AI Insight
Researchers used JWST observations of 28 gravitationally lensed quasars to place stringent constraints on warm dark matter properties by analyzing both extended arcs and brightness ratios of lensed images. Their improved modeling framework, which accounts for subhalos, line-of-sight halos, and free-streaming effects, constrains the half-mode mass to less than 10^7.4 solar masses, corresponding to a thermal relic dark matter particle mass above 6.5 keV. Additionally, assuming cold dark matter, they measured the projected subhalo mass density to be consistent with theoretical predictions, providing the most precise measurement of subhalo abundance around strong gravitational lenses to date.
Why it matters
These findings represent some of the strongest constraints on warm dark matter models and help distinguish between cold and warm dark matter scenarios, which is fundamental to understanding the nature of dark matter that comprises 85% of the universe's matter. The precise measurements of subhalo abundance will inform future cosmological simulations and dark matter detection experiments.
arXiv:2511.07513v4 Announce Type: replace
Abstract: We present a measurement of the free-streaming length of dark matter (DM) and subhalo abundance around 28 quadruple image strong lenses using observations from JWST MIRI presented in Paper III of this series. We improve on previous inferences on DM properties from lensed quasars by simultaneously reconstructing extended lensed arcs with image positions and relative magnifications (flux ratios). Our forward modeling framework generates full populations of subhalos, line-of-sight halos, and globular clusters, uses an accurate model for subhalo tidal evolution, and accounts for free-streaming effects on halo abundance and concentration. Modeling lensed arcs leads to more-precise model-predicted flux ratios, breaking covariance between subhalo abundance and the free-streaming scale parameterized by the half-mode mass $m_{rm{hm}}$. Assuming subhalo abundance predicted by the semi-analytic model {tt{galacticus}} ($N$-body simulations), we infer (Bayes factor of 10:1) $m_{rm{hm}} < 10^{7.4} mathrm{M}_{odot}$ ($m_{rm{hm}} < 10^{7.2} mathrm{M}_{odot}$), a 0.4 dex improvement relative to omitting lensed arcs. These bounds correspond to lower limits on thermal relic DM particle masses of $6.5$ and $7.4$ keV, respectively. Conversely, assuming DM is cold, we infer a projected mass in subhalos ($10^6 < m/M_{odot}<10^{10.7}$) of $1.7_{-1.2}^{+2.6} times 10^7 mathrm{M}_{odot} rm{kpc^{-2}}$ at $95 %$ confidence. This is consistent with {tt{galacticus}} predictions ($0.9 times 10^7 mathrm{M}_{odot} rm{kpc^{-2}}$), but in mild tension with recent $N$-body simulations ($0.6 times 10^7 mathrm{M}_{odot} rm{kpc^{-2}}$). Our results are among the strongest bounds on WDM, and the most precise measurement of subhalo abundance around strong lenses. Further improvements will follow from the large sample of lenses to be discovered by Euclid, Rubin, and Roman.