Searching for signatures of fuzzy dark matter in cosmic filament profiles

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ID: 321129
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Current observations reveal persistent tensions with the standard cold dark matter paradigm, raising the question of whether these can be explained by baryonic physics alone or require alternative dark matter models. One such alternative is fuzzy (or wave) dark matter, consisting of ultralight particles with mass m ~ 10−22 eV and de Broglie wavelengths on kpc to Mpc scales, which may give rise to large–scale interference patterns in non-linear structures around the cosmic web, such as filaments and clusters. In this work, we search for possible signatures of these interference fringes by investigating periodicities in the distribution of galaxies around cosmic web filaments. To demonstrate our methodology, we compare the filament profiles to a simple model that includes a periodic component of the form Acos (2πd/λ), where A is the maximum density contrast (amplitude) of the periodic component, with wavelength λ = λ0cos θ for some face-on wavelength λ0 inclined at an angle θ to the line of sight. Exploiting the large Sloan Digitial Sky Survey (SDSS) Main Galaxy Sample, we analyse a sample of 4,394 filaments from the Tempel et al. filament catalogue, each containing at least 10 member galaxies. We find a vast portion of the parameter space is consistent with the observations at the 2σ level, including all models with A = 0 (no periodicity). We identify a region of the parameter space in tension with the observations, allowing us to exclude values of A > 0.16λ0 + 0.18 for 0.2 Mpc ≲ λ0 ≲ 2 Mpc at the 3σ level, demonstrating the ability to test models of filament dark matter structure using this methodology.
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Authors Callum J O'Kane, Alfonso Aragón-Salamanca, Ulrike Kuchner, Meghan E Gray
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Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1331
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1331
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