Abstract
In a baryon dominated universe, there is no scale length corresponding to the masses of galaxies. If neutrinos with mass <50eV dominate the present mass density of the universe, then their Jeans mass MJv ∼ 1016M⊙, which resembles supercluster rather than galactic masses. Neutral particles that interact much more weakly than neutrinos would decouple much earlier, have a smaller number density today, and consequently could have a mass >50 eV without exceeding the observational mass density limit. A candidate particle is the gravitino, the spin 3/2 supersymmetric partner of the graviton, which has been shown1 to have a mass ≲1 keV if stable2. The Jeans mass for a 1-keV noninteracting particle is ∼1012 M⊙, about the mass of a typical spiral galaxy including the nonluminous halo. We suggest here that the gravitino dominated universe can produce galaxies by gravitational instability while avoiding several observational difficulties associated with the neutrino dominated universe.
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Blumenthal, G., Pagels, H. & Primack, J. Galaxy formation by dissipationless particles heavier than neutrinos. Nature 299, 37–38 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/299037a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/299037a0
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