The Inner Structure of Cold Dark Matter Halos

Abstract

I report on recent progress in our understanding of the structure of CDM halos, and in particular of the inner mass profile of galaxy-sized systems. Numerical simulations have consistently shown that the density profiles of CDM halos steepen monotonically from the center outwards, with slopes shallower than isothermal near the center and steeper than isothermal near the virial radius. Ongoing debate centers on the precise radial dependence of the logarithmic slope, as well as on whether it approaches a well defined asymptotic central value. The latest high-resolution simulations suggest that the circular velocity profile is well approximated by the model proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White (NFW). On the other hand, the radial dependence of the slope of the density profile differs modestly, but significantly, from the model proposed by NFW. As a result, NFW fits tend to underestimate the density at radii just inside the scale radius. Rather than implying a very steep (ρ ∝ r-1.5) inner divergent slope, I argue that the data is actually best represented by a model where the density profile becomes increasingly shallow with radius, with little sign of approach to a well-defined asymptotic value. A model where the phase-space density profile is a power law accounts well for these results and suggests that the innermost slope may be as shallow as ρ ∝ r-0.75. These conclusions are supported by a thorough numerical convergence study that elucidates the effect of numerical parameters such as the timestep, gravitational softening, and particle number, on the mass profile of simulated dark matter halos.