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The Distribution of Mass in (Disk) Galaxies: Maximal or Not?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 February 2015
Abstract
The relative distribution of matter in galaxies ought to be one of the most definitive predictions of galaxy formation models yet its validation is challenged by numerous observational, theoretical, and operational challenges. All galaxies are believed to be dominated by an invisible matter component in their outskirts. A debate has however been blazing for the last two decades regarding the relative fraction of baryons and dark matter in the inner parts of galaxies: whether galaxies are centrally dominated by baryons (“maximal disk”) is of issue. Some of those debates have been misconstrued on account of operational confusion, such as dark matter fractions being measured and compared at different radii. All galaxies are typically baryon-dominated (maximal) at the center and dark-matter dominated (sub-maximal) in their outskirts; for low-mass galaxies (Vtot ≲ 200 km s− 1), the mass of the dark halo equals the stellar mass at least within 2 disk scale lengths, the transition occurs at larger effective radii for more massive galaxies. An ultimate goal for galaxy structure studies is to achieve accurate data-model comparisons for the relative fractions of baryonic to total matter at any radius.
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 10 , Issue S309: Galaxies in 3D across the Universe , July 2014 , pp. 364 - 370
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2015