ETHOS -- An Effective Theory of Structure Formation: Impact of Dark Acoustic Oscillations on Cosmic Dawn

Abstract

Upcoming data of the 21-cm hydrogen line during cosmic dawn ($z\sim 10-30$) will revolutionize our understanding of the astrophysics of the first galaxies. Here we present a case study on how to exploit those same measurements to learn about the nature of dark matter (DM) at small scales. Focusing on the Effective Theory of Structure Formation (ETHOS) paradigm, we run a suite of simulations covering a broad range of DM microphysics, connecting the output of $N$-body simulations to dedicated 21-cm simulations to predict the evolution of the 21-cm signal across the entire cosmic dawn. We find that observatories targeting both the global signal and the 21-cm power spectrum are sensitive to all ETHOS models we study, and can distinguish them from CDM if the suppression wavenumber is smaller than $k\approx 300h/$Mpc, even when accounting for feedback with a phenomenological model. This is an order of magnitude smaller comoving scales than currently constrained by other data sets, including the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest. Moreover, if a prospective 21-cm detection confirmed a deficiency of power at small scales, we show that ETHOS models with strong dark acoustic oscillations can be discriminated from the pure suppression of warm dark matter, showing the power of 21-cm data to understand the behavior of DM at the smallest physical scales.

16 pages, 16 figures. Comments are welcome

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• A new life for sterile neutrino dark matter after the pandemic
• The halo mass function and inner structure of ETHOS haloes at high redshift
• Exploring Mirror Twin Higgs Cosmology with Present and Future Weak Lensing Surveys
• X-ray morphology of cluster-mass haloes in self-interacting dark matter
• Probing Dark Relativistic Species and Their Interactions with Dark Matter through CMB and 21cm surveys
• The feasibility of constraining DM interactions with high-redshift observations by JWST
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• Kinetic recoupling of dark matter
• Imprints of fermionic and bosonic mixed dark matter on the 21-cm signal at cosmic dawn
• Exploring delaying and heating effects on the 21-cm signature of fuzzy dark matter