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High-resolution cosmological simulations of primordial dark matter clustering under long-range and fractional forces

Derek Inman*

  • *Contact author: derek.inman@riken.jp
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 083539 – Published 26 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k2wg-kwt7

Abstract

Long-range attractive fifth forces can lead to exponential instabilities in the early Universe. For fermions with a Yukawa coupling to a sufficiently light scalar mediator, rapid oscillations of the scalar field can lead to a conservative force law with fractional behavior on sufficiently large scales. We study cosmological systems evolving under a Newtonian potential and this fractional potential using high-resolution N-body simulations. If compared at sizes approaching an effective scalar Compton length, we find that halos that form under the fractional potential are much more dense than those that form under the Newtonian potential. However, we also find that at this point the scalar field may develop large fluctuations and be nonperturbative, which will modify subsequent clustering and collapse.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 083539– Published 26 October, 2026
  • Received 16 March 2026
  • Accepted 15 September 2026
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