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1. Milky Way Satellite Census. IV. Constraints on Decaying Dark Matter from Observations of Milky Way Satellite Galaxies

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac6e65  

   Mau, S.; Nadler, E. O.; Wechsler, R. H.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Bechtol, K.; Green, G.; Huterer, D.; Li, T. S.; Mao, Y. -Y.; Martínez-Vázquez, C. E.; et al (June 2022, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We use a recent census of the Milky Way (MW) satellite galaxy population to constrain the lifetime of particle dark matter (DM). We consider two-body decaying dark matter (DDM) in which a heavy DM particle decays with lifetimeτcomparable to the age of the universe to a lighter DM particle (with mass splittingϵ) and to a dark radiation species. These decays impart a characteristic “kick velocity,”V_kick=ϵc, on the DM daughter particles, significantly depleting the DM content of low-mass subhalos and making them more susceptible to tidal disruption. We fit the suppression of the present-day DDM subhalo mass function (SHMF) as a function ofτandV_kickusing a suite of high-resolution zoom-in simulations of MW-mass halos, and we validate this model on new DDM simulations of systems specifically chosen to resemble the MW. We implement our DDM SHMF predictions in a forward model that incorporates inhomogeneities in the spatial distribution and detectability of MW satellites and uncertainties in the mapping between galaxies and DM halos, the properties of the MW system, and the disruption of subhalos by the MW disk using an empirical model for the galaxy–halo connection. By comparing to the observed MW satellite population, we conservatively exclude DDM models withτ< 18 Gyr (29 Gyr) forV_kick= 20 kms⁻¹(40 kms⁻¹) at 95% confidence. These constraints are among the most stringent and robust small-scale structure limits on the DM particle lifetime and strongly disfavor DDM models that have been proposed to alleviate the Hubble andS₈tensions. 

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2. Stepped partially acoustic dark matter, large scale structure, and the Hubble tension

   https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP06(2023)012  

   Buen-Abad, Manuel A.; Chacko, Zackaria; Kilic, Can; Marques-Tavares, Gustavo; Youn, Taewook (June 2023, Journal of High Energy Physics)

   A bstract We propose a new interacting dark sector model, Stepped Partially Acoustic Dark Matter (SPartAcous), that can simultaneously address the two most important tensions in current cosmological data, the H 0 and S 8 problems. As in the Partially Acoustic Dark Matter (PAcDM) scenario, this model features a subcomponent of dark matter that interacts with dark radiation at high temperatures, suppressing the growth of structure at small scales and thereby addressing the S 8 problem. However, in the SPartAcous model, the dark radiation includes a component with a light mass that becomes non-relativistic close to the time of matter-radiation equality. As this light component annihilates away, the remaining dark radiation heats up and its interactions with dark matter decouple. The heating up of the dark sector results in a step-like increase in the relative energy density in dark radiation, significantly reducing the H 0 tension, while the decoupling of dark matter and dark radiation ensures that the power spectrum at larger scales is identical to ΛCDM. 

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3. Forecasts for Galaxy Formation and Dark Matter Constraints from Dwarf Galaxy Surveys

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad3bb1  

   Nadler, Ethan_O; Gluscevic, Vera; Driskell, Trey; Wechsler, Risa_H; Moustakas, Leonidas_A; Benson, Andrew; Mao, Yao-Yuan (May 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract The abundance of faint dwarf galaxies is determined by the underlying population of low-mass dark matter (DM) halos and the efficiency of galaxy formation in these systems. Here, we quantify potential galaxy formation and DM constraints from future dwarf satellite galaxy surveys. We generate satellite populations using a suite of Milky Way (MW)–mass cosmological zoom-in simulations and an empirical galaxy–halo connection model, and assess sensitivity to galaxy formation and DM signals when marginalizing over galaxy–halo connection uncertainties. We find that a survey of all satellites around one MW-mass host can constrain a galaxy formation cutoff at peak virial masses of ${\mathcal{M}}_{50}={10}^8{M}_{\odot }$at the 1σlevel; however, a tail toward low ${\mathcal{M}}_{50}$prevents a 2σmeasurement. In this scenario, combining hosts with differing bright satellite abundances significantly reduces uncertainties on ${\mathcal{M}}_{50}$at the 1σlevel, but the 2σtail toward low ${\mathcal{M}}_{50}$persists. We project that observations of one (two) complete satellite populations can constrain warm DM models withm_WDM≈ 10 keV (20 keV). Subhalo mass function (SHMF) suppression can be constrained to ≈70%, 60%, and 50% that in cold dark matter (CDM) at peak virial masses of 10⁸, 10⁹, and 10¹⁰M_⊙, respectively; SHMF enhancement constraints are weaker (≈20, 4, and 2 times that in CDM, respectively) due to galaxy–halo connection degeneracies. These results motivate searches for faint dwarf galaxies beyond the MW and indicate that ongoing missions like Euclid and upcoming facilities including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will probe new galaxy formation and DM physics. 

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4. Cosmological constraints from the eBOSS Lyman-α forest using the PRIYA simulations

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/07/029  

   Fernandez, MA; Bird, Simeon; Ho, Ming-Feng (July 2024, Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics)

   Abstract We present new cosmological parameter constraints from the eBOSS Lyman-α forest survey. We use a new theoretical model and likelihood based on the PRIYA simulation suite. PRIYA is the first suite to resolve the Lyman-αforest in a (120 Mpc/h)³volume, using a multi-fidelity emulation technique. We use PRIYA to predict Lyman-αforest observables with ≲ 1% interpolation error over an 11 dimensional (9 simulated, 2 in post-processing) parameter space. We identify an internal tension within the flux power spectrum data. Once the discrepant data is removed, we find the primeval scalar spectral index measured at a pivot scale ofk₀= 0.78 Mpc^-1to ben_P= 1.009^+0.027_-0.018at 68% confidence. This measurement from the Lyman-αforest flux power spectrum alone is in reasonable agreement with Planck, and in tension with earlier eBOSS analyses. The amplitude of matter fluctuations isσ₈= 0.733^+0.026_-0.029at 68% confidence, in agreement with Dark Energy Survey weak lensing measurements and other small-scale structure probes and in tension with CMB measurements from Planck and ACT. The effective optical depth to Lyman-α  photons from our pipeline is in good agreement with earlier high resolution measurements. We find a linear power atz= 3 andk= 0.009 s/km of Δ²_L= 0.302^+0.024_-0.027with a slopen_eff= -2.264^+0.026_-0.018. Our flux power spectrum only chains prefer a low level of heating during helium reionization. When we add IGM temperature data we findn_P= 0.983 ± 0.020 andσ₈= 0.703^+0.023_-0.027. Our chains prefer an early and long helium reionization event, as suggested by measurements from the helium Lyman-αforest. In the near future we will use our pipeline to infer cosmological parameters from the DESI Lyman-α data. 

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5. Comparative analysis of interacting stepped dark radiation

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.123513  

   Schöneberg, Nils; Abellán, Guillermo Franco; Simon, Théo; Bartlett, Alexa; Patel, Yashvi; Smith, Tristan L (December 2023, Physical Review D)

   Models which address both the Hubble and S8 tensions with the same mechanism generically cause a pre-recombination suppression of the small scale matter power spectrum. Here we focus on two such models. Both models introduce a self-interacting dark radiation fluid scattering with dark matter, which has a step in its abundance around some transition redshift. In one model, the interaction is weak and with all of the dark matter whereas in the other it is strong but with only a fraction of the dark matter. The weakly interacting case is able to address both tensions simultaneously and provide a good fit to a the Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the Pantheon Type Ia supernovae, and a combination of low and high redshift baryon acoustic oscillation data, whereas the strongly interacting model cannot significantly ease both tensions simultaneously. The addition of high-resolution cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements (ACT DR4 and SPT-3G) slightly limits both model's ability to address the Hubble tension. The use of the effective field theory of large-scale structures analysis of BOSS DR12 LRG and eBOSS DR16 QSO data additionally limits their ability to address the S8 tension. We explore how these models respond to these data sets in detail in order to draw general conclusions about what is required for a mechanism to address both tensions. We find that in order to fit the CMB data the time dependence of the suppression of the matter power spectrum plays a central role. 

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