Dark Matter Density Profile Around a Newborn First Star

Abstract

Ambient dark matter (DM) around binary black holes can imprint characteristic signatures on gravitational waves emitted from their merger. The exact signature depends sensitively on the DM density profile around the black holes. We run very high resolution cosmological hydrodynamics simulations of first star formation that follow the collapse of a $3\times10^{5}\,M_\odot$ mini-halo from $z=49$ to $z\simeq22$. Our flagship model achieves a DM particle mass of $3.7\times10^{-4}\,M_\odot$ and resolves the inner-most structure down to $0.02\,$pc. We show that the halo experiences a two-stage gravitational collapse, where a rotating, constant-density core with $r\lesssim3\,$pc is formed first, surrounded by an extended outskirts. Baryonic infall toward the center continues to raise the local Keplerian velocity and promotes adiabatic contraction of DM. The resulting density profile has an approximately power-law shape of $\rho_{\rm dm} \propto r^{-0.6}$ inside $\sim\!1\,$pc.We find that a piecewise power-law fit reproduces the simulation result to better than 10\%, and also find numerical convergence down to $\simeq\!0.01\,$pc. The DM density profile is typical for ordinary Pop~III halos, but our additional simulations reveal that inner slope varies significantly with halo-to-halo scatter, and the effect of Lyman-Werner irradiation and of supersonic baryon-DM streaming velocities, implying a wide distribution of slopes rather than a single universal curve. The large variation should be considered when calculating the predicted DM-induced dephasing of gravitational waves by up to an order of magnitude relative to the classical analytic model of the DM spike.