Star Stream Velocity Distributions in CDM and WDM Galactic Halos

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Carlberg, Raymond G., Jenkins, Adrian, Frenk, Carlos S., Cooper, Andrew P.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Carlberg, Raymond G.
Jenkins, Adrian
Frenk, Carlos S.
Cooper, Andrew P.
author_facet Carlberg, Raymond G.
Jenkins, Adrian
Frenk, Carlos S.
Cooper, Andrew P.
contents The dark matter subhalos orbiting in a galactic halo perturb the orbits of stars in thin stellar streams. Over time the random velocities in the streams develop non-Gaussian wings. The rate of velocity increase is approximately a random walk at a rate proportional to the number of subhalos, primarily those in the mass range $\approx 10^{6-7} M_\odot$. The distribution of random velocities in long, thin, streams is measured in simulated Milky Way-like halos that develop in representative WDM and CDM cosmologies. The radial velocity distributions are well modeled as the sum of a Gaussian and an exponential. The resulting MCMC fits find Gaussian cores of 1-2 km/sec and exponential wings that increase from 3 km/sec for 5.5 keV WDM, 4 km/sec for 7 keV WDM, to 6 km/sec for a CDM halo. The observational prospects to use stream measurements to constrain the nature of galactic dark matter are discussed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_18522
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Star Stream Velocity Distributions in CDM and WDM Galactic Halos
Carlberg, Raymond G.
Jenkins, Adrian
Frenk, Carlos S.
Cooper, Andrew P.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The dark matter subhalos orbiting in a galactic halo perturb the orbits of stars in thin stellar streams. Over time the random velocities in the streams develop non-Gaussian wings. The rate of velocity increase is approximately a random walk at a rate proportional to the number of subhalos, primarily those in the mass range $\approx 10^{6-7} M_\odot$. The distribution of random velocities in long, thin, streams is measured in simulated Milky Way-like halos that develop in representative WDM and CDM cosmologies. The radial velocity distributions are well modeled as the sum of a Gaussian and an exponential. The resulting MCMC fits find Gaussian cores of 1-2 km/sec and exponential wings that increase from 3 km/sec for 5.5 keV WDM, 4 km/sec for 7 keV WDM, to 6 km/sec for a CDM halo. The observational prospects to use stream measurements to constrain the nature of galactic dark matter are discussed.
title Star Stream Velocity Distributions in CDM and WDM Galactic Halos
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.18522