Mapping dark matter in the Milky Way, a synopsis

Abstract

Mapping the dark matter distribution across our Galaxy represents a central challenge for the near future as a new generation of space-borne and ground-based astronomical surveys swiftly comes online. Here we present a synopsis of the present status of the field, reviewing briefly the baryonic content and the kinematics of the Milky Way and outlining the methods used to infer the dark matter component. The discussion then proceeds with some of the latest developments based on our own work. In particular, we present a new compilation of kinematic measurements tracing the rotation curve of the Galaxy and an exhaustive array of observation-based baryonic models setting the contribution of stellar bulge, stellar disc and gas to the total gravitational potential. The discrepancy between these two components is then quantified to derive the latest constraints on the dark matter distribution and on modified Newtonian dynamics. We shall end with an overview of future directions to improve our mapping of the dark matter distribution in the Milky Way.

Proceedings of highlight talk at the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July-6 August, 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands, 16 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

References in corpus (11)

• The Milky Way's Circular Velocity Curve to 60 kpc and an Estimate of the Dark Matter Halo Mass from Kinematics of ~2400 SDSS Blue Horizontal Branch Stars
• The Milky Way's circular velocity curve between 4 and 14 kpc from APOGEE data
• On the mass-to-light ratio of the local Galactic disc and the optical luminosity of the Galaxy
• Evidence for dark matter in the inner Milky Way
• Galactic masers and the Milky Way circular velocity
• Dynamical constraints on the dark matter distribution in the Milky Way
• A new determination of the local dark matter density from the kinematics of K dwarfs
• Catalog of observed tangents to the spiral arms in the Milky Way galaxy
• Testing modified Newtonian dynamics in the Milky Way
• On local dark matter density
• The current best estimate of the Galactocentric distance of the Sun based on comparison of different statistical techniques