Cold Dark Matter and Dark Energy Based on an Analogy with Superconductivity

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new cold dark matter candidate based on fermion condensates analogous to superconductivity, predicting unique cosmic signatures that can be tested with cosmological observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel dark matter model involving fermion pair condensation through a phase transition, linking superconductivity analogy to cosmological dark matter.

Findings

Fermions behave like radiation at high temperatures and condense via a second-order phase transition.

The condensate decays slightly faster than standard cold dark matter, affecting cosmic evolution.

Predictions can be tested through cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure measurements.

Abstract

We present a novel candidate for cold dark matter consisting of condensed Cooper pairs in a theory of interacting fermions with broken chiral symmetry. Establishing the thermal history from the early radiation era to the present, the fermions are shown to behave like standard radiation at high temperatures, but then experience a critical era decaying faster than radiation, akin to freeze-out that sets the relic abundance. Through a second-order phase transition, fermion - antifermion pairs condense and the system asymptotes towards zero temperature and pressure. By the present era, the non-relativistic, massive condensate decays slightly faster than in the standard scenario -- a unique prediction that may be tested by combined measurements of the cosmic microwave background and large scale structure. We also show that in the case of massive fermions, the phase transition is frustrated, and freeze-out instead leaves a residual, long-lived