On the interpretation of dark matter self-interactions in Abell 3827

TL;DR

This paper reevaluates the dark matter self-interaction cross section in Abell 3827, correcting previous overestimations and providing more accurate estimates that challenge existing upper bounds.

Contribution

It offers a revised estimate of dark matter self-interaction cross section in Abell 3827, clarifying the sensitivity of observations and implications for dark matter models.

Findings

Corrected the estimate of dark matter self-interaction cross section to ~3 cm^2/g for drag force case.

Found the previous sensitivity estimates were significantly overestimated.

Results are in tension with prior upper bounds on dark matter self-interactions.

Abstract

Self-interactions of dark matter particles can potentially lead to an observable separation between the dark matter halo and the stars of a galaxy moving through a region of large dark matter density. Such a separation has recently been observed in a galaxy falling into the core of the galaxy cluster Abell 3827. We estimated the DM self-interaction cross section needed to reproduce the observed effects and find that the sensitivity of Abell 3827 has been significantly overestimated in a previous study. Our corrected estimate is $\tilde{\sigma}/m_\text{DM} \sim 3\:\text{cm}^2\:\text{g}^{-1}$ when self-interactions result in an effective drag force and $\sigma/m_\text{DM} \sim 1.5\:\text{cm}^2\:\text{g}^{-1}$ for the case of contact interactions, in some tension with previous upper bounds.