Abstract
We derive rotation curves for four nearby, low-mass spiral galaxies and use
them to constrain the shapes of their dark matter density profiles. This
analysis is based on high-resolution two-dimensional Halpha velocity fields of
NGC 4605, NGC 5949, NGC 5963, and NGC 6689 and CO velocity fields of NGC 4605
and NGC 5963. In combination with our previous study of NGC 2976, the full
sample of five galaxies contains density profiles that span the range from
alpha_dm = 0 to alpha_dm = 1.20, where alpha_dm is the power law index
describing the central density profile. The scatter in alpha_dm from galaxy to
galaxy is 0.44, three times as large as in Cold Dark Matter (CDM) simulations,
and the mean density profile slope is alpha_dm = 0.73, shallower than that
predicted by the simulations. These results call into question the hypothesis
that all galaxies share a universal dark matter density profile. We show that
one of the galaxies in our sample, NGC 5963, has a cuspy density profile that
closely resembles those seen in CDM simulations, demonstrating that while
galaxies with the steep central density cusps predicted by CDM do exist, they
are in the minority. In spite of these differences between observations and
simulations, the relatively cuspy density profiles we find do not suggest that
this problem represents a crisis for CDM. Improving the resolution of the
simulations and incorporating additional physics may resolve the remaining
discrepancies. We also find that four of the galaxies contain detectable radial
motions in the plane of the galaxy. We investigate the hypothesis that these
motions are caused by a triaxial dark matter halo, and place lower limits on
the ellipticity of the orbits in the plane of the disk of 0.043 - 0.175.
Description
High-Resolution Measurements of the Halos of Four Dark Matter-Dominated
Galaxies: Deviations from a Universal Density Profile
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