478 research outputs found
The Baryonic Mass Function of Spiral Galaxies: Clues to Galaxy Formation
We compute the baryonic mass function (BMF) of disc galaxies using the best
LFs and baryonic M/L ratios reliable for this goal. For baryonic masses (M_b)
ranging between 10^8 and 10^{11} solar masses, the BMF is featureless, i.e. it
scales as M_b^{-1/2}. Outside this mass range, the BMF is a strong inverse
function of M_b. The contributions to the baryon density Omega_b from objects
of different mass highlight a characteristic mass scale of spirals at about
2x10^{11} solar masses, around which >50% of the total baryonic mass is
concentrated. The integral value, Omega_b= 1.4x10^{-3}, confirms, to a higher
accuracy, previous evidence (Persic & Salucci 1992) that the fraction of BBN
baryons locked in disc galaxies is negligible and matches that of high-z Damped
Lyman Alpha systems (DLAs). We investigate the scenario where DLAs are the
progenitors of present-day spirals, and find a simple relationship between
their masses and HI column densities by which the DLA mass function closely
matches the spiral BMF.Comment: MNRAS, in press. Replaces previous, unrefereed version. 10 pages
MNRAS style LaTeX, 7 figure
Dark Matter Scaling Relations
We establish the presence of a dark matter core radius, for the first time in
a very large number of spiral galaxies of all luminosities. Contrary to common
opinion we find that the sizes of these cores and the " DM core problem" are
bigger for more massive spirals. As a result the Burkert profile provides an
excellent mass model for dark halos around disk galaxies. Moreover, we find
that the spiral dark matter core densities and core radii
lie in the same scaling relation of dwarf galaxies with core radii upto ten times more
smaller.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for Publication in Apj Let
Comment on "Scalar-tensor gravity coupled to a global monopole and flat rotation curves" by Lee and Lee
The recent paper by Lee and Lee (2004) may strongly leave the impression that
astronomers have established that the rotation curves of spiral galaxies are
flat. We show that the old paradigm of Flat Rotation Curves lacks, today, any
observational support and following it at face value leads to intrinsically
flawed alternatives to the Standard Dark Matter Scenario. On the other side, we
claim that the rich systematics of spiral galaxy rotation curves, that reveals,
in the standard Newtonian Gravity framework, the phenomenon of dark matter, in
alternative scenarios, works as a unique benchmark.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.
Dark matter in galaxies: Leads to its nature
Recent observations have revealed the structural properties of the dark and luminous mass distribution in spirals. These results led to the vision of a new and amazing scenario. The investigation of single and coadded objects has shown that the rotation curves of spirals follow, from their centers out to their virial radii, an universal profile that implies a tuned combination of their stellar disk and dark halo mass distributions. This, alongside with accurate mass modeling of individual galaxies, poses important challenges to the presently theoretically favored \u39bCDM Cosmology
Galactic rotation curves in modified gravity with non-minimal coupling between matter and geometry
We investigate the possibility that the behavior of the rotational velocities
of test particles gravitating around galaxies can be explained in the framework
of modified gravity models with non-minimal matter-geometry coupling.
Generally, the dynamics of test particles around galaxies, as well as the
corresponding mass deficit, is explained by postulating the existence of dark
matter. The extra-terms in the gravitational field equations with
geometry-matter coupling modify the equations of motion of test particles, and
induce a supplementary gravitational interaction. Starting from the variational
principle describing the particle motion in the presence of the non-minimal
coupling, the expression of the tangential velocity of a test particle, moving
in the vacuum on a stable circular orbit in a spherically symmetric geometry,
is derived. The tangential velocity depends on the metric tensor components, as
well as of the coupling function between matter and geometry. The Doppler
velocity shifts are also obtained in terms of the coupling function. If the
tangential velocity profile is known, the coupling term between matter and
geometry can be obtained explicitly in an analytical form. The functional form
of this function is obtained in two cases, for a constant tangential velocity,
and for an empirical velocity profile obtained from astronomical observations,
respectively. Therefore, these results open the possibility of directly testing
the modified gravity models with non-minimal coupling between matter and
geometry by using direct astronomical and astrophysical observations at the
galactic or extra-galactic scale.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication in PR
A physical distance indicator for spiral galaxies
In this paper we derive a Tully Fisher relation from measured I band
photometry and H rotation curves of a large survey of southern sky
spiral galaxies, obtained in Persic \& Salucci (1995) by deprojecting and
folding the raw H data of Mathewson, Ford \& Buchhorn (1992). We
calibrate the relation by combining several of the largest clusters in the
survey, using an iterative maximum likelihood procedure to account for
observational selection effects and Malmquist bias. We also incorporate a
simple model for the line of sight depth of each cluster. Our results indicate
a Tully Fisher relation of intrinsic dispersion mag, corresponding to
a distance error dispersion of . Application of this relation to mapping
the large scale velocity field is underway.Comment: Plain TeX Version 3.0, 4 pages, to appear in `Astrophysical Letters
and Communications' - proceedings of the international workshop on
observational cosmology: `From Galaxies to Galaxy Systems', Sesto, July 199
A Bayesian Compressive Sensing Approach to Robust Near-Field Antenna Characterization
A novel probabilistic sparsity-promoting method for robust near-field (NF)
antenna characterization is proposed. It leverages on the
measurements-by-design (MebD) paradigm and it exploits some a-priori
information on the antenna under test (AUT) to generate an over-complete
representation basis. Accordingly, the problem at hand is reformulated in a
compressive sensing (CS) framework as the retrieval of a maximally-sparse
distribution (with respect to the overcomplete basis) from a reduced set of
measured data and then it is solved by means of a Bayesian strategy.
Representative numerical results are presented to, also comparatively, assess
the effectiveness of the proposed approach in reducing the "burden/cost" of the
acquisition process as well as to mitigate (possible) truncation errors when
dealing with space-constrained probing systems.Comment: Submitted to IEE
The Distribution of Mass in the Orion Dwarf Galaxy
Dwarf galaxies are good candidates to investigate the nature of Dark Matter,
because their kinematics are dominated by this component down to small
galactocentric radii. We present here the results of detailed kinematic
analysis and mass modelling of the Orion dwarf galaxy, for which we derive a
high quality and high resolution rotation curve that contains negligible
non-circular motions and we correct it for the asymmetric drift. Moreover, we
leverage the proximity (D = 5.4 kpc) and convenient inclination (47{\deg}) to
produce reliable mass models of this system. We find that the Universal
Rotation Curve mass model (Freeman disk + Burkert halo + gas disk) fits the
observational data accurately. In contrast, the NFW halo + Freeman disk + gas
disk mass model is unable to reproduce the observed Rotation Curve, a common
outcome in dwarf galaxies. Finally, we attempt to fit the data with a MOdified
Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) prescription. With the present data and with the
present assumptions on distance, stellar mass, constant inclination and
reliability of the gaseous mass, the MOND "amplification" of the baryonic
component appears to be too small to mimic the required "dark component". The
Orion dwarf reveals a cored DM density distribution and a possible tension
between observations and the canonical MOND formalism.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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