Cosmic Structure as the Quantum Interference of a Coherent Dark Wave

Understand

The conventional cold, particle interpretation of dark matter (CDM) still lacks laboratory support and struggles with the basic properties of common dwarf galaxies, which have surprisingly uniform central masses and shallow density profiles.

• In contrast, galaxies predicted by CDM extend to much lower masses, with steeper, singular profiles.
• This tension motivates cold, wavelike dark matter ($\psi$DM) composed of a non-relativistic Bose-Einstein condensate, so the uncertainty principle counters gravity below a Jeans scale.
• Here we achieve the first cosmological simulations of this quantum state at unprecedentedly high resolution capable of resolving dwarf galaxies, with only one free parameter, $\bf{m_B}$, the boson mass.