A New Signal Model for Axion Cavity Searches from N-Body Simulations

Understand

Signal estimates for direct axion dark matter searches have used the isothermal sphere halo model for the last several decades.

• While insightful, the isothermal model does not capture effects from a halo's infall history nor the influence of baryonic matter, which has been shown to significantly influence a halo's inner structure.
• The high resolution of cavity axion detectors can make use of modern cosmological structure-formation simulations, which begin from realistic initial conditions, incorporate a wide range of baryonic physics, and are capable of resolving detailed structure.
• This letter uses a state-of-the-art cosmological N-body+Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics simulation to develop an improved signal model for axion cavity searches.