English

Vortex State of Ultralight Dark Matter and the Fornax Timing Problem

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2026-07-31 v1

Abstract

We investigate the impact of the vortex state of the ultralight dark matter (ULDM) on the dynamical friction acting on moving globular clusters. Comparing this force with that for the solitonic ground state, it is shown that the internal structure and rotation of the ULDM core strongly affect the orbital decay of globular clusters. In particular, co-directional rotation in a vortex state can lead to significant suppression of dynamic friction at certain distances where globular clusters and ULDM velocities match. Applying these findings to the Fornax dwarf galaxy, it is found that the Fornax timing problem is naturally alleviated.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.00258,
  title  = {Vortex State of Ultralight Dark Matter and the Fornax Timing Problem},
  author = {V. Gorkavenko and O. Barabash and T. Gorkavenko and K. Korshynska and O. Teslyk and A. Zaporozhchenko and E. Gorbar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.00258},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

14 pages, 4 figures