New Cold Dark Matter Crisis Revealed by Multiscale Cluster Lensing

Abstract

The properties of substructure in galaxy clusters, exquisitely probed by gravitational lensing, offer a stringent test of dark matter (DM) models. Combining strong- and weak-lensing data for massive clusters, we map their total mass -- dominated by DM -- over the dynamic range needed to confront small-scale predictions for collisionless cold DM (CDM). Using state-of-the-art lens models, we extract four key subhalo properties: the mass function, projected radial distribution, internal density profile, and tidal truncation radius. We find that the subhalo mass functions and truncation radii are consistent with CDM expectations. In contrast, the inner density profiles and radial distributions of subhalos are strongly discrepant with CDM. The incidence of galaxy-galaxy strong lensing from subhalo cores exceeds CDM predictions by nearly an order of magnitude, requiring inner density slopes as steep as $\gamma \gtrsim 2.5$ within $r\lesssim 0.01R_{200}$ consistent with core-collapsed self-interacting DM (SIDM), while the same subhalos behave as collisionless in their outskirts. Additionally, the observed radial distribution of subhalos hosting bright cluster member galaxies, explicitly modeled in the lens reconstructions, remains incompatible with CDM. Taken together, these small-scale stress tests reveal an intriguing paradox and challenge the DM microphysics of purely collisionless CDM, motivating hybrid scenarios -- such as a dual-component model with both CDM and SIDM or entirely new classes of DM theories.

17 pages, 6 figures; Published in ApJL. Matches published version

References in corpus (84)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Populating a cluster of galaxies - I. Results at z=0
• E pur si muove: Galiliean-invariant cosmological hydrodynamical simulations on a moving mesh
• The SIMBAD astronomical database
• Simulating Galaxy Formation with the IllustrisTNG Model
• Small-Scale Challenges to the $\Lambda$CDM Paradigm
• The Rockstar Phase-Space Temporal Halo Finder and the Velocity Offsets of Cluster Cores
• Response of dark matter halos to condensation of baryons: cosmological simulations and improved adiabatic contraction model
• Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH): An Overview
• How supernova feedback turns dark matter cusps into cores
• Dark matter annihilation at the galactic center
• The subhalo populations of LCDM dark haloes
• A Bayesian approach to strong lensing modelling of galaxy clusters
• The Frontier Fields: Survey Design
• Gravitationally Consistent Halo Catalogs and Merger Trees for Precision Cosmology
• Dark Matter Halos within Clusters
• The dependence of dark matter profiles on the stellar to halo mass ratio: a prediction for cusps vs cores
• Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Lensing Cluster Abell 2218
• K-band Properties of Galaxy Clusters and Groups: Luminosity Function, Radial Distribution and Halo Occupation Number
• Not so lumpy after all: modeling the depletion of dark matter subhalos by Milky Way-like galaxies
• Disruption of Dark Matter Substructure: Fact or Fiction?
• NIHAO IV: Core creation and destruction in dark matter density profiles across cosmic time
• Dark Matter Substructure in Numerical Simulations: A Tale of Discreteness Noise, Runaway Instabilities, and Artificial Disruption
• The Density Profiles of Massive, Relaxed Galaxy Clusters. I. The Total Density Over Three Decades in Radius
• Cluster Lenses
• Small scale problems of the $\Lambda$CDM model: a short review
• The Frontier Fields Lens Modeling Comparison Project
• Self-Interacting Dark Matter Halos and the Gravothermal Catastrophe
• The Dynamics of Sinking Satellites Around Disk Galaxies: A Poor Man's Alternative to High-Resolution Numerical Simulations
• CLASH: Joint Analysis of Strong-Lensing, Weak-Lensing Shear and Magnification Data for 20 Galaxy Clusters
• CLASH-VLT: The mass, velocity-anisotropy, and pseudo-phase-space density profiles of the z=0.44 galaxy cluster MACS 1206.2-0847
• An excess of small-scale gravitational lenses observed in galaxy clusters
• LoCuSS: First Results from Strong-lensing Analysis of 20 Massive Galaxy Clusters at z~0.2
• Lensing by galaxy halos in clusters of galaxies
• A refined mass distribution of the cluster MACS J0416.1$-$2403 from a new large set of spectroscopic multiply lensed sources
• CLASH-VLT: Dissecting the Frontier Fields Galaxy Cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 with $\sim 800$ Spectra of Member Galaxies
• CLASH: Mass Distribution in and around MACS J1206.2-0847 from a Full Cluster Lensing Analysis
• The story of supernova 'Refsdal' told by MUSE
• The survival of dark matter halos in the cluster Cl0024+16
• The impact of baryonic physics on the subhalo mass function and implications for gravitational lensing
• Mapping substructure in the HST Frontier Fields cluster lenses and in cosmological simulations
• Strong lensing models of eight CLASH clusters from extensive spectroscopy: accurate total mass reconstructions in the cores
• Enhanced cluster lensing models with measured galaxy kinematics
• Substructure in lensing clusters and simulations
• Mass distribution in the core of MACS J1206: robust modeling from an exceptionally large sample of central multiple images
• Enhanced tidal stripping of satellites in the galactic halo from dark matter self-interactions
• The tidal evolution of dark matter substructure -- II. The impact of artificial disruption on subhalo mass functions and radial profiles
• Core-collapse, evaporation and tidal effects: the life story of a self-interacting dark matter subhalo
• Signatures of Velocity-Dependent Dark Matter Self-Interactions in Milky Way-mass Halos
• Constraints on the Collisional Nature of the Dark Matter from Gravitational Lensing in the Cluster A2218
• The Galaxy Clustering Crisis in Abundance Matching
• Gravothermal evolution of dark matter halos with differential elastic scattering
• A spectacular giant arc in the massive cluster lens MACSJ1206.2-0847
• A Self-interacting Dark Matter Solution to the Extreme Diversity of Low-mass Halo Properties
• On the Segregation of Dark Matter Substructure
• Subhalo Demographics in the Illustris Simulation: Effects of Baryons and Halo-to-Halo Variation
• Symphony: Cosmological Zoom-in Simulation Suites over Four Decades of Host Halo Mass
• Abundance of substructure in clusters of galaxies
• Self-Interacting Dark Matter and Small-Scale Gravitational Lenses in Galaxy Clusters
• How low does it go? Too few Galactic satellites with standard reionization quenching
• Distinguishing Dark Matter Annihilation Enhancement Scenarios via Halo Shapes
• Radial Distributions of Dwarf Satellite Systems in the Local Volume
• The probability of galaxy-galaxy strong lensing events in hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters
• A persistent excess of galaxy-galaxy strong lensing observed in galaxy clusters
• Dark matter halo cores and the tidal survival of Milky Way satellites
• Constraining the Collisional Nature of the Dark Matter Through Observations of Gravitational Wakes
• The impact of baryonic potentials on the gravothermal evolution of self-interacting dark matter haloes
• Galaxy halo truncation and Giant Arc Surface Brightness Reconstruction in the Cluster MACSJ1206.2-0847
• The Three Hundred Project: Substructure in hydrodynamical and dark matter simulations of galaxy groups around clusters
• hybrid-Lenstool: A self-consistent algorithm to model galaxy clusters with strong- and weak-lensing simultaneously
• Mass Modeling of Frontier Fields Cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 Using Strong and Weak Lensing
• Galaxy-galaxy lensing in the outskirts of CLASH clusters: constraints on local shear and testing mass-luminosity scaling relation
• Luminosity Segregation from Merging in Clusters of Galaxies
• Self-Interacting Dark Matter, Core Collapse and the Galaxy-Galaxy Strong Lensing Discrepancy
• CLASH-VLT: The inner slope of the MACS J1206.2-0847 dark matter density profile
• Not All Subhaloes Are Created Equal: Modelling the Diversity of Subhalo Density Profiles in TNG50
• A million-solar-mass object detected at cosmological distance using gravitational imaging
• Novel Conservative Methods for Adaptive Force Softening in Collisionless and Multi-Species N-Body Simulations
• Dark Matter Mounds: towards a realistic description of dark matter overdensities around black holes
• SIDM Concerto: Compilation and Data Release of Self-interacting Dark Matter Zoom-in Simulations
• A possible challenge for Cold and Warm Dark Matter
• Dark Matter Substructure or Source Model Systematics? A Case Study of Cluster Lens Abell S1063
• Universal numerical convergence criteria for subhalo tidal evolution
• Constraining the Nature of Dark Matter from Tidal Radii of Cluster Galaxy Subhalos