English

Exploring dark matter spike distribution around the Galactic centre with stellar orbits

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2023-11-23 v2 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

Precise measurements of the stellar orbits around Sagittarius A* have established the existence of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic centre (GC). Due to the interplay between the SMBH and dark matter (DM), the DM density profile in the innermost region of the Galaxy, which is crucial for the DM indirect detection, is still an open question. Among the most popular models in the literature, the theoretical spike profile proposed by Gondolo and Silk (1999; GS hereafter) is well adopted. In this work, we investigate the DM spike profile using updated data from the Keck and VLT telescopes considering that the presence of such an extended mass component may affect the orbits of the S-stars in the Galactic center. We examine the radius and slope of the generalized NFW spike profile, analyze the Einasto spike, and discuss the influence of DM annihilation on the results. Our findings indicate that an initial slope of γ0.92\gamma \gtrsim 0.92 for the generalized NFW spike profile is ruled out at a 95% confidence level. Additionally, the spike radius RspR_{\rm sp} larger than 21.5 pc is rejected at 95% probability for the Einasto spike with α=0.17\alpha=0.17, which also contradicts the GS spike model. The constraints with the VLT/GRAVITY upper limits are also projected. Although the GS NFW spike is well constrained by the Keck and VLT observation of S2, an NFW spike with a weak annihilation cusp may still be viable, as long as the DM annihilation cross section satisfies <σv>7.7×1027 cm3s1(mDM/100 GeV)\left< \sigma v \right> \gtrsim 7.7\times 10^{-27}~{\rm cm^3\,s^{-1}} (m_{\rm DM}/100~{\rm GeV}) at 95% level.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2303.09284,
  title  = {Exploring dark matter spike distribution around the Galactic centre with stellar orbits},
  author = {Zhao-Qiang Shen and Guan-Wen Yuan and Cheng-Zi Jiang and Yue-Lin Sming Tsai and Qiang Yuan and Yi-Zhong Fan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.09284},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

12 pages, 10 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

R2 v1 2026-06-28T09:20:06.650Z