Missing dark matter in the local universe
Abstract
A sample of 11 thousand galaxies with radial velocities VLG < 3500 km/s is used to study the features of the local distribution of luminous (stellar) and dark matter within a sphere of radius of around 50 Mpc around us. The average density of matter in this volume, Ωm,loc = 0.08 ± 0.02, turns out to be much lower than the global cosmic density Ωm,glob = 0.28 ± 0.03. We discuss three possible explanations of this paradox: 1) galaxy groups and clusters are surrounded by extended dark halos, the major part of the mass of which is located outside their virial radii; 2) the considered local volume of the Universe is not representative, being situated inside a giant void; and 3) the bulk of matter in the Universe is not related to clusters and groups, but is rather distributed between them in the form of massive dark clumps. Some arguments in favor of the latter assumption are presented. Besides the two well-known inconsistencies of modern cosmological models with the observational data: the problem of missing satellites of normal galaxies and the problem of missing baryons, there arises another one—the issue of missing dark matter.
- Publication:
-
Astrophysical Bulletin
- Pub Date:
- April 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1134/S1990341312020010
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1204.3377
- Bibcode:
- 2012AstBu..67..123K
- Keywords:
-
- cosmology: dark matter;
- galaxies: evolution;
- galaxies: formation;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 table (accepted)