Dark matter as a Bose--Einstein Condensate: the relativistic non-minimally coupled case

Bose--Einstein Condensates have been recently proposed as dark matter candidates. In order to characterise the phenomenology associated to such models, we extend previous investigations by studying the most general case of a relativistic BEC on a curved background including a non-minimal coupling to curvature. In particular, we discuss the possibility of a two phase cosmological evolution: a cold dark matter-like phase at the large scales/early times and a condensed phase inside dark matter halos. During the first phase dark matter is described by a minimally coupled weakly self-interacting scalar field, while in the second one dark matter condensates and, we shall argue, develops as a consequence the non-minimal coupling. Finally, we discuss how such non-minimal coupling could provide a new mechanism to address cold dark matter paradigm issues at galactic scales.