Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0804.1314

Milky Way Mass Models and MOND

Stacy McGaugh
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Using the Tuorla-Heidelberg model for the mass distribution of the Milky Way, I determine the rotation curve predicted by MOND. The result is in good agreement with the observed terminal velocities interior to the solar radius and with estimates of the Galaxy's rotation curve exterior thereto. There are no fit parameters: given the mass distribution, MOND provides a good match to the rotation curve. The Tuorla-Heidelberg model does allow for a variety of exponential scale lengths; MOND prefers short scale lengths in the range 2.0 to 2.5 kpc. The favored value of scale length depends somewhat on the choice of interpolation function. There is some preference for the `simple' interpolation function as found by Famaey & Binney. I introduce an interpolation function that shares the advantages of the simple function on galaxy scales while having a much smaller impact in the solar system. I also solve the inverse problem, inferring the surface mass density distribution of the Milky Way from the terminal velocities. The result is a Galaxy with `bumps and wiggles' in both its luminosity profile and rotation curve that are reminiscent of those frequently observed in external galaxies.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Stacy McGaugh. 2008-04-08. Milky Way Mass Models and MOND. https://doi.org/10.1086/589148

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2019

A new paradigm for the universe

This book provides a completely new approach to understanding the universe. The main idea is that the principal objects in the universe form a spectrum unified by the presence of a massive or hypermassive black hole. These objects are variously called quasars, active galaxies and spiral galaxies. The key to understanding their dynamics is angular momentum and the key tool, and main innovative idea of this work, is a proper formulation of "Mach's principle" using Sciama's ideas. In essence, what is provided here is a totally new paradigm for the universe. In this paradigm, there is no big bang, and the universe is many orders of magnitude older than current estimates for its age. Indeed there is no natural limit for its age.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2019

Rotation Curves of Spiral Galaxies

Rotation curves of spiral galaxies are the major tool for determining the distribution of mass in spiral galaxies. They provide fundamental information for understanding the dynamics, evolution and formation of spiral galaxies. We describe various methods to derive rotation curves, and review the results obtained. We discuss the basic characteristics of observed rotation curves in relation to various galaxy properties, such as Hubble type, structure, activity, and environment.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2018

Abrupt global events in the Earth's history: a physics perspective

The timeline of the Earth's history reveals quasi-periodicity of the geological record over the last 542 Myr, on timescales close, in the order of magnitude, to 1 Myr. What is the origin of this quasi-periodicity? What is the nature of the global events that define the boundaries of the geological time scale? I propose that a single mechanism is responsible for all three types of such events: mass extinctions, geomagnetic polarity reversals, and sea-level fluctuations. The mechanism is fast, and involves a significant energy release. The mechanism is unlikely to have astronomical causes, both because of the energies involved, and because it acts quasi-periodically. It must then be sought within the Earth itself. And it must be capable of reversing the Earth's magnetic field. The last requirement makes it incompatible with the consensus model of the origin of the geomagnetic field - the hydromagnetic dynamo operating in the Earth's fluid core. In the second part of the paper, I show that a vast amount of seemingly unconnected geophysical and geological data can be understood in a unified way if the source of the Earth's main magnetic field is a ~200-km-thick lithosphere, repeatedly magnetized as a result of methane-driven oceanic eruptions, which produce ocean flow capable of dynamo action. The eruptions are driven by the interplay of buoyancy forces and exsolution of dissolved gas, which accumulates in the oceanic water masses prone to stagnation and anoxia. Polarity reversals, mass extinctions, and sequence boundaries are consequences of these eruptions. Unlike the consensus model of geomagnetism, this scenario is consistent with the paleomagnetic data showing that "directional changes during a [geomagnetic polarity] reversal can be astonishingly fast, possibly occurring as a nearly instantaneous jump from one inclined dipolar state to another in the opposite hemisphere".

astro-ph↗