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A test for skewed distributions of dark matter, and a possible detection in galaxy cluster Abell 3827

Taylor, P.; Massey, R.; Jauzac, M.; Courbin, F.; Harvey, D.; Joseph, R.; Robertson, A.

A test for skewed distributions of dark matter, and a possible detection in galaxy cluster Abell 3827 Thumbnail


Authors

P. Taylor

F. Courbin

D. Harvey

R. Joseph

A. Robertson



Abstract

Simulations of self-interacting dark matter predict that dark matter should lag behind galaxies during a collision. If the interaction is mediated by a high-mass force carrier, the distribution of dark matter can also develop asymmetric dark matter tails. To search for this asymmetry, we compute the gravitational lensing properties of a mass distribution with a free skewness parameter. We apply this to the dark matter around the four central galaxies in cluster Abell 3827. In the galaxy whose dark matter peak has previously been found to be offset, we tentatively measure a skewness s=0.23+0.05−0.22 s=0.23−0.22+0.05 in the same direction as the peak offset. Our method may be useful in future gravitational lensing analyses of colliding galaxy clusters and merging galaxies.

Citation

Taylor, P., Massey, R., Jauzac, M., Courbin, F., Harvey, D., Joseph, R., & Robertson, A. (2017). A test for skewed distributions of dark matter, and a possible detection in galaxy cluster Abell 3827. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468(4), 5004-5013. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx855

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 4, 2017
Online Publication Date Apr 6, 2017
Publication Date Apr 6, 2017
Deposit Date Jul 18, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 468
Issue 4
Pages 5004-5013
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx855

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2017. The Authors.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.





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