The Futile Search for Galactic Disk Dark Matter

Abstract

Several approaches have been used to search for dark matter in our galactic disk, but with mixed results: {\em maybe yes and maybe no}. The prevailing approach, integrating the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for tracer stars, has led to more definitive results: {\em yes and no}. The touchstone {\em yes} analysis of Bahcall et al. (1992) has subsequently been confirmed or refuted by various other investigators. This has been our motivation for approaching the search from a different direction: applying the Virial Theorem to extant data. We conclude that the vertical density profile of the disk is not in a state of equilbrium and, therefore, that the Poisson-Boltzmann approach is inappropriate and it thereby leads to indefensible conclusions.

Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (3)

• On the mass-to-light ratio of the local Galactic disc and the optical luminosity of the Galaxy
• Thin, thick and dark discs in LCDM
• Dark matter in the Milky Way, II. the HI gas distribution as a tracer of the gravitational potential

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Kinematical and chemical vertical structure of the Galactic thick disk II. A lack of dark matter in the solar neighborhood
• Interacting dark matter contribution to the Galactic 511 keV gamma ray emission: constraining the morphology with INTEGRAL/SPI observations
• On the vertical equilibrium of the local Galactic disk and the search for disk dark matter
• Gravitational potential energy of a multi-component galactic disk