The Effect of Adiabatic Compression on Dark Matter Halos and the Radial Acceleration Relation

We use a semiempirical model to investigate the radial acceleration relation (RAR) in a cold dark matter (CDM) framework. Specifically, we build 80 model galaxies covering the same parameter space as the observed galaxies in the SPARC database, assigning them to dark matter (DM) halos using abundance-matching and halo mass-concentration relations. We consider several abundance-matching relations, finding some to be a better match to the kinematic data than others. We compute the unavoidable gravitational interactions between baryons and their DM halos, leading to an overall compression of the original Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) halos. Before halo compression, high-mass galaxies lie approximately on the observed RAR, whereas low-mass galaxies display up-bending hooks at small radii due to DM cusps, making them deviate systematically from the observed relation. After halo compression, the initial NFW halos become more concentrated at small radii, making larger contributions to rotation curves. This increases the total accelerations, moving all model galaxies away from the observed relation. These systematic deviations suggest that the CDM model with abundance matching alone cannot explain the observed RAR. Further effects (e.g., feedback) would need to counteract the compression with precisely the right amount of halo expansion, even in high-mass galaxies with deep potential wells where such effects are generally predicted to be negligible.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the radial acceleration relation (RAR) in a cold dark matter (CDM) framework using a semiempirical model. The study finds that the CDM model with abundance matching alone cannot explain the observed RAR, and the overall compression of dark matter halos leads to systematic deviations from the observed relation.