Bose-Einstein condensation of dark matter solves the core/cusp problem

TL;DR

This paper proposes that dark matter in dwarf galaxies forms a Bose-Einstein condensate, which naturally explains the observed core profiles and rotation curves without baryonic matter, aligning well with observations and addressing the core/cusp problem.

Contribution

It introduces a Bose-Einstein condensate model for dark matter that predicts non-singular density cores and matches dwarf galaxy rotation curves without baryonic components.

Findings

Good agreement between model predictions and observed rotation curves.

The model predicts extended cores consistent with observations.

Density profiles are non-singular, addressing the core/cusp problem.

Abstract

We analyze the observed properties of dwarf galaxies, which are dark matter dominated astrophysical objects, by assuming that dark matter is in the form of a strongly - coupled, dilute Bose - Einstein condensate. The basic astrophysical properties of the condensate (density profile, rotational velocity, and mass profile, respectively), are derived from a variational principle. To test the validity of the model we compare first the tangential velocity equation of the model with a sample of eight rotation curves of dwarf galaxies. We find a good agreement between the theoretically predicted rotation curves (without any baryonic component) and the observational data. The mean value of the logarithmic inner slope of the mass density profile of dwarf galaxies is also obtained, and it is shown that the observed value of this parameter is in agreement with the theoretical results. The predictions of the Bose - Einstein condensate model are also systematically compared with the predictions of the standard Cold Dark Matter model. The non-singular density profiles of the Bose-Einstein condensed dark matter generally show the presence of an extended core, whose presence is due to the strong interaction between dark matter particles.