The abundance and height of density peaks that collapse into halos and clusters is predicted in ΛCDM by Gaussian initial conditions and standard growth (Press & Schechter 1974; Sheth & Tormen 1999). Observations and simulations sometimes reveal an excess or deficit of very massive clusters, environment-dependent peak statistics, or narrowness in peak-height distributions compared to baseline (Jenkins 2001; Bhattacharya 2011). The simple Gaussian peak theory does not capture the observed structure cleanly.
The standard model assumes NFW dark-matter halo profiles produce peak-height distributions matching halo-mass-function predictions under standard structure-growth physics. Persistent narrowness or excess in peak-height variance demands missing baryonic physics or non-Gaussian initial conditions, neither of which is parsimonious within minimal ΛCDM.
SCT replaces the hot-dense-center with a superluminal collision and the thermalized debris field. From this single change, what looks like dark-matter halos are actually the constructive interference of comoving baryonic matter throughout the parent hierarchy: Φ_eff = Φ_local + Φ_mesh (P50, P51). The coherent Φ_mesh contribution gives A* = 5.970 in fully virialized halos (P52, parameter-free from 1/f_b), not from cuspy NFW dark-matter particles.
The mesh-based effective halo profile is smoother than the cuspy NFW profile. Cuspy high-end peaks are suppressed because the Φ_mesh contribution is intrinsically coherent and slowly varying with radius, while between-halo low-density regions are slightly enhanced by the same coherent mesh contribution. The result is roughly 20 to 40% narrower peak-height variance than the cuspy NFW prediction. Angular-momentum inheritance (P31, P32) adds shape anisotropy to the peaks, producing axis-aligned peak orientations that combine with the variance narrowness to give a multi-feature signature.
The same M6 framework that produces the peak-statistics deficit (recid 71), the A_lens = 1.18 CMB lensing excess (recid 16, 30), and the cluster-substructure GGSL excess (Meneghetti) produces the peak-height narrowness. Structure without dark-matter particles (P54) is the keystone: removing the cuspy CDM particle and replacing it with the smooth coherent mesh produces all of these observables simultaneously without invoking new baryonic physics.
If precision Euclid + LSST + Roman peak-height statistics converge on the ΛCDM cuspy NFW prediction at the 1% level (no narrowness, no shape anisotropy), the M6 coherent-mesh-profile explanation is refuted. The signature SCT prediction is roughly 20 to 40% narrower peak-height variance combined with axis-aligned peak orientations correlated with the cascade J vector.