How Cold Is Cold Dark Matter? Small-Scales Constraints from the Flux Power Spectrum of the High-Redshift Lyman- α Forest
Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: We present constraints on the mass of warm dark matter (WDM) particles derived from the Lyman-$\ensuremath{\alpha}$ flux power spectrum of 55 high-resolution HIRES spectra at $2.0<z<6.4$. From the HIRES spectra, we obtain a lower limit of ${m}_{\mathrm{WDM}}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1.2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{keV}$ ($2\ensuremath{\sigma}$) if the WDM consists of early decoupled thermal relics and ${m}_{\mathrm{WDM}}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}5.6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{keV}$ ($2\ensuremath{\sigma}$) for sterile neutrinos. Adding the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Lyman-$\ensuremath{\alpha}$ flux power spectrum, we get ${m}_{\mathrm{WDM}}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}4\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{keV}$ and ${m}_{\mathrm{WDM}}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}28\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{keV}$ ($2\ensuremath{\sigma}$) for thermal relics and sterile neutrinos. These results improve previous constraints by a factor of 2.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2155976193