A New Signal Model for Axion Cavity Searches from N -body Simulations

Signal estimates for direct axion dark matter (DM) searches have used the isothermal sphere halo model for the last several decades. While insightful, the isothermal model does not capture effects from a halo’s infall history nor the influence of baryonic matter, which has been shown to significantl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2017-08, Vol.845 (2)
Main Authors: Lentz, Erik W., Rosenberg, Leslie J., Quinn, Thomas R., Tremmel, Michael J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AXIONS
BARYONS
CAPTURE
HYDRODYNAMICS
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
MILKY WAY
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
RESOLUTION
SENSITIVITY
SIMULATION
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Signal estimates for direct axion dark matter (DM) searches have used the isothermal sphere halo model for the last several decades. While insightful, the isothermal model does not capture effects from a halo’s infall history nor the influence of baryonic matter, which has been shown to significantly influence a halo’s inner structure. The high resolution of cavity axion detectors can make use of modern cosmological structure-formation simulations, which begin from realistic initial conditions, incorporate a wide range of baryonic physics, and are capable of resolving detailed structure. This work uses a state-of-the-art cosmological N -body+Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics simulation to develop an improved signal model for axion cavity searches. Signal shapes from a class of galaxies encompassing the Milky Way are found to depart significantly from the isothermal sphere. A new signal model for axion detectors is proposed and projected sensitivity bounds on the Axion DM eXperiment (ADMX) data are presented.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357