- Access by Xinjiang University
Temporal correlations between fuzzy dark matter and baryonic matter in virialized core-halo structures
Phys. Rev. D 114, 043501 – Published 3 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qv41-l822
Abstract
Fuzzy dark matter (FDM) predicts the existence of virialized halos with interference-driven granular structure generated by the wave nature of ultralight bosons. Since these fluctuations produce time-dependent gravitational fields, they can be proposed as a potential source of observable dynamical effects on baryonic matter. In this work we test whether such fluctuations generate measurable temporal correlations between FDM and a coupled gas component. We evolve coupled FDM-gas configurations with the Schrödinger-Poisson-Euler system in three dimensions. The FDM component is initialized through multimerger configurations that relax toward core-halo structures, while the baryonic component is modeled as an ideal gas. After virialization, we analyze the temporal fluctuations of both components through correlation functions and spectral diagnostics. The FDM density field shows fluctuations with significant high-frequency content, whereas the gas develops smoother and longer-lived coherent structures. Although the gas dynamically responds to the gravitational potential generated by the FDM halo, we find no strong temporal correlation between the interference-driven fluctuations of FDM and the gas dynamics. This behavior persists across the explored range of gas temperatures. Our results indicate that baryonic matter reacts to the global gravitational potential of the virialized halo rather than to the detailed phase-dependent granular structure of FDM. This weak temporal coupling may limit the possibility of directly detecting FDM granularity through local baryonic temporal fluctuations.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (30)
- Hsi-Yu Schive, Tzihong Chiueh, and Tom Broadhurst, Cosmic structure as the quantum interference of a coherent dark wave, Nat. Phys. 10, 496 (2014).
- Lam Hui, Jeremiah P. Ostriker, Scott Tremaine, and Edward Witten, Ultralight scalars as cosmological dark matter, Phys. Rev. D 95, 043541 (2017).
- Jens C. Niemeyer, Small-scale structure of fuzzy and axion-like dark matter, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 113, 103787 (2020).
- Lam Hui, Wave dark matter, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 59, 247 (2021).
- Philip Mocz, Mark Vogelsberger, Victor H. Robles, Jesus Zavala, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Anastasia Fialkov, and Lars Hernquist, Galaxy formation with BECDM I. Turbulence and relaxation of idealized haloes, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 471, 4559 (2017).
- Jan Veltmaat, Jens C. Niemeyer, and Bodo Schwabe, Formation and structure of ultralight bosonic dark matter halos, Phys. Rev. D 98, 043509 (2018).
- Simon May and Volker Springel, Structure formation in large-volume cosmological simulations of fuzzy dark matter: Impact of the non-linear dynamics, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 506, 2603 (2021).
- Bodo Schwabe and Jens C. Niemeyer, Deep zoom-in simulation of a fuzzy dark matter galactic halo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 181301 (2022).
- Iván Álvarez-Rios, Francisco S. Guzmán, and Paul R. Shapiro, Effect of boundary conditions on structure formation in fuzzy dark matter, Phys. Rev. D 107, 123524 (2023).
- D. G. Levkov, A. G. Panin, and I. I. Tkachev, Gravitational bose-einstein condensation in the kinetic regime, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 151301 (2018).
- Jiajun Chen, Xiaolong Du, Erik W. Lentz, David J. E. Marsh, and Jens C. Niemeyer, New insights into the formation and growth of boson stars in dark matter halos, Phys. Rev. D 104, 083022 (2021).
- Iván Álvarez Rios and Francisco S Guzmán, Unveiling orbital chaos: The wild heart of fuzzy dark matter structures, Classical Quantum Gravity 42, 085013 (2025).
- Yu Zhao, Andrew Benson, and Xiaolong Du, A semi-analytic model for effects of fuzzy dark matter granule perturbations on orbital motion, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 542, 508 (2025).
- Amr A El-Zant, Zacharias Roupas, and Joseph Silk, Ejection of supermassive black holes and implications for merger rates in fuzzy dark matter haloes, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 499, 2575 (2020).
- Lachlan Lancaster, Cara Giovanetti, Philip Mocz, Yonatan Kahn, Mariangela Lisanti, and David N. Spergel, Dynamical friction in a fuzzy dark matter universe, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2020) 001.
- Philip Mocz, Anastasia Fialkov, Mark Vogelsberger, Fernando Becerra, Mustafa A. Amin, Sownak Bose, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Pierre-Henri Chavanis, Lars Hernquist, Lachlan Lancaster, Federico Marinacci, Victor H. Robles, and Jesús Zavala, First star-forming structures in fuzzy cosmic filaments, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 141301 (2019).
- Jan Veltmaat, Bodo Schwabe, and Jens C. Niemeyer, Baryon-driven growth of solitonic cores in fuzzy dark matter halos, Phys. Rev. D 101, 083518 (2020).
- Iván Álvarez-Rios and Francisco S Guzmán, Exploration of simple scenarios involving fuzzy dark matter cores and gas at local scales, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 518, 3838 (2022).
- Iván Álvarez-Rios and Francisco S. Guzmán, Stationary solutions of the Schrödinger-Poisson-Euler system and their stability, Phys. Lett. B 843, 137984 (2023).
- Iván Alvarez-Rios, Francisco S. Guzmán, and Jens Niemeyer, Fermion-boson stars as attractors in fuzzy dark matter and ideal gas dynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 161003 (2025).
- Iván Álvarez-Rios, Carlos Tena-Contreras, and Francisco S. Guzmán, Kinematic imprints of vortex lines of BEC dark matter on baryonic matter, Phys. Rev. D 111, 123039 (2025).
- Xinyu Li, Lam Hui, and Tomer D. Yavetz, Oscillations and random walk of the soliton core in a fuzzy dark matter halo, Phys. Rev. D 103, 023508 (2021).
- Axel Widmark, Tomer D. Yavetz, and Xinyu Li, Fuzzy dark matter dynamics in tidally perturbed dwarf spheroidal galaxy satellites, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2024) 052.
- Hsi-Yu Schive, Ming-Hsuan Liao, Tak-Pong Woo, Shing-Kwong Wong, Tzihong Chiueh, Tom Broadhurst, and W. Y. Pauchy Hwang, Understanding the core-halo relation of quantum wave dark matter from 3D simulations, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 261302 (2014).
- Bodo Schwabe, Jens C. Niemeyer, and Jan F. Engels, Simulations of solitonic core mergers in ultralight axion dark matter cosmologies, Phys. Rev. D 94, 043513 (2016).
- Philip Mocz, Anastasia Fialkov, Mark Vogelsberger, Fernando Becerra, Mustafa A. Amin, Sownak Bose, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Pierre-Henri Chavanis, Lars Hernquist, Lachlan Lancaster et al., First star-forming structures in fuzzy cosmic filaments, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123 (2019).
- Stephen B. Pope, Turbulent Flows (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2000).
- A. Papoulis and S. U. Pillai, Probability, Random Variables, and Stochastic Processes, McGraw-Hill Electrical and Electronic Engineering Series (McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002).
- F. S. Guzmán, Oscillation modes of ultralight BEC dark matter cores, Phys. Rev. D 99, 083513 (2019).
- I. Alvarez-Rios and F. S. Guzmán, Data: Temporal correlations between fuzzy dark matter and baryonic matter in virialized core–halo structures, 10.5281/zenodo.20534277.
