DHOST gravity in ultra-diffuse galaxies—Part II: NGC 1052-DF4 and Dragonfly 44

Abstract

Ultra-Diffuse galaxies are a family of gravitational systems with quite varied properties, counting both objects highly deficient in dark matter and others which are dark matter-dominated. Such a variety of behaviors might be a problem for both the standard dark matter paradigm and for alternative theories of gravity. Here we consider two systems, NGC1052-DF4 and Dragonfly 44, which are respectively dark matter deficient and dark matter dominated, in the context of Degenerate Higher-Order Scalar Tensor theories exhibiting a partial breaking of the Vaishtein screening mechanism for which they might have an influence not only on cosmological scales but also on astrophysical ones, thus mimicking dark matter. For NGC1052-DF4 the galaxy dynamics might be successfully described only by a stellar component and, at least at the scales which are probed, the content of dark matter is quite low. We also show that our alternative gravity model is consistent with data and is statistically equivalent to a standard General Relativity dark matter scenario, and it might even replace dark matter. On the contrary, Dragonfly 44 requires dark matter both in General Relativity and in our extended theory. When the latter is considered only as a cosmological dark energy fluid, it is statistically fully reliable and equivalent to General Relativity. But when we try to use it to substitute dark matter, although we get good fits to the data, the constraints on the theoretical parameters are in sharp contrast with those derived from more stringent probes from the stellar scales.