Signatures of fuzzy dark matter inside radial critical curves

26 Nov 2025, 15:15
15m

Speaker

Dr José María Palencia Sainz (IFCA (Instituto de Física de Cantabria))

Description

We investigated the strong gravitational lensing properties of fuzzy dark matter (FDM) haloes, focussing on the magnification properties near radial critical curves (CCs). Using simulated lenses, we computed magnification maps for a range of axion masses and halo configurations. We show that FDM produces enhanced central magnification and secondary CCs that are not easily reproduced by standard cold dark matter (CDM), even when subhaloes
are included. The strength and scale of these effects depend primarily on the de Broglie wavelength, which is governed by the axion and halo masses. We find that axion masses in the range mψ ∼ 10e-22–10e-21 eV in galaxy-mass haloes lead to distinctive magnification distributions. Our results suggest that observations of highly magnified, compact sources near radial arcs, such as quasars or supernovae, could serve as a powerful test for the presence of FDM

Author

Dr José María Palencia Sainz (IFCA (Instituto de Física de Cantabria))

Presentation materials