misalignment mechanism. All the parameter space is within tantalizing reach of the experimental projects for the next decades. For instance, even Phase I of CASPEr-Electric could discover this axion., Published by IOP, London

The long-term behavior of a modulationally unstable conservative nonintegrable system is known to be characterized by the soliton turbulence self-organization process. We consider this problem in the presence of a long-range interaction in the framework of the Schr\"odinger-Poisson (or Newton-Schr\"odinger) equation accounting for the gravitational interaction. By increasing the amount of nonlinearity, the system self-organizes into a large-scale incoherent localized structure that contains "hidden" coherent soliton states: The solitons can hardly be identified in the usual spatial or spectral domains, while their existence is unveiled in the phase-space representation (spectrogram). We develop a theoretical approach that provides the coupled description of the coherent soliton component (governed by an effective Schr\"odinger-Poisson equation) and of the incoherent component (governed by a wave turbulence Vlasov-Poisson equation). The theory shows that the incoherent structure introduces an effective trapping potential that stabilizes the hidden coherent soliton, a mechanism that we verify by direct numerical simulations. The theory characterizes the properties of the localized incoherent structure, such as its compactly supported spectral shape. It also clarifies the quantum-to-classical correspondence in the presence of gravitational interactions. This study is of potential interest for self-gravitating Boson models of fuzzy dark matter. Although we focus our paper on the Schr\"odinger-Poisson equation, we show that our results are general for long-range wave systems characterized by an algebraic decay of the interacting potential. This work should stimulate nonlinear optics experiments in highly nonlocal nonlinear (thermal) media that mimic the long-range nature of gravitational interactions., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures

Journal of high energy physics 05(5), 107 (2022). doi:10.1007/JHEP05(2022)107, String theory has been claimed to give rise to natural fuzzy dark matter candidates in the form of ultralight axions. In this paper we revisit this claim by a detailed study of how moduli stabilisation affects the masses and decay constants of different axion fields which arise in type IIB flux compactifications. We find that obtaining a considerable contribution to the observed dark matter abundance without tuning the axion initial misalignment angle is not a generic feature of 4D string models since it requires a mild violation of the Sf ≲ M$_{P}$ bound, where S is the instanton action and f the axion decay constant. Our analysis singles out C$_{4}$-axions, C$_{2}$-axions and thraxions as the best candidates to realise fuzzy dark matter in string theory. For all these ultralight axions we provide predictions which can be confronted with present and forthcoming observations., Published by SISSA, [Trieste]

We propose a new broadband search strategy for ultralight axion dark matter that interacts with electromagnetism. An oscillating axion field induces transitions between two quasi-degenerate resonant modes of a superconducting cavity. In two broadband runs optimized for high and low masses, this setup can probe unexplored parameter space for axion-like particles covering fifteen orders of magnitude in mass, including astrophysically long-ranged fuzzy dark matter., 10+14 pages, 3 figures

The nature of dark matter and of dark energy which constitute more than $95\%$ of the energy in the Universe remains a great and unresolved question in cosmology. Cold dark matter can be made of an ultralight scalar field dominated by its mass term which interacts only gravitationally. The cosmological constant introduced to explain the recent acceleration of the Universe expansion can be easily replaced by a scalar field dominated by its potential. More generally, scalar fields are ubiquitous in cosmology: inflaton, dilatons, moduli, quintessence, fuzzy dark matter, dark fluid, etc. are some examples. One can wonder whether all these scalar fields are independent. The dark fluid model aims at unifying quintessence and fuzzy dark matter models with a unique scalar field. One step futher is to unify the dark fluid model with inflation. In the very early Universe such scalar fields are not strongly constrained by direct observations, but Big-Bang nucleosynthesis set constraints on scalar field models which lead to a modification on the abundance of the elements. In this talk we will present a scalar field model unifying dark matter, dark energy and inflation, and study constraints from Big-Bang nucleosynthesis on primordial scalar fields., Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the 40th International Conference on High Energy physics - ICHEP2020, 6 pages, 2 figures

We consider models of scalar dark matter with a generic interaction potential and non-canonical kinetic terms of the K-essence type that are subleading with respect to the canonical term. We analyze the low-energy regime and derive, in the nonrelativistic limit, the effective equations of motions. In the fluid approximation they reduce to the conservation of matter and to the Euler equation for the velocity field. We focus on the case where the scalar field mass $10^{-21} \ll m \lesssim 10^{-4} \, {\rm eV}$ is much larger than for fuzzy dark matter, so that the quantum pressure is negligible on cosmological and galactic scales, while the self-interaction potential and non-canonical kinetic terms generate a significant repulsive pressure. At the level of cosmological perturbations, this provides a dark-matter density-dependent speed of sound. At the nonlinear level, the hydrostatic equilibrium obtained by balancing the gravitational and scalar interactions imply that virialized structures have a solitonic core of finite size depending on the speed of sound of the dark matter fluid. For the most relevant potential in $\lambda_4 \phi^4/4$ or K-essence with a $(\partial \phi)^4$ interaction, the size of such stable cores cannot exceed 60 kpc. Structures with a density contrast larger than $10^6$ can be accommodated with a speed of sound $c_s\lesssim 10^{-6}$. We also consider the case of a cosine self-interaction, as an example of bounded nonpolynomial self-interaction. This gives similar results in low-mass and low-density halos whereas solitonic cores are shown to be absent in massive halos., Comment: 25 pages

Bose-Einstein Condensate Dark Matter (BECDM; also known as Fuzzy Dark Matter) is motivated by fundamental physics and has recently received significant attention as a serious alternative to the established Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model. We perform cosmological simulations of BECDM gravitationally coupled to baryons and investigate structure formation at high redshifts ($z \gtrsim 5$) for a boson mass $m=2.5\cdot 10^{-22}~{\rm eV}$, exploring the dynamical effects of its wavelike nature on the cosmic web and the formation of first galaxies. Our BECDM simulations are directly compared to CDM as well as to simulations where the dynamical quantum potential is ignored and only the initial suppression of the power spectrum is considered -- a Warm Dark Matter-like ("WDM") model often used as a proxy for BECDM. Our simulations confirm that "WDM" is a good approximation to BECDM on large cosmological scales even in the presence of the baryonic feedback. Similarities also exist on small scales, with primordial star formation happening both in isolated haloes and continuously along cosmic filaments; the latter effect is not present in CDM. Global star formation and metal enrichment in these first galaxies are delayed in BECDM/"WDM" compared to the CDM case: in BECDM/"WDM" first stars form at $z\sim 13$/$13.5$ while in CDM star formation starts at $z\sim 35$. The signature of BECDM interference, not present in "WDM", is seen in the evolved dark matter power spectrum: although the small scale structure is initially suppressed, power on kpc scales is added at lower redshifts. Our simulations lay the groundwork for realistic simulations of galaxy formation in BECDM., Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRAS

The investigation of distant galaxy formation and evolution is a powerful tool to constrain dark matter scenarios, supporting and in some cases surpassing other astrophysical and experimental probes. The recent completion of the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) programme combining ultra-deep Hubble Space Telescope observations and the magnification power of gravitational lensing produced by foreground galaxy clusters has enabled the detection of the faintest primordial galaxies ever studied. Here we show how the number density of such primordial galaxies allows to constrain a variety of DM models alternative to CDM. In particular, it provides stringent limits on the mass of thermal WDM candidates, on the parameter space of sterile neutrino production models, and on other DM scenarios featuring particles in the keV mass range which is also supported by recent detections of a 3.5keV X-ray line. These constraints are robust and independent of the baryonic physics modeling of galaxy formation and evolution. Fuzzy DM (ultralight DM particles) results strongly disfavored., Proceedings of Vulcano Workshop 2018 on "Frontier Objects in Astrophysics and Particle Physics". Frascati Physics Series Vol. 66 (2018), 14 pages, 4 figures

International audience; Ultra-light dark matter particles with mass ma ∼ 10 −22 eV, named Fuzzy DarkMatter (FDM), constitute the dark matter candidate with the lowest masspossible. They yield a remarkable phenomenology and could also provide asolution to the small scale CDM "issues". One probe for such models is theLyman-α forest, which provides an indirect measurement for the small-scalematter power spectrum. We compare simulation-based predictions for the Lyman-αforest with the SDSS-DR9 and higher-resolution data, and find that the data isin tension with FDM masses in the range $10^{−22} \le m_a \le 2 − 3 \times 10^{−21}$ eV.

International audience; We investigate the flow around a black hole moving through a cloud of self-interacting scalar dark matter. We focus on the large scalar mass limit, with quartic self-interactions, and on the subsonic regime. We show how the scalar field behaves as a perfect gas of adiabatic index γad=2 at large radii while the accretion rate is governed by the relativistic regime close to the Schwarzschild radius. We obtain analytical results thanks to large-radius expansions, which are also related to the small-scale relativistic accretion rate. We find that the accretion rate is greater than for collisionless particles, by a factor c/cs≫1, but smaller than for a perfect gas, by a factor cs/c≪1, where cs is the speed of sound. The dynamical friction is smaller than for a perfect gas, by the same factor cs/c≪1, and also smaller than Chandrasekhar’s result for collisionless particles, by a factor cs/(cC), where C is the Coulomb logarithm. It is also smaller than for fuzzy dark matter, by a factor v0/c≪1.