High mass-to-light ratios of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies - evidence for dark matter?

Abstract

Ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) are stellar systems with masses of around 107 to 10(8)M(circle dot) and half-mass radii of 10-100 pc. They have some properties in common with massive globular clusters, however dynamical mass estimates have shown that UCDs have mass-to-light ratios which are on average about twice as large than those of globular clusters at comparable metallicity, and tend to be larger than what one would expect for old stellar systems composed out of stars with standard mass functions. One possible explanation for elevated high mass-to-light ratios in UCDs is the existence of a substantial amount of dark matter, which could have ended up in UCDs if they are the remnant nuclei of tidally stripped dwarf galaxies, and dark matter was dragged into these nuclei prior to tidal stripping through, for example, adiabatic gas infall. Tidal stripping of dwarf galaxies has also been suggested as the origin of several massive globular clusters like Omega Cen, in which case one should expect that globular clusters also form with substantial amounts of dark matter in them.