JWST lensed quasar dark matter survey. IV. Stringent warm dark matter constraints from the joint reconstruction of extended lensed arcs and quasar flux ratios
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We present a measurement of the free-streaming length of dark matter (DM) and subhalo abundance around 28 quadruple image strong lenses using observations from JWST MIRI presented in Paper III of this series. We improve on previous inferences on DM properties from lensed quasars by simultaneously reconstructing extended lensed arcs with image positions and relative magnifications (flux ratios). Our forward modeling framework generates full populations of subhalos, line-of-sight halos, and globular clusters, uses an accurate model for subhalo tidal evolution, and accounts for free-streaming effects on halo abundance and concentration. Modeling lensed arcs leads to more-precise model-predicted flux ratios, breaking covariance between subhalo abundance and the free-streaming scale parameterized by the half-mode mass $m_{\rm{hm}}$. Assuming subhalo abundance predicted by the semi-analytic model {\tt{galacticus}} ($N$-body simulations), we infer (Bayes factor of 10:1) $m_{\rm{hm}} < 10^{7.4} \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ ($m_{\rm{hm}} < 10^{7.2} \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$), a 0.4 dex improvement relative to omitting lensed arcs. These bounds correspond to lower limits on thermal relic DM particle masses of $6.5$ and $7.4$ keV, respectively. Conversely, assuming DM is cold, we infer a projected mass in subhalos ($10^6 < m/M_{\odot}<10^{10.7}$) of $1.7_{-1.2}^{+2.6} \times 10^7 \ \mathrm{M}_{\odot} \ \rm{kpc^{-2}}$ at $95 \%$ confidence. This is consistent with {\tt{galacticus}} predictions ($0.9 \times 10^7 \mathrm{M}_{\odot} \ \rm{kpc^{-2}}$), but in mild tension with recent $N$-body simulations ($0.6 \times 10^7 \mathrm{M}_{\odot} \ \rm{kpc^{-2}}$). Our results are among the strongest bounds on WDM, and the most precise measurement of subhalo abundance around strong lenses. Further improvements will follow from the large sample of lenses to be discovered by Euclid, Rubin, and Roman.
DOI: 10.1103/k2m5-kf6p
Authors: D. Gilman, A. M. Nierenberg, T. Treu, C. Gannon, X. Du, H. Paugnat, S. Birrer, A. J. Benson, P. Mozumdar, K. C. Wong, D. Williams, R. E. Keeley, K. N. Abazajian, T. Anguita, V. N. Bennert, S. G. Djorgovski, S. F. Hoenig, A. Kusenko, M. Malkan, T. Morishita, V. Motta, L. A. Moustakas, W. Sheu, D. Sluse, D. Stern, M. Stiavelli
Institutions: University of Chicago, University of California, Merced, University of California, Los Angeles, Stony Brook University, Carnegie Institution for Science, University of California, Davis, The University of Tokyo, University of California, Irvine, Universidad Andrés Bello, California Polytechnic State University, California Institute of Technology, University of Southampton, University of Valparaíso, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Liège, Space Telescope Science Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, W. M. Keck Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Space Telescope Science Institute, Government of the United Kingdom, UK Research and Innovation, Strong, Carnegie Institution for Science, European Space Agency, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Centro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, Stony Brook University, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Office of Advanced Research Computing, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico
Awards: Collaborative Proposal: Measuring the Physical Properties of Dark Matter with Strong Gravitational Lensing, EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS RESEARCH AT UCLA, G1531022822, Probing the Cosmos with Strong Gravitational Lensing, Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology at UC Irvine, G1771858488, G1822393526, G1918867266, G2009107314, G2048821276, G2108322191, G2173517054, G2304883374, G2311315354, G2428672771, G2588298750, G2676722403, G2742172260, Collaborative Research: A Precise and Accurate Determination of the Hubble Constant Through Stellar Kinematics of Lens Galaxies, G3002601627, Astrophysics enabled by Keck All Sky Precision Adaptive Optics, G3398851854, G3648211085, G3858515798, GRAVITATIONAL LENSING A TOOL TO PROBE THE LENS AND THE SOURCE STRUCTURES, G4164684568, MRI: Acquisition of Pinnacles -- Raising Research Computing to New Heights in California's Central Valley, Collaborative Research: Toward a 1% measurement of the Hubble Constant with gravitational time delays, G4469471764, Towards dynamical black hole masses at cosmic noon, CAREER: An order of magnitude improvement in measurements of the physical properties of dark matter, G551163407, LENSED AGN FROM EUCLID AND LSST OPTIMIZING SAMPLES FOR COSMOGRAPHY AND THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF HIGH-Z AGN., G5834573078, G6178756583, G6218171034, Cosmology with wide-field surveys and a fast emulator, Collaborative Research: Measuring the physical properties of darkmatter with strong gravitational lensing, G6671297155, G7316740004, G7817462066, G830101876, CENTRO DE ASTROFISICA Y TECNOLOGIAS AFINES (CATA), G8976718804
OpenAlex ID: W7163154293