Dark matter from dark energy in q-theory

TL;DR

This paper proposes that small spacetime-dependent perturbations of a $q$-field, which helps cancel vacuum energy, can behave as dark matter, providing a new theoretical candidate that may explain dark matter without new particles.

Contribution

It introduces a model where $q$-field perturbations act as dark matter, linking vacuum energy cancellation to dark matter phenomenology.

Findings

$q$-field perturbations behave as pressureless fluid.

Oscillation frequency of $q$-field is at Planck scale.

Implication for dark matter detection efforts.

Abstract

A constant (spacetime-independent) $q$-field may play a crucial role for the cancellation of Planck-scale contributions to the gravitating vacuum energy density. We now show that a small spacetime-dependent perturbation of the equilibrium $q$-field behaves gravitationally as a pressureless perfect fluid. This makes the fluctuating part of the $q$-field a candidate for the inferred dark-matter component of the present universe. For a Planck-scale oscillation frequency of the $q$-field perturbation, the implication would be that direct searches for dark-matter particles would remain unsuccessful in the foreseeable future.