New Insights into Dark Matter Profiles from AIDA-TNG Project

The AIDA-TNG project offers new insights into the density profiles and clustering properties of dark matter, pivotal for understanding alternative dark matter models. According to a study submitted on December 17, 2025, the project investigates how alternative dark matter physics, such as warm dark matter (WDM) and self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), affect the internal structure of haloes.

The research utilizes dark-matter-only and full-physics simulations to measure density profiles across a wide mass range, revealing that WDM produces inner flattening in haloes while SIDM results in cored profiles.

When baryonic processes are included, differences between CDM and SIDM diminish, indicating that baryons counteract self-interaction effects. Another study from the AIDA-TNG project explores the abundance, radial distribution, and clustering properties of halos, concluding that these alternative models exhibit distinct clustering behaviors.

This research suggests that small-scale halo clustering can effectively differentiate between dark matter scenarios, laying groundwork for future studies that incorporate baryonic effects and compare with observational data.