Astrophysical Constraints on Dark Energy

Dark energy (i.e., a cosmological constant) leads, in the Newtonian approximation, to a repulsive force which grows linearly with distance and which can have astrophysical consequences. For example, the dark energy force overcomes the gravitational attraction from an isolated object (e.g., dwarf galaxy) of mass $10^7 M_\odot$ at a distance of $~ 23$ kpc. Observable velocities of bound satellites (rotation curves) could be significantly affected, and therefore used to measure or constrain the dark energy density. Here, {\it isolated} means that the gravitational effect of large nearby galaxies (specifically, of their dark matter halos) is negligible; examples of isolated dwarf galaxies include Antlia or DDO 1903