The mass distribution in the innermost regions of spiral galaxies

We use high-spatial resolution (100 pc) rotation curves of 83 spiral galaxies to investigate the mass distribution of their innermost kpc. We show that, in this region, the luminous matter completely accounts for the gravitational potential and no dark component is required. The derived I-band disk mass-to-light ratios agree well with those obtained from population synthesis models and correlate with color in a similar way. We find strict upper limits of 10⁷ M for the masses of compact bodies at the center of spirals, ruling out that these systems host the remnants of the quasar activity.     

Infrared constraints on the dark mass concentration observed in the cluster Abell 1942

We present a deep H -band image of the region in the vicinity of the cluster Abell 1942 containing the puzzling dark matter concentration detected in an optical weak lensing study by Erben et al. We demonstrate that our limiting magnitude, H =22 , would be sufficient to detect clusters of appropriate mass out to redshifts comparable with the mean redshift of the background sources. Despite this, our infrared image reveals no obvious overdensity of sources at the location of the lensing mass peak, nor an excess of sources in the I − H versus H colour–magnitude diagram. We use this to constrain further the luminosity and mass-to-light ratio of the putative dark clump as a function of its redshift. We find that for spatially flat cosmologies, background lensing clusters with reasonable mass-to-light ratios lying in the redshift range 0< z <1 are strongly excluded, leaving open the possibility that the mass concentration is a new type of truly dark object.     

The disc mass of spiral galaxies

We derive the disc masses of 18 spiral galaxies of different luminosity and Hubble type, both by mass modelling their rotation curves and by fitting their spectral energy distribution with spectrophotometric models. The good agreement of the estimates obtained from these two different methods allows us to quantify the reliability of their performance and to derive very accurate stellar mass-to-light ratio versus colour (and stellar mass) relationships.     

Dark matter in elliptical galaxies – I. Is the total mass density profile of the NFW form or even steeper?

Elliptical galaxies are modelled as Sérsic luminosity distributions with density profiles (DPs) for the total mass adopted from the DPs of haloes within dissipationless ΛCDM (cold dark matter) N -body simulations. Ellipticals turn out to be inconsistent with cuspy low-concentration NFW models representing the total mass distribution, neither are they consistent with a steeper −1.5 inner slope, nor with the shallower models proposed by Navarro et al., nor with NFW models 10 times more concentrated than predicted, as deduced from several X-ray observations – the mass models, extrapolated inwards, lead to local mass-to-light ratios that are smaller than the stellar value inside an effective radius ( R _e), and to central aperture velocity dispersions that are much smaller than observed. This conclusion remains true as long as there is no sharp steepening (slope < −2) of the dark matter DPs just inside 0.01 virial radii.
The very low total mass and velocity dispersion produced within R _e by an NFW-like total mass profile suggests that the stellar component should dominate the dark matter component out to at least R _e. It should then be difficult to kinematically constrain the inner slope of the DP of ellipticals. The high-concentration parameters deduced from X-ray observations appear to be a consequence of fitting an NFW model to the total mass DP made up of a stellar component that dominates inside and a dark matter component that dominates outwards.
An appendix gives the virial mass dependence of the concentration parameter, central density and total mass of the Navarro et al. model. In a second appendix are given single integral expressions for the velocity dispersions averaged along the line of sight, in circular apertures and in thin slits, for general luminosity density and mass distributions, with isotropic orbits.     

Testing the nonsysmmetric gravitational theory with rotation curves of galaxies

We use the rotation curves of 13 galaxies to test the nonsymmetric gravitaional theory (NGT). If we follow Moffat's assumption of a constant mass-to-light for all galaxies then we shall find that the two supposedly universal constants r₀, L₀ to show a large scatter. By regarding the mass-to-light ratio as a free parameter for each galaxy, and adjusting the values of r₀, L₀, we find that NGT can well account for the observed rotation curves. Further, the mass-to-light ratios so found show the well-known trend along the Hubble morphological sequence.     

Intragroup diffuse light in compact groups of galaxies – II. HCG 15, 35 and 51

This continuing study of intragroup light in compact groups of galaxies aims to establish new constraints to models of formation and evolution of galaxy groups, specially of compact groups, which are a key part in the evolution of larger structures, such as clusters. In this paper we present three additional groups (HCG 15, 35 and 51) using deep wide-field B - and R -band images observed with the LAICA camera at the 3.5-m telescope at the Calar Alto observatory (CAHA). This instrument provides us with very stable flat-fielding, a mandatory condition for reliably measuring intragroup diffuse light. The images were analysed with the ov_wav package, a wavelet technique that allows us to uncover the intragroup component in an unprecedented way. We have detected that 19, 15 and 26 per cent of the total light of HCG 15, 35 and 51, respectively, are in the diffuse component, with colours that are compatible with old stellar populations and with mean surface brightness that can be as low as 28.4 B mag arcsec⁻². Dynamical masses, crossing times and mass-to-light ratios were recalculated using the new group parameters. Also tidal features were analysed using the wavelet technique.     

The virial mass of the nucleus of M32

By means of the virial theorem we derive the dependence of the mass of an oblate spheroid in solid body rotation from the velocity dispersion and the space light density. The latter is obtained from a calibrated and seeing deconvolved brightness profile as numerical and stable solution of the Abel integral equation. The application of the nucleus of M32 gives a central density of 2.1×10^?5 M _⊙ pc^?3, a nuclear mass of 4.3×10^?7 M _⊙ and a mass-to-light ratio of 4.6 inV-band.     

The influence of binary interactions on infrared passbands of populations

In our evolutionary population synthesis models, samples of binaries are reproduced by a ' patched ' Monte Carlo simulation and the stellar masses, integrated   J ,  H ,  K ,  L ,  L 2  and M magnitudes, mass-to-light ratios and broad colours involving infrared bands are presented for an extensive set of instantaneous-burst binary stellar populations. In addition, the fluctuations in the integrated colours, which have been given by Zhang et al., are reduced.
By comparing the results for binary stellar populations with (Model A) and without (Model B) binary interactions, we show that the inclusion of binary interactions makes the stellar mass of a binary stellar population smaller (  ∼3.6–4.5  per cent during the past 15 Gyr), magnitudes greater (except   U , ∼ 0.18 mag  at the most), colours bluer (∼0.15 mag for   V − K   at the most) and mass-to-light ratios greater (∼0.06 for K band) except those in the U and B passbands at higher metallicities. Binary interactions make the V magnitude less sensitive to age, and R and I magnitudes more sensitive to metallicity.
Given an age, the absolute values of the differences in the stellar mass, magnitudes and mass-to-light ratios (except those in the U and B bands) between Models A and B reach a maximum at   Z = 0.0001  , i.e. the effects of binary interactions on these parameters reach a maximum, while the differences in some colours reach a maximum at   Z ∼ 0.01–0.0004  . In contrast, the absolute value of the difference in the stellar mass is minimal at   Z = 0.03  ; those in the   U ,  B ,  V   magnitudes and the mass-to-light ratios in the U and B bands reach a minimum at   Z ∼ 0.01–0.004  .     

Galaxy cluster masses without non-baryonic dark matter

We apply the modified acceleration law obtained from Einstein gravity coupled to a massive skew symmetric field,   F _μνλ  , to the problem of explaining X-ray galaxy cluster masses without exotic dark matter. Utilizing X-ray observations to fit the gas mass profile and temperature profile of the hot intracluster medium (ICM) with King 'β-models', we show that the dynamical masses of the galaxy clusters resulting from our modified acceleration law fit the cluster gas masses for our sample of 106 clusters without the need of introducing a non-baryonic dark matter component. We are further able to show for our sample of 106 clusters that the distribution of gas in the ICM as a function of radial distance is well fitted by the dynamical mass distribution arising from our modified acceleration law without any additional dark matter component. In a previous work, we applied this theory to galaxy rotation curves and demonstrated good fits to our sample of 101 low surface brightness, high surface brightness and dwarf galaxies including 58 galaxies that were fitted photometrically with the single-parameter mass-to-light ratio ( M / L )_stars. The results obtained there were qualitatively similar to those obtained using Milgrom's phenomenological Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) model, although the determined galaxy masses were quantitatively different, and MOND does not show a return to Keplerian behaviour at extragalactic distances. The results obtained here are compared to those obtained using Milgrom's phenomenological MOND model which does not fit the X-ray galaxy cluster masses unless an auxiliary dark matter component is included.     

Regularized orbit models unveiling the stellar structure and dark matter halo of the Coma elliptical NGC 4807

This is the second in a series of papers dedicated to unveiling the mass structure and orbital content of a sample of flattened early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster. The ability of our orbit libraries to reconstruct internal stellar motions and the mass composition of a typical elliptical in the sample is investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations of isotropic rotator models. The simulations allow a determination of the optimal amount of regularization needed in the orbit superpositions. It is shown that under realistic observational conditions and with the appropriate regularization, internal velocity moments can be reconstructed to an accuracy of ≈15 per cent; the same accuracy can be achieved for the circular velocity and dark matter fraction. In contrast, the flattening of the halo remains unconstrained. Regularized orbit superpositions are applied to a first galaxy in our sample, NGC 4807, for which stellar kinematical observations extend to  3  r _eff  . The galaxy seems dark-matter dominated outside   r > 2  r _eff  . Logarithmic dark matter potentials are consistent with the data, as well as NFW profiles, mimicking logarithmic potentials over the observationally sampled radial range. In both cases, the derived stellar mass-to-light ratio ϒ agrees well with independently obtained mass-to-light ratios from stellar population analysis. The achieved accuracy is  Δϒ≈ 0.5  . Kinematically, NGC 4807 is characterized by mild radial anisotropy outside   r > 0.5  r _eff  , becoming isotropic towards the centre. Our orbit models hint at either a distinct stellar component or weak triaxiality in the outer parts of the galaxy.     

Relationship between the thickness of stellar disks and the relative mass of a dark galactic halo

We analyze the R-and K _s-band photometric profiles for two independent samples of edge-on galaxies. The thickness of old stellar disks is shown to be related to the relative masses of the spherical and disk components of galaxies. The radial-to-vertical scale length ratio for galactic disks increases (the disks become thinner) with increasing total mass-to-light ratio of the galaxies, which reflects the relative contribution of the dark halo to the total mass, and with decreasing central deprojected disk brightness (density). Our results are in good agreement with numerical models of collisionless disks that evolved to a marginally stable equilibrium state. This suggests that, in most galaxies, the vertical stellar-velocity dispersion, on which the equilibrium-disk thickness depends, is close to a minimum value that ensures disk stability. The thinnest edge-on disks appear to be low-brightness galaxies in which the dark-halo mass far exceeds the stellar-disk mass.     

On the mass and density of the stellar disk of M33

The disk surface density of the nearby spiral galaxy M33 is estimated assuming that it is marginally stable against gravitational perturbations. For this purpose we used the radial profile of line-of-sight velocity dispersion of the disk planetary nebulae obtained by Ciardullo et al. (2004). The surface density profile we obtained is characterized by the radial scalelength which is close to the photometrical one and is in a good agreement with the rotation curve of M33 and with the mass-to-light ratio which follows from the stellar population model. However at the galactocentric distance r > 7 kpc the dynamical overheating of the disk remains quite possible. The thickness of the stellar disk of M33 should increase outwards from the center. The dark halo to total mass ratio is estimated as a function of r. The effective oxygen yield obtained in the frame of instantaneous recycling approximation using the disk surface density and the observed gradient of O/H increases with radius. It may indicate that the role of accretion of metalpoor gas in the chemical evolution of interstellar medium decreases outwards.     

Influence of the non-luminous component on dynamical and structural properties of galaxy clusters

In this paper a family of two-component non-isothermal hydrostatic models are elaborated in order to simulate clusters of galaxies in which a dark background exists. The influence of an invisible component on the dynamical analysis is examined. We show that the mass-to-light ratio MLR is not linearly related to the actual amount of the unseen mass, leading to the conclusion that the MLR is not a reliable indicator of the amount of dark matter in clusters of galaxies. The determination of the mass depends strongly on the relative concentration of both the luminous and the dark component. This is the so-called Limber effect which is quantified on the ground of our two-component hydrostatic models. The asymptotic behaviour of the density profile of both components is investigated. We found that they allow useful information to be obtained on the distribution of the unseen component and on its thermodynamical state. We also show that intra-cluster medium (ICM) can not mimic the dark matter and consequently one has to invoke the dark matter to explain the high MLRs in galaxy clusters.     

The dark matter environment of the Abell 901/902 supercluster: a weak lensing analysis of the HST STAGES survey

We present a high-resolution dark matter reconstruction of the   z = 0.165  Abell 901/902 supercluster from a weak lensing analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope STAGES survey. We detect the four main structures of the supercluster at high significance, resolving substructure within and between the clusters. We find that the distribution of dark matter is well traced by the cluster galaxies, with the brightest cluster galaxies marking out the strongest peaks in the dark matter distribution. We also find a significant extension of the dark matter distribution of Abell 901a in the direction of an infalling X-ray group Abell 901α. We present mass, mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio measurements of the structures and substructures that we detect. We find no evidence for variation of the mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio between the different clusters. We compare our space-based lensing analysis with an earlier ground-based lensing analysis of the supercluster to demonstrate the importance of space-based imaging for future weak lensing dark matter 'observations'.     

Non-parametric reconstruction of cluster mass distribution from strong lensing: modelling Abell 370

We describe a new non-parametric technique for reconstructing the mass distribution in galaxy clusters with strong lensing, i.e. from multiple images of background galaxies. The observed positions and redshifts of the images are considered as rigid constraints, and through the lens (ray-trace) equation they provide us with linear constraint equations. These constraints confine the mass distribution to some allowed region, which is then found by linear programming. Within this allowed region we study in detail the mass distribution with minimum mass-to-light variation, and also some other distributions, such as the smoothest mass distribution.
The method is applied to the extensively studied cluster Abell 370, which hosts a giant luminous arc and several other multiply imaged background galaxies. Our mass maps are constrained by the observed positions and redshifts (spectroscopic or model-inferred by previous authors) of the giant arc and multiple-image systems. The reconstructed maps obtained for Abell 370 reveal a detailed mass distribution, with substructure quite different from the light distribution. The method predicts the bimodal nature of the cluster, and that the projected mass distribution is indeed elongated along the axis defined by the two dominant cD galaxies. However, the peaks in the mass distribution appear to be offset from the centres of the cDs.
We also present an estimate for the total mass of the central region of the cluster. This is in good agreement with previous mass determinations. The total mass of the central region is M =(2.0–2.7)×10¹⁴ M⊙ h ⁻¹₅₀, depending on the solution chosen.     

The relation between stellar mass and weak lensing signal around galaxies: implications for modified Newtonian dynamics

We study the amplitude of the weak gravitational lensing signal as a function of stellar mass around a sample of relatively isolated galaxies. This selection of lenses simplifies the interpretation of the observations, which consist of data from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the amplitude of the lensing signal as a function of stellar mass is well described by a power law with a best-fitting slope  α= 0.74 ± 0.08  . This result is inconsistent with modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), which predicts  α= 0.5  (we find  α > 0.5  with 99.7 per cent confidence). As a related test, we determine the MOND mass-to-light ratio as a function of luminosity. Our results require dark matter for the most luminous galaxies ( L ≳ 10¹¹ L_⊙). We rule out an extended halo of gas or active neutrinos as a way of reconciling our findings with MOND. Although we focus on a single alternative gravity model, we note that our results provide an important test for any alternative theory of gravity.     

A halo-based galaxy group finder: calibration and application to the 2dFGRS

We use the halo occupation model to calibrate galaxy group finders in magnitude limited redshift surveys. Because, according to the current scenario of structure formation, galaxy groups are associated with cold dark matter (CDM) haloes, we make use of the properties of the halo population in the design of our group finder. The method starts with an assumed mass-to-light ratio to assign a tentative mass to each group. This mass is used to estimate the size and velocity dispersion of the underlying halo that hosts the group, which in turn is used to determine group membership (in redshift space). This procedure is repeated until no further changes occur in group memberships. We find that the final groups selected this way are insensitive to the mass-to-light ratio assumed. We use mock catalogues, constructed using the conditional luminosity function (CLF), to test the performance of our group finder in terms of completeness of true members and contamination by interlopers. Our group finder is more successful than the conventional friends-of-friends (FOF) group finder in assigning galaxies in common dark matter haloes to a single group. We apply our group finder to the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and compare the resulting group properties with model predictions based on the CLF. For the ΛCDM concordance cosmology, we find a clear discrepancy between the model and data in the sense that the model predicts too many rich groups. In order to match the observational results, we have to either increase the mass-to-light ratios of rich clusters to a level significantly higher than current observational estimates, or to assume  σ₈≃ 0.7  , compared with the concordance value of 0.9.     

On the galaxy stellar mass function, the mass–metallicity relation and the implied baryonic mass function

A comparison between published field galaxy stellar mass functions (GSMFs) shows that the cosmic stellar mass density is in the range 4–8 per cent of the baryon density (assuming  Ω_b= 0.045  ). There remain significant sources of uncertainty for the dust correction and underlying stellar mass-to-light ratio even assuming a reasonable universal stellar initial mass function. We determine the   z < 0.05  GSMF using the New York University Value-Added Galaxy Catalog sample of 49 968 galaxies derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and various estimates of stellar mass. The GSMF shows clear evidence for a low-mass upturn and is fitted with a double Schechter function that has  α₂≃−1.6  . At masses below  ∼10^8.5 M_⊙  , the GSMF may be significantly incomplete because of missing low-surface-brightness galaxies. One interpretation of the stellar mass–metallicity relation is that it is primarily caused by a lower fraction of available baryons converted to stars in low-mass galaxies. Using this principle, we determine a simple relationship between baryonic mass and stellar mass and present an 'implied baryonic mass function'. This function has a faint-end slope,  α₂≃−1.9  . Thus, we find evidence that the slope of the low-mass end of the galaxy mass function could plausibly be as steep as the halo mass function. We illustrate the relationship between halo baryonic mass function → galaxy baryonic mass function → GSMF. This demonstrates the requirement for peak galaxy formation efficiency at baryonic masses  ∼10¹¹ M_⊙  corresponding to a minimum in feedback effects. The baryonic-infall efficiency may have levelled off at lower masses.     

Properties of spherical galaxies and clusters with an NFW density profile

Using the standard dynamical theory of spherical systems, we calculate the properties of spherical galaxies and clusters whose density profiles obey the universal form first obtained in high-resolution cosmological N -body simulations by Navarro, Frenk & White (NFW). We adopt three models for the internal kinematics: isotropic velocities, constant anisotropy and increasingly radial OsipkovMerritt anisotropy. Analytical solutions are found for the radial dependence of the mass, gravitational potential, velocity dispersion, energy and virial ratio and we test their variability with the concentration parameter describing the density profile and amount of velocity anisotropy. We also compute structural parameters, such as half-mass radius, effective radius and various measures of concentration. Finally, we derive projected quantities, the surface mass density and line-of-sight as well as aperture-velocity dispersion, all of which can be directly applied in observational tests of current scenarios of structure formation. On the mass scales of galaxies, if constant mass-to-light is assumed, the NFW surface density profile is found to fit HubbleReynolds laws well. It is also well fitted by Sérsic R ^{1/ m} laws, for     but in a much narrower range of m and with much larger effective radii than are observed. Assuming in turn reasonable values of the effective radius, the mass density profiles imply a mass-to-light ratio that increases outwards at all radii.     

Mass-luminosity ratio in NGC 5236

The mass-to-light ratio in NGC 5236 was studied in terms of four spheroids. The resulting values are quite small and increasing from the centre outwards, suggesting that Population I stars are rather uniformly distributed over its body with a certain concentration towards the central region.