The density profiles of dark matter halos in spiral galaxies

Gianluca Castignani, Noemi Frusciante, Daniele Vernieri, Paolo Salucci

INFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
NFN, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Trieste, Italy;.
SISSA-ISAS, International School for Advanced Studies.
SISSA-ISAS, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy;.

DOI: 10.4236/ns.2012.45038                

Abstract

In spiral galaxies, we explain their non-Keplerian rotation curves (RCs) by means of a non-luminous component embedding their stellar-gaseous disks. Understanding the detailed properties of this component (labelled Dark Matter, DM) is one of the most pressing issues of Cosmology. We investigate the recent relationship (claimed by Walker et al. 2010, hereafter W + 10) between r, the galaxy radial coordinate, and V_h(r), the dark halo contribution to the circular velocity at r, 1) in the framework of the Universal Rotation Curve (URC) paradigm and directly 2) by means of the kinematics of a large sample of DM dominated spirals. We find a general agreement between the W + 10 claim, the distribution of DM emerging from the URC and that inferred in the (low luminosity) objects of our sample. We show that such a phenomenology, linking the spiral’s luminosity, radii and circular velocities, implies an evident inconsistency with (naive) predictions in the Λ Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) scenario.

Keywords

Galaxies; Spiral; Kinematics and Dynamics; Dark Matter

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Salucci, P., Martins, C.F. and Lapi, A. (2011) DMAW 2010 LEGACY the presentation review: Dark matter in galaxies with its explanatory note. arXiv:1102.1184v1.
[2]	Walker, M.G., McGaugh, S.S., Mateo, M., Olszewski, E.W. and Kuzio de Naray, R. (2010) Comparing the dark matter halos of spiral, low surface brightness, and dwarf Spheroidal galaxies. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 717, L87-L91. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/717/2/L87
[3]	McGaugh, S.S., De Blok, W.J.G., Schombert, J.M., Kuzio de Naray, R. and Kim, J.H. (2007) The rotation velocity attributable to dark matter at intermediate radii in disk galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 659, 149-161. doi:10.1086/511807
[4]	Persic, M. and Salucci, P. (1991) The universal galaxy rotation curve. Astrophysical Journal, 368, 60-65. doi:10.1086/169670
[5]	Persic, M., Salucci, P. and Stel, F. (1996) The universal rotation curve of spiral galaxies—I. The dark matter connection. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 281, 27-47.
[6]	Catinella, B., Giovanelli, R. and Haynes, M.P. (2006) Template rotation curves for disk galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 640, 751-761. doi:10.1086/500171
[7]	Rhee, G., Valenzuela, O., Klypin, A., Holtzman, J. and Moorthy, B. (2004) The rotation curves of dwarf galaxies: A problem for cold dark matter? Astrophysical Journal, 617, 1059-1076. doi:10.1086/425565
[8]	Salucci, P., Lapi, A., Tonini, C., Gentile, G., Yegorova, I. and Klein, U. (2007) The universal rotation curve of spiral galaxies—II. The dark matter distribution out to the virial radius. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 378, 41-47. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11696.x
[9]	Persic, M. and Salucci, P. (1995) Rotation curves of 967 spiral galaxies. Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 99, 501. doi:10.1086/192195
[10]	Freeman, K.C. (1970) On the disks of spiral and so galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 160, 811. doi:10.1086/150474
[11]	Persic, M. and Salucci, P. (1990) Mass decomposition of spiral galaxies from kinematics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 245, 577.
[12]	Evoli, C., Salucci, P., Lapi, A. and Danese, L. (2011) The HI content of local late-type galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 743, 45. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/743/1/45
[13]	Eke, V.R., Cole, S. and Frenk, C.S. (1996) Cluster evolution as a diagnostic for Omega. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 282, 263-280.
[14]	Donato, F., Gentile, G., Salucci, P., Frigerio Martins, C., Wilkinson, M.I., Gilmore, G., Grebel E.K., Koch, A., and Wyse, R. (2009) A constant dark matter halo surface density in galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 397, 1169-1176. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15004.x
[15]	Shankar, F., Lapi, A., Salucci, P., De Zotti, G. and Danese, L. (2006) New relationships between galaxy properties and host halo mass, and the role of feedbacks in galaxy formation. Astrophysical Journal, 643, 14-25. doi:10.1086/502794
[16]	Yegorova, I.A. and Salucci, P. (2007) The radial Tully- Fisher relation for spiral galaxies I. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 377, 507-515. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11637.x
[17]	Persic, M. and Salucci, P. (1990) The disk contribution to rotation curves of spiral galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 247, 349.
[18]	Salucci, P., Ashman, K. and Persic, M. (1991) The dark matter content of spiral galaxies. Astrophysical Journal, 379, 89-93. doi:10.1086/170485
[19]	Navarro, J.F., Frenk, C.S. and White, S.D.M. (1996) The structure of cold dark matter halos. Astrophysical Journal, 462, 563. doi:10.1086/177173
[20]	Klypin, A.A., Trujillo-Gomez, S. and Primack, J. (2011) Dark matter halos in the standard cosmological model: Results from the bolshoi simulation. The Astrophysical Journal, 740, 102. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/740/2/102
[21]	Gentile, G., Salucci, P., Klein, U., Vergani, D. and Kalberla, P. (2004) The cored distribution of dark matter in spiral galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 351, 903-922. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07836.x
[22]	Salucci, P. and Frigerio Martins, C. (2009) The mass distribution in Spiral galaxies. EAS Publications Series, 36, 133-140. doi:10.1051/eas/0936018
[23]	Maccio, A.V., Stinson, G., Brook, C.B., Wadsley, J., Couchman, H.M.P., Shen, S., Gibson, B.K. and Quinn, T. (2012) Halo expansion in cosmological hydro simulations: towards a baryonic solution of the cusp/core problem in massive spirals. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 744, L9. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/744/1/L9
[24]	Governato, F., Brook, C., Mayer, L., Brooks, A., Rhee, G., Wadsley, J., Jonsson, P., Willman, B., Stinson, G., Quinn, T. and Madau, P. (2010) Bulgeless dwarf galaxies and dark matter cores from supernova-driven outflows. Nature, 7278, 203-206. doi:10.1038/nature08640
[25]	Tonini, C., Lapi, A. and Salucci, P. (2006) Angular momentum transfer in dark matter halos: Erasing the cusp. The Astrophysical Journal, 649, 591-598. doi:10.1086/506431