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We investigate the use of spiral arm pitch angles as a probe of disk galaxy mass profiles. We confirm our previous result that spiral arm pitch angles (P) are well correlated with the rate of shear (S) in disk galaxy rotation curves. We use this correlation to argue that imaging data alone can provide a powerful probe of galactic mass distributions out to large look-back times. We then use a sample of 13 galaxies, with Spitzer 3.6-$mu$m imaging data and observed H$alpha$ rotation curves, to demonstrate how an inferred shear rate coupled with a bulge-disk decomposition model and a Tully-Fisher-derived velocity normalization can be used to place constraints on a galaxys baryon fraction and dark matter halo profile. Finally we show that there appears to be a trend (albeit a weak correlation) between spiral arm pitch angle and halo concentration. We discuss implications for the suggested link between supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and dark halo concentration, using pitch angle as a proxy for SMBH mass.
We investigate the use of spiral arm pitch angles as a probe of disk galaxy mass profiles. We confirm our previous result that spiral arm pitch angles (P) are well-correlated with the rate of shear (S) in disk galaxy rotation curves, by using a much larger sample (51 galaxies) than used previously (17 galaxies). We use this correlation to argue that imaging data alone can provide a powerful probe of galactic mass distributions out to large lookback times. In contrast to previous work, we show that observed spiral arm pitch angles are similar when measured in the optical (at 0.4 um) and the near-infrared (at 2.1 um) with a mean difference of 2.3+/-2.7 degrees. This is then used to strengthen the known correlation between P and S using B-band images. We then use two example galaxies to demonstrate how an inferred shear rate coupled with a bulge-disk decomposition model and a Tully-Fisher derived velocity normalization can be used to place constraints on a galaxys baryon fraction and dark matter halo profile. We show that ESO 582-G12, a galaxy with a high shear rate (slightly declining rotation curve) at ~10 kpc, favors an adiabatically contracted halo, with high initial NFW concentration (c_vir > 16) and a high fraction of halo baryons in the form of stars (~15-40%). In contrast, IC 2522 has a low shear rate (rising rotation curve) at ~10 kpc and favors non-adiabatically contracted models with low NFW concentrations (c_vir ~ 2-8) and a low stellar baryon fraction <10%.
In this paper, we investigate the dark matter halo density profile of M33. We find that the HI rotation curve of M33 is best described by a NFW dark matter halo density profile model, with a halo concentration of cvir = 4.0pm1.0 and a virial mass of Mvir = (2.2pm0.1)times10^11 Msun. We go on to use the NFW concentration (cvir)of M33, along with the values derived for other galaxies (as found in the literature), to show that cvir correlates with both spiral arm pitch angle and supermassive black hole mass.
Recent advancements in the imaging of low-surface-brightness objects revealed numerous ultra-diffuse galaxies in the local Universe. These peculiar objects are unusually extended and faint: their effective radii are comparable to the Milky Way, but their surface brightnesses are lower than that of dwarf galaxies. Their ambiguous properties motivate two potential formation scenarios: the failed Milky Way and the dwarf galaxy scenario. In this paper, for the first time, we employ X-ray observations to test these formation scenarios on a sample of isolated, low-surface-brightness galaxies. Since hot gas X-ray luminosities correlate with the dark matter halo mass, failed Milky Way-type galaxies, which reside in massive dark matter halos, are expected to have significantly higher X-ray luminosities than dwarf galaxies, which reside in low-mass dark matter halos. We perform X-ray photometry on a subset of low-surface-brightness galaxies identified in the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru survey, utilizing the XMM-Newton XXL North survey. We find that none of the individual galaxies show significant X-ray emission. By co-adding the signal of individual galaxies, the stacked galaxies remain undetected and we set an X-ray luminosity upper limit of ${L_{rm{0.3-1.2keV}}leq6.2 times 10^{37} (d/65 rm{Mpc})^2 rm{erg s^{-1}}}$ for an average isolated low-surface-brightness galaxy. This upper limit is about 40 times lower than that expected in a galaxy with a massive dark matter halo, implying that the majority of isolated low-surface-brightness galaxies reside in dwarf-size dark matter halos.
For idealized (spherical, smooth) dark matter halos described by single-parameter density profiles (such as the NFW profile) there exists a one-to-one mapping between the energy of the halo and the scale radius of its density profile. The energy therefore uniquely determines the concentration parameter of such halos. We exploit this fact to predict the concentrations of dark matter halos via a random walk in halo energy space. Given a full merger tree for a halo, the total internal energy of each halo in that tree is determined by summing the internal and orbital energies of progenitor halos. We show that, when calibrated, this model can accurately reproduce the mean of the concentration--mass relation measured in N-body simulations, and reproduces more of the scatter in that relation than previous models. We further test this model by examining both the autocorrelation of scale radii across time, and the correlations between halo concentration and spin, and comparing to results measured from cosmological N-body simulations. In both cases we find that our model closely matches the N-body results. Our model is implemented within the open source Galacticus toolkit.
The NGC 1052 group, and in particular the discovery of two ultra diffuse galaxies with very low internal velocity dispersions, has been the subject of much attention recently. Here we present radial velocities for a sample of 77 globular clusters associated with NGC 1052 obtained on the Keck telescope. Their mean velocity and velocity dispersion are consistent with that of the host galaxy. Using a simple tracer mass estimator, we infer the enclosed dynamical mass and dark matter fraction of NGC 1052. Extrapolating our measurements with an NFW mass profile we infer a total halo mass of 6.2 ($pm$0.2) $times$ 10$^{12}$ M$_{odot}$. This mass is fully consistent with that expected from the stellar mass--halo mass relation, suggesting that NGC 1052 has a normal dark matter halo mass (i.e. it is not deficient in dark matter in contrast to two ultra diffuse galaxies in the group). We present a phase space diagram showing the galaxies that lie within the projected virial radius (390 kpc) of NGC 1052. Finally, we briefly discuss the two dark matter deficient galaxies (NGC 1052--DF and DF4) and consider whether MOND can account for their low observed internal velocity dispersions.