Paper
The Cosmological Simulation Code OpenGadget3 -- Implementation of Self-Interacting Dark Matter
Authors
Moritz S. Fischer, Marc Wiertel, Cenanda Arido, Yashraj Patil, Antonio Ragagnin, Klaus Dolag, Marcus Brüggen, Mathias Garny, Andrew Robertson, Kai Schmidt-Hoberg
Abstract
Dark matter (DM) could be subject to non-gravitational self-interactions which is relevant to resolve potential problems of cold DM on small scales. Their impact on astrophysical objects such as galaxies and galaxy clusters allows for constraining the strength of this scattering and eventually further properties of the cross-section. To model self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), N-body simulations are a crucial tool widely employed by the SIDM community. In this paper, we describe the SIDM implementation in the cosmological hydrodynamical N-body code OpenGadget3 and release it to the public. It is capable of simulating elastic scattering for various differential cross-sections, including strongly anisotropic cross-sections. Beyond single-species models, the code also allows simulating a two-species model with cross-species interactions. In addition to describing the numerical schemes for modelling various flavours of SIDM, we discuss the technical challenges of implementing them. Moreover, we demonstrate through several test problems that OpenGadget3 can accurately simulate DM self-interactions. Furthermore, we assess the performance of the code and provide scaling tests. Lastly, we highlight remaining challenges in the context of SIDM and describe directions for improving the current state of the art.
Metadata
Related papers
Cosmic Shear in Effective Field Theory at Two-Loop Order: Revisiting $S_8$ in Dark Energy Survey Data
Shi-Fan Chen, Joseph DeRose, Mikhail M. Ivanov, Oliver H. E. Philcox • 2026-03-30
Stop Probing, Start Coding: Why Linear Probes and Sparse Autoencoders Fail at Compositional Generalisation
Vitória Barin Pacela, Shruti Joshi, Isabela Camacho, Simon Lacoste-Julien, Da... • 2026-03-30
SNID-SAGE: A Modern Framework for Interactive Supernova Classification and Spectral Analysis
Fiorenzo Stoppa, Stephen J. Smartt • 2026-03-30
Acoustic-to-articulatory Inversion of the Complete Vocal Tract from RT-MRI with Various Audio Embeddings and Dataset Sizes
Sofiane Azzouz, Pierre-André Vuissoz, Yves Laprie • 2026-03-30
Rotating black hole shadows in metric-affine bumblebee gravity
Jose R. Nascimento, Ana R. M. Oliveira, Albert Yu. Petrov, Paulo J. Porfírio,... • 2026-03-30
Raw Data (Debug)
{
"raw_xml": "<entry>\n <id>http://arxiv.org/abs/2603.10107v1</id>\n <title>The Cosmological Simulation Code OpenGadget3 -- Implementation of Self-Interacting Dark Matter</title>\n <updated>2026-03-10T18:00:00Z</updated>\n <link href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.10107v1' rel='alternate' type='text/html'/>\n <link href='https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.10107v1' rel='related' title='pdf' type='application/pdf'/>\n <summary>Dark matter (DM) could be subject to non-gravitational self-interactions which is relevant to resolve potential problems of cold DM on small scales. Their impact on astrophysical objects such as galaxies and galaxy clusters allows for constraining the strength of this scattering and eventually further properties of the cross-section. To model self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), N-body simulations are a crucial tool widely employed by the SIDM community. In this paper, we describe the SIDM implementation in the cosmological hydrodynamical N-body code OpenGadget3 and release it to the public. It is capable of simulating elastic scattering for various differential cross-sections, including strongly anisotropic cross-sections. Beyond single-species models, the code also allows simulating a two-species model with cross-species interactions. In addition to describing the numerical schemes for modelling various flavours of SIDM, we discuss the technical challenges of implementing them. Moreover, we demonstrate through several test problems that OpenGadget3 can accurately simulate DM self-interactions. Furthermore, we assess the performance of the code and provide scaling tests. Lastly, we highlight remaining challenges in the context of SIDM and describe directions for improving the current state of the art.</summary>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='astro-ph.IM'/>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='astro-ph.CO'/>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='hep-ph'/>\n <category scheme='http://arxiv.org/schemas/atom' term='physics.comp-ph'/>\n <published>2026-03-10T18:00:00Z</published>\n <arxiv:comment>24 pages, 14 figures + appendix</arxiv:comment>\n <arxiv:primary_category term='astro-ph.IM'/>\n <author>\n <name>Moritz S. Fischer</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Marc Wiertel</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Cenanda Arido</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Yashraj Patil</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Antonio Ragagnin</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Klaus Dolag</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Marcus Brüggen</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Mathias Garny</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Andrew Robertson</name>\n </author>\n <author>\n <name>Kai Schmidt-Hoberg</name>\n </author>\n </entry>"
}