Hydrostatic Equilibrium Constraints on the Fuzzy Dark Matter Mass from Dwarf Spheroidals: Method, Systematics, and Robustness
Abstract
We present the analysis of a non-parametric estimator of the fuzzy (wave) dark matter (FDM) boson mass based on local hydrostatic equilibrium: the classical gravitational acceleration must be balanced by the gradient of the quantum potential of the Schrödinger-Poisson-Madelung system. We apply this condition, without assuming a soliton or any other parametric profile, to the non-parametric density and enclosed mass posteriors from pyGravSphere of the nine Milky Way dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. For each posterior realization we solve, in a least squares sense over a fixed radial window, for the boson mass that best balances the two terms, which yields a posterior distribution of mass for each galaxy. The per galaxy medians span m∼(0.8-4.6)×10−20 eV, with Draco and Ursa Minor the lightest and Carina and Sextans the heaviest. A weighted mass estimate gives m=(1.3±3.5)×10−20 eV, dominated by Draco and Ursa Minor. We characterize the systematics in detail.
Related
- Accuracy of electric current inference assuming three-dimensional hydrostatic equilibrium
- Accuracy of electric current inference assuming three-dimensional hydrostatic equilibrium
- Calibration-induced Systematics in SALT3 Training and Their Impact on Dark Energy Constraints from Stage IV Supernova Surveys
- Dark energy perturbations and the robustness of cosmological neutrino-mass constraints
- Dark Halos, Intermediate-Mass BH and Nuclear Stellar Clusters in Dwarf Spheroidals
BibTeX
@misc{mitra2026hydrostatic,
title = {{Hydrostatic Equilibrium Constraints on the Fuzzy Dark Matter Mass from Dwarf Spheroidals: Method, Systematics, and Robustness}},
author = {Samrat Mitra and Koushik Dutta},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.21722},
eprint = {2610.21722},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21722},
note = {CC0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Hydrostatic Equilibrium Constraints on the Fuzzy Dark Matter Mass from Dwarf Spheroidals: Method, Systematics, and Robustness
AU - Samrat Mitra
AU - Koushik Dutta
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.21722
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21722
AB - We present the analysis of a non-parametric estimator of the fuzzy (wave) dark matter (FDM) boson mass based on local hydrostatic equilibrium: the classical gravitational acceleration must be balanced by the gradient of the quantum potential of the Schrödinger-Poisson-Madelung system. We apply this condition, without assuming a soliton or any other parametric profile, to the non-parametric density and enclosed mass posteriors from pyGravSphere of the nine Milky Way dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. For each posterior realization we solve, in a least squares sense over a fixed radial window, for the boson mass that best balances the two terms, which yields a posterior distribution of mass for each galaxy. The per galaxy medians span m∼(0.8-4.6)×10^−20 eV, with Draco and Ursa Minor the lightest and Carina and Sextans the heaviest. A weighted mass estimate gives m=(1.3±3.5)×10^−20 eV, dominated by Draco and Ursa Minor. We characterize the systematics in detail.
ER -