An argument that the dark matter is axions

Abstract

An argument is presented that the dark matter is axions, at least in part. It has three steps. First, axions behave differently from the other forms of cold dark matter because they form a rethermalizing Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Second, there is a tool to distinguish axion BEC from the other dark matter candidates on the basis of observation, namely the study of the inner caustics of galactic halos. Third, the observational evidence for caustic rings of dark matter is consistent in every aspect with axion BEC, but not with the other proposed forms of dark matter.

Comments: 8 pages. Invited talk at the 24th Rencontre de Blois on Particle Physics and Cosmology, Blois, France, May 27 - June 1, 2012