Improved Mixed Dark Matter Halo Model for Ultralight Axions

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive halo model for mixed dark matter consisting of cold dark matter and ultralight axions, enabling predictions of the matter power spectrum on non-linear scales.

Contribution

It introduces a novel halo model treating ultralight axions as biased tracers of CDM, incorporating clustering and cross-correlations, and adaptable for various axion masses.

Findings

Model predicts matter power spectrum for ULAs across a wide mass range.

Accounts for ULA clustering around CDM halos and cross-correlations.

Framework can be calibrated with future simulations for improved accuracy.

Abstract

We present a complete halo model for mixed dark matter composed of cold dark matter (CDM) and ultralight axion-like particles (ULAs). Our model treats ULAs as a biased tracer of CDM, in analogy to treatments of massive neutrinos and neutral hydrogen. The model accounts for clustering of ULAs around CDM host halos, and fully models the cross correlations of both components. The model inputs include the ULA Jeans scale, and soliton density profile. Our model can be used to predict the matter power spectrum, $P(k)$, on non-linear scales for sub-populations of ULAs across the mass range $10^{-33}\text{ eV}\leq m\leq 10^{-21}\text{ eV}$, and can be calibrated against future mixed DM simulations to improve its accuracy. The mixed DM halo model also allows us to assess the importance of various approximations.