No Arabic abstract
With the increasing numbers of large stellar survey projects, the quality and quantity of excellent tracers to study the Milky Way is rapidly growing, one of which is the classical Cepheids. Classical Cepheids are high precision standard candles with very low typical uncertainties ($<$ 3%) available via the mid-infrared period-luminosity relation. About 3500 classical Cepheids identified from OGLE, ASAS-SN, Gaia, WISE and ZTF survey data have been analyzed in this work, and their spatial distributions show a clear signature of Galactic warp. Two kinematical methods are adopted to measure the Galactic rotation curve in the Galactocentric distance range of $4lesssim R_{rm GC} lesssim 19$ kpc. Gently declining rotation curves are derived by both the proper motion (PM) method and 3-dimensional velocity vector (3DV) method. The largest sample of classical Cepheids with most accurate 6D phase-space coordinates available to date are modeled in the 3DV method, and the resulting rotation curve is found to decline at the relatively smaller gradient of ($-1.33pm0.1$) ${rm km,s^{-1},kpc^{-1}}$. Comparing to results from the PM method, a higher rotation velocity (($232.5pm0.83$) ${rm km,s^{-1}}$) is derived at the position of Sun in the 3DV method. The virial mass and local dark matter density are estimated from the 3DV method which is the more reliable method, $M_{rm vir} = (0.822pm0.052)times 10^{12},M_odot$ and $rho_{rm DM,odot} = 0.33pm0.03$ GeV ${rm cm^{-3}}$, respectively.
Flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies are considered as an evidence for dark matter, but the rotation curve of the Milky Way is difficult to measure. Various objects were used to track the rotation curve in the outer parts of the Galaxy, but most studies rely on incomplete kinematical information and inaccurate distances. Here, we use a sample of 773 Classical Cepheids with precise distances based on mid-infrared period-luminosity relations coupled with proper motions and radial velocities from Gaia to construct the accurate rotation curve of the Milky Way up to the distance of ~20 kpc from the Galactic center. We use a simple model of Galactic rotation to measure the rotation speed of the Sun Theta_0 = 233.6 +/- 2.8 km/s, assuming a prior on the distance to the Galactic center R_0 = 8.122 +/- 0.031 kpc from the Gravity Collaboration. The rotation curve at Galactocentric distances 4 < R < 20 kpc is nearly flat with a small gradient of -1.34 +/- 0.21 km/s/kpc. This is the most accurate Galactic rotation curve at distances R > 12 kpc constructed so far.
We review the~current status of the~study of rotation curve (RC) of the~Milky Way, and~present a~unified RC from the~Galactic Center to the galacto-centric distance of about 100 kpc. The~RC is used to directly calculate the~distribution of the~surface mass density (SMD). We then propose a~method to derive the~distribution of dark matter (DM) density in the~in the~Milky Way using the~SMD distribution. The~best-fit dark halo profile yielded a local DM density of $rho_odot = 0.36pm 0.02$ GeV/cc. We also review the~estimations of the~local DM density in the~last decade, and~show that the~value is converging to a~value at $rho_odot=0.39pm 0.09$ GeV/cc.
The unambiguous detection of Galactic dark matter annihilation would unravel one of the most outstanding puzzles in particle physics and cosmology. Recent observations have motivated models in which the annihilation rate is boosted by the Sommerfeld effect, a non-perturbative enhancement arising from a long range attractive force. Here we apply the Sommerfeld correction to Via Lactea II, a high resolution N-body simulation of a Milky-Way-size galaxy, to investigate the phase-space structure of the Galactic halo. We show that the annihilation luminosity from kinematically cold substructure can be enhanced by orders of magnitude relative to previous calculations, leading to the prediction of gamma-ray fluxes from up to hundreds of dark clumps that should be detectable by the Fermi satellite.
The growing trove of precision astrometric observations from the Gaia space telescope and other surveys is revealing the structure and dynamics of the Milky Way in ever more exquisite detail. We summarize the current status of our understanding of the structure and the characteristics of the Milky Way, and we review the emerging picture: the Milky Way is evolving through interactions with the massive satellite galaxies that stud its volume, with evidence pointing to a cataclysmic past. It is also woven with stellar streams, and observations of streams, satellites, and field stars offer new constraints on its dark matter, both on its spatial distribution and its fundamental nature. The recent years have brought much focus to the study of dwarf galaxies found within our Galaxys halo and their internal matter distributions. In this review, we focus on the predictions of the cold dark matter paradigm at small mass scales through precision astrometric measurements, and we summarize the modern consensus on the extent to which small-scale probes are consistent with this paradigm. We note the discovery prospects of these studies, and also how they intertwine with probes of the dynamics and evolution of the Milky Way in various and distinct ways.
In the fundamental quest of the rotation curve of the Milky Way, the tangent-point (TP) method has long been the simplest way to infer velocities for the inner, low latitude regions of the Galactic disk from observations of the gas component. We test the validity of the method on realistic gas distribution and kinematics of the Milky Way, using a numerical simulation of the Galaxy. We show that the resulting velocity profile strongly deviates from the true rotation curve of the simulation, as it overstimates it in the central regions, and underestimates it around the bar corotation. Also, its shape strongly depends on the orientation of the stellar bar. The discrepancies are caused by highly non-uniform azimuthal velocities, and the systematic selection by the TP method of high-velocity gas along the bar and spiral arms, or low-velocity gas in less dense regions. The velocity profile is in good agreement with the rotation curve only beyond corotation, far from massive asymmetric structures. Therefore the observed velocity profile of the Milky Way inferred by the TP method is expected to be very close to the true Galactic rotation curve for 4.5<R<8 kpc. Another consequence is that the Galactic velocity profile for R<4-4.5 kpc is very likely flawed by the non-uniform azimuthal velocities, and does not represent the true Galactic rotation curve, but instead local motions. The real shape of the innermost rotation curve is probably shallower than previously thought. Using a wrong rotation curve has a dramatic impact on the modelling of the mass distribution, in particular for the bulge component of which derived enclosed mass within the central kpc and scale radius are, respectively, twice and half of the actual values. We thus strongly argue against using terminal velocities or the velocity curve from the TP method for modelling the mass distribution of the Milky Way. (abridged)