Can the Velocity Dispersion Profiles of Satellite Galaxies Distinguish Between NFW and Isothermal Halos?

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Scientific paper

In principle, the velocity dispersion profiles of satellite galaxies in orbit around large primary galaxies should provide a direct probe of the underlying gravitational potentials of the dark matter halos that surround the primaries. Several groups have measured such velocity dispersion profiles using a standard technique in which P(|dv|) is modeled as the sum of a Gaussian plus a DC offset. Genuine satellites are expected to have a Gaussian distribution of velocities relative to the primaries, while unrelated, random interlopers (i.e., "false satellites") are expected to have a random distribution of velocity differences. Here we demonstrate that, given the sparseness of the data that are typical for such measurements (of order 500 data points per radial bin), Gaussian-plus-DC-offset fitting is not particularly stable, even when Maximum Likelihood is used. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to use velocity dispersion profiles of satellite galaxies to distinguish between NFW and isothermal halos for L* primary galaxies.

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