Small scale structures in coupled scalar field dark matter

TL;DR

This paper studies how ultralight scalar field dark matter, coupled with quintessence, influences structure formation, providing constraints on particle mass and implications for detection methods.

Contribution

It presents a numerical analysis of the linear power spectrum and estimates of dark matter substructure, establishing bounds on the scalar field mass based on galaxy survey data.

Findings

Lower bound on bolon mass: ~9 x 10^{-22} eV

Excludes detection via pulsar timing in the near future

Provides insights into substructure abundance in Milky Way-like halos

Abstract

We investigate structure formation for ultralight scalar field dark matter coupled to quintessence, in particular the cosmon-bolon system. The linear power spectrum is computed by a numerical solution of the coupled field equations. We infer the substructure abundance within a Milky Way-like halo. Estimates of dark halo abundances from recent galaxy surveys imply a lower bound on the bolon mass of about $9 \times 10^{-22}$ eV. This seems to exclude a possible detection of scalar field dark matter through time variation in pulsar timing signals in the near future.