The New Dark Matter Density Profile from JWST JADES Galaxies
astro-ph.GA, gr-qc
Submitted: 2026-09-12
Updated: 2026-10-06
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: We present the first dark matter density profile derived directly from James Webb Space Telescope JADES Data Release 3 NIRSpec observations of N = 587 galaxies spanning the cosmic noon epoch 1.5 at
Terminology
Abstract
We present the first dark matter density profile derived directly from James Webb Space Telescope JADES Data Release 3 NIRSpec observations of N = 587 galaxies spanning the cosmic noon epoch 1.5 at most z at most 3.5. From each NIRSpec G235M/G395M spectrum we extract the H α emission-line velocity dispersion σ ha, stack galaxies in four redshift bins of Δz = 0.5, and reconstruct representative group rotation curves within the General Theory of Relativity. Fitting the four-parameter modified exponential model and deriving the exact GTR energy density, we reduce the profile to a compact [2/3] Padé approximant with all coefficients determined in closed form from JWST observations. The profile is cusp-free, fully analytic, and redshift-dependent. Energy conditions, causality, and orbital stability are all satisfied. Most strikingly, the central density ρ(0) varies by less than 15% across z = 1.5 -- 3.5 despite a 35% decline in the asymptotic rotation velocity, revealing a universal dark matter core saturation density at cosmic noon decoupled from baryonic evolution.
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