A STRINGENT LIMIT ON THE WARM DARK MATTER PARTICLE MASSES FROM THE ABUNDANCE OF z = 6 GALAXIES IN THE HUBBLE FRONTIER FIELDS

ABSTRACT We show that the recently measured UV luminosity functions of ultra-faint lensed galaxies at z 6 in the Hubble Frontier Fields provide an unprecedented probe for the mass mX of the warm dark matter (WDM) candidates independent of baryonic physics. Comparing the measured abundance of the fai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2016-07, Vol.825 (1), p.L1-L1
Main Authors: Menci, N., Grazian, A., Castellano, M., Sanchez, N. G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ABUNDANCE
Astrophysics
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Baryons
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
Confidence intervals
COSMOLOGY
Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics
Dark matter
DENSITY
Galactic Astrophysics
GALAXIES
galaxies: abundances
galaxies: formation
KEV RANGE
LIMITING VALUES
LUMINOSITY
MASS
Neutrinos
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
PARTICLES
Physics
PROBES
Robustness
Sciences of the Universe
STERILE NEUTRINOS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
X RADIATION
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Summary:ABSTRACT We show that the recently measured UV luminosity functions of ultra-faint lensed galaxies at z 6 in the Hubble Frontier Fields provide an unprecedented probe for the mass mX of the warm dark matter (WDM) candidates independent of baryonic physics. Comparing the measured abundance of the faintest galaxies with the maximum number density of dark matter halos in WDM cosmologies sets a robust limit of mX ≥ 2.9 keV for the mass of thermal relic WDM particles at a 1 confidence level, mX ≥ 2.4 keV at 2 , and mX ≥ 2.1 keV at 3 . These constraints are independent of the baryonic physics involved in galaxy formation and constitute the tightest constraints on WDM particle mass derived to date. We discuss the impact of our results on the production mechanism of sterile neutrinos. In particular, if sterile neutrinos are responsible for the 3.5 keV line reported in observations of X-ray clusters, our results firmly rule out the Dodelson-Widrow production mechanism and yield msterile 6.1 keV for sterile neutrinos produced via the Shi-Fuller mechanism.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8205/825/1/L1