4.7 Article

Modelling mass distribution in elliptical galaxies: mass profiles and their correlation with velocity dispersion profiles

Journal

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 437, Issue 4, Pages 3670-3687

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt2163

Keywords

galaxies: elliptical and lenticular; cD; galaxies: formation; galaxies: haloes; galaxies: kinematics and dynamics; galaxies: structure; dark matter

Funding

  1. NASA [ADP/NNX09AD02G, OCI-0904482, NNX13AG81G]
  2. NSF
  3. Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago through NSF [PHY-0551142, PHY-1125897]
  4. Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
  5. Division Of Physics [1125897] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
  6. NASA [NNX13AG81G, 474575] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER

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We assemble a statistical set of global mass models for similar to 2000 nearly spherical Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies at a mean redshift of << z >> = 0.12 based on their aperture velocity dispersions and newly derived luminosity profiles in conjunction with published velocity dispersion profiles and empirical properties and relations of galaxy and halo parameters. When two-component (i.e. stellar plus dark) mass models are fitted to the SDSS aperture velocity dispersions, the predicted velocity dispersion profile (VP) slopes within the effective (i.e. projected half-light) radius R-eff match well the distribution in observed elliptical galaxies. From a number of input variations the models exhibit for the radial range 0.1R(eff) < r < R-eff a tight correlation <> = (1.865 +/- 0.008) + (-4.93 +/- 0.15)<> where <> is the mean slope absolute value of the total mass density and <> is the mean slope of the velocity dispersion profile, which leads to a super-isothermal <> = 2.15 +/- 0.04 for <> = -0.058 +/- 0.008 in observed elliptical galaxies. Furthermore, the successful two-component models appear to imply a typical slope curvature pattern in the total mass profile because for the observed steep luminosity (stellar mass) profile and the weak lensing inferred halo profile at large radii a total mass profile with monotonically varying slope would require too high dark matter density in the optical region giving rise to too large aperture velocity dispersion and too shallow VP.

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