Late Forming Dark Matter in Theories of Neutrino Dark Energy

Abstract

We study the possibility of Late Forming Dark Matter (LFDM), where a scalar field, previously trapped in a metastable state by thermal or finite density effects, begins to oscillate near the era matter-radiation equality about its true minimum. Such a theory is motivated generally if the dark energy is of a similar form, but has not yet made the transition to dark matter, and, in particular, arises automatically in recently considered theories of neutrino dark energy. If such a field comprises the present dark matter, the matter power spectrum typically shows a sharp break at small, presently nonlinear scales, below which power is highly suppressed and previously contained acoustic oscillations. If, instead, such a field forms a subdominant component of the total dark matter, such acoustic oscillations may imprint themselves in the linear regime.