Surface density of dark matter haloes on galactic and cluster scales

Abstract

In this paper, we analysed the correlation between the central surface density and the halo core radius of galaxies, and cluster of galaxies dark matter (DM) haloes, in the framework of the econdary infall model. We used Del Popolo secondary infall model taking into account ordered and random angular momentum, dynamical friction and DM adiabatic contraction to calculate the density profile of haloes, and then these profiles are used to determine the surface density of DM haloes. The main result is that r* (the halo characteristic radius) is not a universal quantity as claimed by Donato et al. and Gentile et al. On the contrary, we find a correlation with the halo mass M200 in agreement with Cardone & Tortora, Boyarsky et al. and Napolitano, Romanowsky & Tortora, but with a significantly smaller scatter, namely 0.16 ± 0.05. We also consider the baryon column density finding this latter being indeed a constant for low-mass systems, such as dwarfs, but correlating with mass with a slope of α = 0.18 ± 0.05. In the case of the surface density of D for a system composed only of DM, as in dissipationless simulations, we get α = 0.20 ± 0.05. These results leave little room for the recently claimed universality of (dark and stellar) column density. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.