Flattening of dark matter cusps during mergers: model of M31

Abstract

We run high resolution fully GPU N-body simulations to demonstrate that the dark matter distribution in M31 is well-fitted by a core-like profile. Rich observational data especially on the giant stellar stream provides stringent constraints on the initial conditions of our simulations. We demonstrate that accretion of a satellite on a highly eccentric orbit heats up the central parts of M31, causes an outward migration of dark matter particles, flattens the central cusp over more than a decade in scale and generates a new model-independent dark matter profile that is well-fitted by a core. Our results imply that core-like central profiles could be a common feature of massive galaxies that have been initially cuspy but have accreted satellites on nearly radial orbits.

14 pages, 10 figures. Version to appear in ApJ

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• DESI Observations of the Andromeda Galaxy: Revealing the Immigration History of our Nearest Neighbor
• Updated constraints on WIMP dark matter annihilation by radio observations of M31