The MUSE-Faint survey. II. The dark-matter density profile of the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Eridanus 2
Abstract
Aims: We use stellar line-of-sight velocities to constrain the dark-matter density profile of Eridanus 2, an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy with an absolute V-band magnitude MV = −7.1 that corresponds to a stellar mass M* ≈ 9 × 104 M⊙. We furthermore derive constraints on fundamental properties of self-interacting and fuzzy dark matter scenarios.
Methods: We present new observations of Eridanus 2 from MUSE-Faint, a survey of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on the Very Large Telescope, and determine line-of-sight velocities for stars inside the half-light radius. Combined with literature data, we have 92 stellar tracers out to twice the half-light radius. With these tracers we constrain models of cold dark matter, self-interacting dark matter, and fuzzy dark matter, using CJAM and pyGravSphere for the dynamical analysis. The models of self-interacting and fuzzy dark matter relate the density profile to the self-interaction coefficient and the dark-matter particle mass, respectively.
Results: We find substantial evidence (Bayes factor ∼10−0.6) for cold dark matter (a cuspy halo) over self-interacting dark matter (a cored halo) and weak evidence (Bayes factor ∼10−0.4) for fuzzy dark matter over cold dark matter. We find a virial mass M200 ∼ 108 M⊙ and astrophysical factors J(αcJ) ~ 1011 M⊙2 kpc−5 and D(αcD) ~ 102 − 102.5 M⊙ kpc−2 (proportional to dark-matter annihilation and decay signals, respectively), the exact values of which depend on the density profile model. The mass-to-light ratio within the half-light radius is consistent with the literature. We do not resolve a core (rc < 47 pc, 68% confidence level) or a soliton (rsol < 7.2 pc, 68% confidence level). These limits are equivalent to an effective self-interaction coefficient fΓ < 2.2 × 10−29 cm3 s−1 eV−1 c2 and a fuzzy-dark-matter particle mass ma > 4.0 × 10−20 eV c−2. The constraint on self-interaction is complementary to those from gamma-ray searches. The constraint on fuzzy-dark-matter particle mass is inconsistent with those obtained for larger dwarf galaxies, suggesting that the flattened density profiles of those galaxies are not caused by fuzzy dark matter.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- July 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1051/0004-6361/202040239
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2101.00253
- Bibcode:
- 2021A&A...651A..80Z
- Keywords:
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- dark matter;
- galaxies: individual: Eridanus 2;
- stars: kinematics and dynamics;
- techniques: imaging spectroscopy;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 24 pages, 14 figures, 8 tables. Minor changes, electronic table moved to appendix. Version as accepted on 2021-04-24 for publication in A&