Princeton University Dark Cosmos Seminar

Abstract:  Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) offers the potential to mitigate some of the discrepancies between simulated cold dark matter (CDM) and observed galactic properties.  In various SIDM models, dark matter particles can scatter with each other in elastic or inelastic collisions.  In my talk, I will discuss the effects of elastic and inelastic scattering in Milky Way-sized halos and satellites in dark matter-only zoom-in simulations.  In particular, I will discuss a model with a high probability of endothermic reactions, which has been explored less in the literature, in addition to exothermic and elastic reactions.  The exothermic and elastic reactions alleviate small-scale discrepancies while the endothermic reactions provide a mechanism for low-energy particles in the early universe to inelastically scatter.