Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

GALAXIES

Is dark matter self-interacting?

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Astronomy

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Contrary to usual assumptions, new astronomical observations suggest that dark matter may be self-interacting. If true this would rule out most popular dark matter particle candidates, including supersymmetric neutralinos, axions and sterile neutrinos, as well as black holes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Observational constraints on the cross-section of self-interacting dark matter.

References

  1. Valli, M. & Yu, H.-B. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0560-7 (2018).

  2. Ellis, J. Phys. Scr. T85, 221–230 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Frenk, C. S. & White, S. D. M. Ann. Phys. 524, 507–534 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Weinberg, D. H., Bullock, J. S., Governato, F., Kuzio de Naray, R. & Peter, A. H. G. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 112, 12249–12255 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Carlson, E. D., Machacek, M. E. & Hall, L. J. Astrophys. J. 398, 43–52 (1992).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Randall, S. W. et al. Astrophys. J. 679, 1173–1180 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kahlhoefer, F., Schmidt-Hoberg, K., Frandsen, M. T. & Sarkar, S. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. Lett. 452, L54–L58 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Robertson, A., Massey, R. & Eke, V. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 467, 4719–4730 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Subir Sarkar

  2. Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Subir Sarkar

Authors
  1. Subir Sarkar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Subir Sarkar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sarkar, S. Is dark matter self-interacting?. Nat Astron 2, 856–857 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0598-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0598-6

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation