Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-10-14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
6 pages, 5 figures. Introduction improved, references added. Accepted for publication on MNRAS Letters
Scientific paper
We test the luminosity function of Milky Way satellites as a constraint for the nature of Dark Matter particles. We perform dissipationless high-resolution N-body simulations of the evolution of Galaxy-sized halo in the standard Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model and in four Warm Dark Matter (WDM) scenarios, with a different choice for the WDM particle mass (m_w). We then combine the results of the numerical simulations with semi-analytic models for galaxy formation, to infer the properties of the satellite population. Quite surprisingly we find that even WDM models with relatively low m_w values (2-5 keV) are able to reproduce the observed abundance of ultra faint (Mv<-9) dwarf galaxies, as well as the observed relation between Luminosity and mass within 300 pc. Our results suggest a lower limit of 1 keV for thermal warm dark matter, in broad agreement with previous results from other astrophysical observations like Lyman-alpha forest and gravitational lensing.
Fontanot Fabio
Maccio' Andrea V.
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