Pith. sign in

REVIEW 6 cited by

The Milky Way satellite velocity function is a sharp probe of small-scale structure problems

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 2106.09050 v2 pith:K2IOQWRJ submitted 2021-06-16 astro-ph.GA

classification astro-ph.GA
keywords satellitesvelocityfunctiongtrsimproblemsatellitedarkdispersion
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
0 comments
abstract

Twenty years ago, the mismatch between the observed number of Milky Way satellite galaxies and the predicted number of cold dark matter (CDM) subhalos was dubbed the ``missing satellites problem". Although mostly framed since in terms of satellite counts in luminosity space, the missing satellites problem was originally posed in velocity space. Importantly, the stellar velocity dispersion function encodes information about the density profile of satellites as well as their abundance. In this work, we completeness correct the MW satellite stellar velocity dispersion function down to its ultrafaint dwarfs ($L \gtrsim 340$ L$_\odot$). Our most conservative completeness correction is in good agreement with a simple CDM model in which massive, classical satellites (M$_{\rm 200} \gtrsim 5 \times 10^8~$M$_\odot$) have baryon-driven cores, while lower mass, ultrafaint satellites inhabit cuspy halos that are not strongly tidally stripped. Tidal destruction of satellites by the MW's disk must be minimal, otherwise the completeness-corrected velocity function exceeds any plausible CDM prediction -- a ``too many satellites" problem. We rule out non-core-collapsing self-interacting dark matter models with a constant cross section $\gtrsim$ 0.1 cm$^2$/g. Constraints on warm dark matter are stronger than those based on the luminosity function due to its additional sensitivity to subhalo central densities, which suppresses number counts by up to an additional 30%. A thermal relic mass $\gtrsim$ 6 keV is preferred. Reducing uncertainties on stellar velocity dispersion measurements and the amount of tidal stripping experienced by the faintest dwarfs is key to determining the severity of the too many satellites problem.

Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.

Forward citations

Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. COZMIC. III. Cosmological Zoom-in Simulations of Self-interacting Dark Matter with Suppressed Initial Conditions

    astro-ph.CO 2024-12 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    Cosmological zoom-in simulations show that suppressing the small-scale matter power spectrum, as expected in self-interacting dark matter models, reduces or erases the gravothermal core-collapse signature in dwarf-mass halos.

  2. MARVELously Dark: the density profile evolution of dwarf halos in velocity-dependent SIDM

    astro-ph.GA 2026-01 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    In a new SIDM simulation of isolated dwarf halos, nine low-mass halos are core-collapsed, and inner density slope—rather than central density—best tracks collapse onset and matches analytic collapse-time predictions.

  3. The Roman View of Strong Gravitational Lenses

    astro-ph.CO 2025-06 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    A detailed simulation predicts Roman's High Latitude Wide Area Survey will find about 160,000 strong lenses, of which about 500 are suitable for dark matter substructure characterization.

  4. Simulations of the accreted stellar halos of low-mass field galaxies

    astro-ph.GA 2025-01 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    For field galaxies below Milky Way mass, accreted stellar halos are predicted to be diffuse, often compact, and generally subdominant, with the accreted component overtaking in-situ stars only far outside the galaxy.

  5. Probing Long-Range Forces Between Neutrinos with Cosmic Structures

    hep-ph 2024-12 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Neutrino long-range forces stronger than gravity would make the cosmic neutrino background collapse into bound states, and existing matter power spectrum and reionization data now exclude a band of couplings for force...

  6. The satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and Andromeda

    astro-ph.GA 2025-02 unverdicted novelty 2.0 of 10

    A field review of Local Group dwarf satellites, their discovery, observed properties, and use as dark matter and galaxy evolution probes.

Pith tools