CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 490Dark Matter and Cosmic PhenomenaGalaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaStellar, planetary, and galactic studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 224 of the 228 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The local dark matter density

Open access
Read, J I·2014·Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
DOI 10.1088/0954-3899/41/6/063101
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

I review current efforts to measure the mean density of dark matter near the Sun. This encodes valuable dynamical information about our Galaxy and is also of great importance for 'direct detection' dark matter experiments. I discuss theoretical expectations in our current cosmology; the theory behind mass modelling of the Galaxy; and I show how combining local and global measures probes the shape of the Milky Way dark matter halo and the possible presence of a 'dark disc'. I stress the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies and highlight the continuing need for detailed tests on mock data—particularly in the light of recently discovered evidence for disequilibria in the Milky Way disc. I collate the latest measurements of ρ dm and show that, once the baryonic surface density contribution Σ b is normalized across different groups, there is remarkably good agreement. Compiling data from the literature, I estimate Σ b = 54.2 ± 4.9 M ⊙ pc −2 , where the dominant source of uncertainty is in the H i gas contribution. Assuming this contribution from the baryons, I highlight several recent measurements of ρ dm in order of increasing data complexity and prior, and, correspondingly, decreasing formal error bars. Comparing these measurements with spherical extrapolations from the Milky Way's rotation curve, I show that the Milky Way is consistent with having a spherical dark matter halo at R 0 ∼ 8 kpc. The very latest measures of ρ dm based on ∼10 000 stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey appear to favour little halo flattening at R 0 , suggesting that the Galaxy has a rather weak dark matter disc, with a correspondingly quiescent merger history. I caution, however, that this result hinges on there being no large systematics that remain to be uncovered in the SDSS data, and on the local baryonic surface density being Σ b ∼ 55 M ⊙ pc −2 . I conclude by discussing how the new Gaia satellite will be transformative. We will obtain much tighter constraints on both Σ b and ρ dm by having accurate 6D phase space data for millions of stars near the Sun. These data will drive us towards fully three dimensional models of our Galactic potential, moving us into the realm of precision measurements of ρ dm .

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1088/0954-3899/41/6/063101

Cites

224 of 228 references verified0 citation errors · 4 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 21

  1. Bienayme O, 1987, Astron. Astrophys., 180, 94
  2. Binney J, 1998, Galactic Astronomy. Galactic Astronomy / James Binney and Michael Merrifield
  3. Bosma A, 1977, Astron. Astrophys., 57, 373
  4. Bosma A, 1979, Astron. Astrophys., 79, 281
  5. Catena R, 2010, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.
  6. Creze M, 1998, Astron. Astrophys., 329, 920
  7. de Boer W, 2011, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.
  8. 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1998.01282.x · DOI
  9. Hill E R, 1960, Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 15, 1
  10. 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.02905.x · DOI
  11. Iocco F, 2011, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.
  12. Ling F-S, 2010, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.
  13. Long R J, 2010, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 405, 301
  14. Marshall D J, 2010, Highlights Astron., 15, 782
  15. Oort J H, 1932, Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 6, 249
  16. Oort J H, 1960, Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 15, 45
  17. Phillips A C, 1999, The Physics of Stars
  18. 10.1051/0004-6361/201322531 · DOI
  19. Saha P, 2003, Principles of Data Analysis, 109
  20. Slosar A, 2013, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.
  21. Volders L M J S, 1959, Bull. Astron. Inst. Neth., 14, 323

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 490

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Read, J. I.
Affiliations
University of Surrey (GB)
Corresponding author
Read, J I
ORCID
Read, J I
Venue
Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Published
2014-05-12
Volume
41
Issue
6
Pages
063101
ISSN
  • 0954-3899 (ISSN-L)
  • 1361-6471
DOI
10.1088/0954-3899/41/6/063101
OpenAlex
W2149961863
Cited by
489
References
222
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 10
FWCI
16.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Physics G Nuclear and Particle Physics (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Keywords
local dark matter density, Milky Way dark matter halo, baryonic surface density, rotation curves, halo flattening, Gaia, halo merger history

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review