2005/07/31 by N. Tetradis · 11 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Cuspy halo problem #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark energy #Dark fluid #Dark matter #Dark matter halo #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy rotation curve #Halo #Hot dark matter #Light dark matter #Mixed dark matter #Physics #Scalar field dark matter #Warm dark matter #astro-ph #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2005.10.087
published in Physics Letters B 632(4), 463-466 (Elsevier BV) · 7 pages, 1 figure, references added and discussion expanded
arxiv created 2005/09/23 · openalex publication_date 2005/11/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We consider the possibility that the dark matter is coupled through its mass to a scalar field associated with the dark energy of the Universe. In order for such a field to play a role at the present cosmological distances, it must be effectively massless at galactic length scales. We discuss the effect of the field on the distribution of dark matter in galaxy halos. We show that the profile of the distribution outside the galaxy core remains largely unaffected and the approximately flat rotation curves persist. The dispersion of the dark matter velocity is enhanced by a potentially large factor relative to the case of zero coupling between dark energy and dark matter. The counting rates in terrestrial dark matter detectors are similarly enhanced. Existing bounds on the properties of dark matter candidates can be extended to the coupled case, by taking into account the enhancement factor.