How efficiently can supernova feedback transform a dark matter cusp into a core?

An analytical model with supernova-driven mass loss links SPARC galaxy constraints to the energy budget for transforming central dark matter density profiles.

The Characteristic Mass and Energy Conversion Efficiency in the Cusp-Core Transition of Dark Matter Haloes: Implications for Scaling Relations and Supernova Feedbacks

The Characteristic Mass and Energy Conversion Efficiency in the Cusp-Core Transition of Dark Matter Haloes: Implications for Scaling Relations and Supernova Feedbacks. Shinozaki, Michi; Mori, Masao; Kaneda, Yuka; Hayashi, Kohei, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 547, 1-12 (2026).

arXiv:2601.13868 Publication · DOI

Approach

An updated cusp–core transformation model includes mass loss and estimates the fraction of supernova energy transferred to the central dark matter potential using SPARC galaxies. Required transformation energies are compared with feedback budgets over burst cycles.

Main result

The inferred energy conversion efficiency is approximately one per cent for the nearby SPARC sample. Comparing the energy budgets identifies a forbidden region for transformation in the halo–stellar mass plane.

Scientific implications

The model supplies an observationally informed benchmark for feedback prescriptions and a framework for interpreting why inner halo structures vary with galaxy properties.

Scope and limitations

The inferred efficiency concerns energy coupled to the dark matter potential, rather than all energy carried by gas outflows. The forbidden region is a model prediction conditioned on feedback and mass-loss assumptions.