When is it reasonable to abandon a scientific research program? When would it be premature? We take up these questions in the context of a contemporary debate at the border between astrophysics and cosmology, the so-called “small-scale challenges” to the concordance model of cosmology (ΛCDM) and its cold dark matter paradigm. These challenges consist in discrepancies between the outputs of leading cosmological simulations and observational surveys, and have garnered titles such as the Missing Satellites, Too Big To Fail, and Cusp/Core problems. We argue that these challenges do not currently support a wholesale abandonment or even modification of cold dark matter. Indeed, the nature of the challenges suggests prioritizing the incorporation of known physics into cosmological simulations.

什么时候放弃科学研究计划是合理的？什么时候过早？我们在天体物理学和宇宙学之间的边界的当代辩论，对宇宙学的协调模型（ΛCDM）及其冷暗物质范式的所谓“小规模挑战”的背景下讨论了这些问题。这些挑战包括领先的宇宙学模拟输出与观测调查之间的差异，并赢得了诸如失踪卫星，太大而不能倒闭以及尖锐/核心问题之类的称号。我们认为，这些挑战目前不支持大规模抛弃甚至改变冷暗物质。确实，挑战的性质表明，要优先考虑将已知物理学纳入宇宙学模拟中。