2003/06/30 by Masamune Oguri, Keitaro Takahashi, Hiroshi Ohno +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Abundance (ecology) #Astrophysics #Biology #Cluster (spacecraft) #Cold dark matter #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark energy #Dark matter #Ecology #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Hot dark matter #Mixed dark matter #Physics #Redshift #Universe #astro-ph #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/378490
published as Astrophys.J. 597 (2003) 645-649 · 4 pages, 3 figures, emulateapj5, accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 2003/07/15 · openalex publication_date 2003/11/07 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The cluster abundance and its redshift evolution are known to be powerful tools for constraining the amplitude of mass fluctuations σ 8 and the mass density parameter Ω m 0 . We study the impact of the finite decay rate of cold dark matter particles on the cluster abundances. On the basis of a spherical model in a decaying cold dark matter universe, we calculate the mass function of clusters and compare it with observed cluster abundance. We find the decay of cold dark matter particles significantly changes the evolution of the cluster abundance. In particular, we point out that the lifetime of dark matter particles comparable to the age of the universe lowers the ratio of the local cluster abundance to the high-redshift cluster abundance and can account for the observed evolution of the cluster abundance quite well. The strong dependence of the cluster abundance on the decay rate of dark matter suggests that distant cluster surveys may offer clues to the nature of dark matter.