On the distribution of dark matter in galaxies: quantum treatments

Abstract

The problem of modeling the distribution of dark matter in galaxies in terms of equilibrium configurations of collisionless self-gravitating quantum particles is considered. We first summarize the pioneering model of a Newtonian self-gravitating Fermi gas in thermodynamic equilibrium developed by Ruffini and Stella (1983), which is shown to be the generalization of the King model for fermions. We further review the extension of the former model developed by Gao, Merafina and Ruffini (1990), done for any degree of fermion degeneracy at the center ($\theta_0$), within general relativity. Finally, we present here for the first time the solutions of the density profiles and rotation curves corresponding to the Gao et. al. model, which have a definite mass $M_h$ and circular velocity $v_h$, at the halo radius $r_h$ of the configurations, typical of spiral galaxies. This treatment allow us to determine a novel core-halo morphology for the dark matter profiles, as well as a novel particle mass bound associated with them.