Fuzzy Dark Matter Constraints from the Hubble Frontier Fields

TL;DR

This paper uses galaxy luminosity data from the Hubble Frontier Fields to place new constraints on fuzzy dark matter particle mass, ruling out masses below approximately 1.5×10⁻²¹ eV with high confidence.

Contribution

It introduces a semi-empirical model fitting UV luminosity functions to constrain fuzzy dark matter particle mass using lensing data.

Findings

Excludes fuzzy dark matter masses below 1.5×10⁻²¹ eV at 2σ confidence.

Provides a model-agnostic bound disfavoring masses below 5×10⁻²² eV.

Forecasts future JWST measurements could tighten these constraints.

Abstract

In fuzzy dark matter (FDM) cosmologies, the dark matter consists of ultralight bosons ($m\lesssim10^{-20}$ eV). The astrophysically large de Broglie wavelengths of such particles hinder the formation of low-mass dark matter halos. This implies a testable prediction: a corresponding suppression in the faint-end of the ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) of galaxies. Notably, recent estimates of the faint-end UVLF at $z\sim5-9$ in the Hubble Frontier Fields, behind foreground lensing clusters, probe up to five magnitudes fainter than typical ("blank-field") regions. These measurements thus far disfavor prominent turnovers in the UVLF at low luminosity, implying bounds on FDM. We fit a semi-empirical model to these and blank-field UVLF data, including the FDM particle mass as a free parameter. This fit excludes cases where the dark matter is entirely a boson of mass $m<1.5\times10^{-21}$ eV (with $2\sigma$ confidence). We also present a less stringent bound deriving solely from the requirement that the total observed abundance of galaxies, integrated over all luminosities, must not exceed the total halo abundance in FDM. This more model-agnostic bound disfavors $m<5\times10^{-22}$ eV ($2\sigma$). We forecast that future UVLF measurements from JWST lensing fields may probe masses several times larger than these bounds, although we demonstrate this is subject to theoretical uncertainties in modeling the FDM halo mass function.