Document Mass Profiles and Shapes of Cosmological Structures
G.A. Mamon, F. Combes, C. Deffayet and B. Fort (eds)
EAS Publications Series, 20 (2006) 69-76
DOI: 10.1051/eas:2006050
Some Systematic Properties of Rotation Curves
S. McGaughDepartment of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Abstract
The rotation curves of spiral galaxies obey strong scaling relations.
These include the Tully-Fisher and baryonic Tully-Fisher relations, and the
mass discrepancy-acceleration relation.
These relations can be used to place constraints on the mass-to-light
ratios of stars. Once the stellar mass is constrained, the distribution of
dark matter follows. The shape of the dark matter distribution is consistent
with the expectations of NFW halos exterior to 1 kpc, but the amplitude
is wrong. This is presumably related to the long-standing problem
of the normalization of the Tully-Fisher relation and may imply a
downturn in the amplitude of the power spectrum at small scales.
More fundamentally, the persistent success of MOND remains a
troubling fact.
© EAS, EDP Sciences 2006