Can fermionic dark matter mimic supermassive black holes?

Abstract

We analyze the intriguing possibility to explain both dark mass components in a galaxy: the dark matter (DM) halo and the supermassive dark compact object lying at the center, by a unified approach in terms of a quasi-relaxed system of massive, neutral fermions in general relativity. The solutions to the mass distribution of such a model that fulfill realistic halo boundary conditions inferred from observations, develop a highly-density core supported by the fermion degeneracy pressure able to mimic massive black holes at the center of galaxies. Remarkably, these dense core-diluted halo configurations can explain the dynamics of the closest stars around Milky Way's center (SgrA*) all the way to the halo rotation curve, without spoiling the baryonic bulge-disk components, for a narrow particle mass range $m{c}^2\sim 10$-$10^2$~keV.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures. Winner of the Third award in the Gravity Research Foundation essay competition 2019. To appear in IJMPD (special issue)

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Polarimetry and Astrometry of NIR Flares as Event Horizon Scale, Dynamical Probes for the Mass of Sgr A*
• The geodesic motion of S2 and G2 as a test of the fermionic dark matter nature of our galactic core
• Improving constraints on the extended mass distribution in the Galactic Center with stellar orbits
• On the formation and stability of fermionic dark matter halos in a cosmological framework
• Fermionic Dark Matter: Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
• Imaging fermionic dark matter cores at the center of galaxies
• Thermodynamic instabilities in holographic neutron stars at finite temperature
• The dynamics of S-stars and G-sources orbiting a supermassive compact object made of fermionic dark matter