Velocity-dependent self-interacting dark matter from groups and clusters of galaxies

Abstract

We probe the self-interactions of dark matter with relaxed galaxy groups and clusters using observational data from strong and weak lensing and stellar kinematics. Our analysis uses the Jeans formalism and considers a wider range of systematic effects than in previous work, including adiabatic contraction and stellar anisotropy, to robustly constrain the self-interaction cross section. For both groups and clusters, our results show a mild preference for a nonzero cross section compared with cold collisionless dark matter. Our groups result, σ/m=0.5±0.2 cm2/g, places the first constraint on self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) at an intermediate scale M200∼ 1014 M⊙ between galaxies and massive clusters. For massive clusters with M200∼ 1015 M⊙, our result is σ/m=0.19±0.09 cm2/g, with an upper limit of σ / m < 0.35 cm2/g (95% CL) . Thus, our results disfavor a velocity-independent cross section of order 1 cm2/g or larger needed to impact small scale structure problems in galaxies, but are consistent with a velocity-dependent cross section that decreases with increasing scattering velocity. Comparing the cross sections with and without the effect of adiabatic contraction, we find that adiabatic contraction produces slightly larger values for our data sample, but they are consistent at the 1σ level. Finally, to validate our approach, we apply our Jeans analysis to a sample of mock data generated from SIDM-plus-baryons simulations with σ/m = 1 cm2/g. This is the first test of the Jeans model at the level of stellar and lensing observables directly measured from simulations. We find our analysis gives a robust determination of the cross section, as well as consistently inferring the true baryon and dark matter density profiles.