Hydrodynamical simulations of merging galaxy clusters: giant dark matter particle colliders, powered by gravity

Author:

Sirks Ellen L12ORCID,Harvey David3ORCID,Massey Richard2ORCID,Oman Kyle A2ORCID,Robertson Andrew4ORCID,Frenk Carlos2ORCID,Everett Spencer4ORCID,Gill Ajay S5ORCID,Lagattuta David26ORCID,McCleary Jacqueline7ORCID

Affiliation:

1. School of Physics, The University of Sydney and ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics , Sydney, NSW, 2006 , Australia

2. Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham DH1 3LE , UK

3. Laboratoire d’Astrophysique, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny , CH-1290 Versoix , Switzerland

4. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 , USA

5. David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 , Canada

6. Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham DH1 3LE , UK

7. Department of Physics, Northeastern University , 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115 , USA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Terrestrial particle accelerators collide charged particles, then watch the trajectory of outgoing debris – but they cannot manipulate dark matter. Fortunately, dark matter is the main component of galaxy clusters, which are continuously pulled together by gravity. We show that galaxy cluster mergers can be exploited as enormous, natural dark matter colliders. We analyse hydrodynamical simulations of a universe containing self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) in which all particles interact via gravity, and dark matter particles can also scatter off each other via a massive mediator. During cluster collisions, SIDM spreads out and lags behind cluster member galaxies. Individual systems can have quirky dynamics that makes them difficult to interpret. Statistically, however, we find that the mean or median of dark matter’s spatial offset in many collisions can be robustly modelled, and is independent of our viewing angle and halo mass even in collisions between unequal-mass systems. If the SIDM cross-section were σ/m = 0.1 cm2 g−1 = 0.18 barn GeV−1, the ‘bulleticity’ lag would be ∼5 per cent that of gas due to ram pressure, and could be detected at 95 per cent confidence level in weak lensing observations of ∼100 well-chosen clusters.

Funder

Australian Government

Australian Research Council

Royal Society

STFC

European Research Council

BEIS

Durham University

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

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