Searching for signatures of self-interacting dark matter in halos from full physics simulations: From 3D structure to projected observables
- 1Università di Milano Bicocca
- 2INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste
- 3Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)
Abstract
In this work we explore the imprints of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) on the structure of simulated galaxy groups and clusters in view of future optical surveys. We find that baryonic and projection effects both lead to a significant reduction of the SIDM core-forming behavior in the mass and density profiles, resulting in very small (≲5%) deviations from the profiles of standard collisionless dark matter. The opposite trend emerged for our most massive halos, where SIDM significantly enhances the central density instead. We compared these halos with the observed dark matter profiles of two galaxy clusters, MACS J1206 and Abell S1063, finding that SIDM may leave potentially detectable imprints on cluster cores when considering the small observational uncertainty of current kinematic mass measurements. Finally, we find that weak lensing observations provide a promising tool for testing SIDM on cluster scales. In an idealized scenario where systematics are under control, weak lensing shear profiles exhibit deviations of up to ∼20% for M ₂₀₀ ≳ 10 ¹³ M ⊙ halos. Conversely, the projected concentration–mass relation is only slightly modified by our SIDM models. We discuss the limitations of our analysis and the impact of the simulation resolution as well as possible extension of this work. Overall, our results provide a baseline for future SIDM studies. Although line-of-sight projection and baryonic effects significantly reduce SIDM imprints on halo mass profiles, weak lensing and kinematic analyses in galaxy clusters may potentially allow for robust detection and constraining of dark matter self-interactions in massive structures from megaparsec down to kiloparsec scales.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{ferron2026searching,
title = {{Searching for signatures of self-interacting dark matter in halos from full physics simulations: From 3D structure to projected observables}},
author = {G. Y. Ferron and A. Ragagnin and L. Pizzuti and M. S. Fischer},
journal = {Astronomy \& Astrophysics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202661789},
url = {https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202661789},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Searching for signatures of self-interacting dark matter in halos from full physics simulations: From 3D structure to projected observables
AU - G. Y. Ferron
AU - A. Ragagnin
AU - L. Pizzuti
AU - M. S. Fischer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202661789
UR - https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202661789
AB - In this work we explore the imprints of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) on the structure of simulated galaxy groups and clusters in view of future optical surveys. We find that baryonic and projection effects both lead to a significant reduction of the SIDM core-forming behavior in the mass and density profiles, resulting in very small (≲5%) deviations from the profiles of standard collisionless dark matter. The opposite trend emerged for our most massive halos, where SIDM significantly enhances the central density instead. We compared these halos with the observed dark matter profiles of two galaxy clusters, MACS J1206 and Abell S1063, finding that SIDM may leave potentially detectable imprints on cluster cores when considering the small observational uncertainty of current kinematic mass measurements. Finally, we find that weak lensing observations provide a promising tool for testing SIDM on cluster scales. In an idealized scenario where systematics are under control, weak lensing shear profiles exhibit deviations of up to ∼20% for M ₂₀₀ ≳ 10 ¹³ M ⊙ halos. Conversely, the projected concentration–mass relation is only slightly modified by our SIDM models. We discuss the limitations of our analysis and the impact of the simulation resolution as well as possible extension of this work. Overall, our results provide a baseline for future SIDM studies. Although line-of-sight projection and baryonic effects significantly reduce SIDM imprints on halo mass profiles, weak lensing and kinematic analyses in galaxy clusters may potentially allow for robust detection and constraining of dark matter self-interactions in massive structures from megaparsec down to kiloparsec scales.
SN - 0004-6361
SN - 1432-0746
ER -