Use a steady, isotropic, self-gravitating dark matter halo, with its constant one-dimensional velocity dispersion. The Spherical Jeans equation and spherical mass conservation read
For the scale-free outer region, put . Its enclosed mass scales as , so is constant only if ; the Spherical Jeans equation then gives . Thus the singular isothermal sphere has
Its circular speed is . If a speed denoted were instead the circular speed, the coefficient would be , but the printed variable is a velocity dispersion.
The assumptions matter. A constant velocity dispersion and spherical shape alone do not specify a unique central mass density or orbital distribution. Even with isotropy, the Spherical Jeans equation integrates to , and the self-gravitating Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity gives
There are finite-central-density isothermal solutions as well as the singular one; the expression is the intended outer scale-free halo approximation. A finite halo must also end or steepen at large radius, since the untruncated singular isothermal sphere has infinite total mass.
The stellar population has appreciable random velocity dispersion, and its declining radial density creates an outward stress gradient that supplies some support against gravity; cold gas has much less random-motion support and follows nearly the local circular speed. Neglecting velocity-ellipsoid tilt, the radial Jeans equation gives , generally positive for the stellar disk. The slower mean stellar rotation is asymmetric drift.
Let be a characteristic radius enclosing mass , and let denote a one-dimensional velocity dispersion. Gravity and random-motion support give a relation , where the dimensionless structure coefficient depends on the chosen radius and density profile. A crossing-based galactic dynamical time is therefore
The scaling follows by equating acceleration scales and , not by identifying a complete orbital period with a crossing time. An explicit scale-free example checks the coefficient: constant circular speed and spherical symmetry give and . With isotropic constant velocity dispersion, the Spherical Jeans equation becomes
so , , and . This is the singular isothermal sphere scaling, valid over an interior radial range; a literal infinite model has no finite total mass, and a hard finite boundary needs a pressure term or an outer transition. A free-fall time of a uniform sphere or orbital period changes the numerical factor. The subsequent estimates use the nominal scale , keeping these order-unity structural uncertainties explicit.
Older disc stellar populations generally have larger velocity dispersions, partly through accumulated galactic disk heating, so random-motion stresses supply more of their support against gravity. The radial Jeans equation then requires a smaller mean rotation than the circular speed, producing larger stellar asymmetric drift than in dynamically colder young stars.
The neutral-hydrogen 21-centimeter line traces cold gas far beyond the bright stellar galactic disk, where a dark matter halo contributes strongly to the galaxy rotation curve. With relatively small random velocities, this gas approximately follows circular orbits, allowing its Doppler velocities to measure the circular speed after inclination and pressure corrections, whereas stellar dispersions require an orbital-anisotropy model. Its extended radial reach and comparatively simple force tracing make neutral gas especially useful for outer-halo constraints, although warps and noncircular motions can invalidate that simplicity.
Put , take without loss of generality, and write . The Newtonian gravitational potential is singular at the origin; all pointwise claims below concern . The zero of the Newtonian gravitational potential is the one in the paper, with an implicit fixed length unit inside the logarithm.
The Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity in cylindrical coordinates gives
The two contributions to the Laplacian are
Consequently the mass density of the axisymmetric logarithmic gravitational potential is
The coefficient of is positive. The coefficient of determines the density positivity for an axisymmetric logarithmic potential: strict positivity at every noncentral point requires and . Nonnegativity permits , where the mass density vanishes on the noncentral symmetry axis. For it is negative near that axis. Either sign of a nonzero real gives the same model, and is undefined. Setting yields vacuum away from the singular origin, not strictly positive mass density. The central cusp is locally integrable and contains no hidden point mass: the Newtonian gravitational field flux through a shrinking sphere is of order its radius.
An equatorial circular orbit requires inward gravitational acceleration equal to . Thus the circular speed is
This is a flat galaxy rotation curve. The singular center does not define an additional circular orbit at .
Figure 1.
Flat equatorial rotation curve of the singular logarithmic galaxy; the central point is excluded
. Details.
The specific orbital energy is conserved because the Newtonian gravitational potential is time independent. The axial specific angular momentum is conserved because the Newtonian gravitational potential is axisymmetric. Hence the Jeans theorem, or directly in the Collisionless Boltzmann equation, permits a stationary two-integral galactic distribution function. Using makes this galactic distribution function even under reversal of the azimuthal velocity, so it describes a nonstreaming population. A general axisymmetric population can have an odd part in , or dependence on a third integral of motion; neither is required for this construction.
At each position define . The two-integral galactic distribution function is invariant under swapping and , since only their sum of squares occurs in . It is also even in each velocity component. Swapping integration variables proves meridional velocity isotropy of a two-integral distribution, while reflecting one variable makes each mixed integrand odd. Therefore
All mean velocities vanish, so these are also the corresponding statements for the velocity ellipsoid and its centered covariance tensor. They do not require to equal either meridional second moment.
To normalize the proposed logarithmic-potential two-integral distribution, first separate the mass density into terms with the same spatial factors as the two exponentials:
Since and , the Gaussian integral and its derivative give
Thus velocity integration of the galactic distribution function yields . Matching the independent spatial factors determines
This verifies both the stationary Collisionless Boltzmann equation and the required Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity. A shift changes the normalizations to and ; the physical mass density is unchanged.
There is an important distinction between positive mass density and a nonnegative galactic distribution function. For , both coefficients above are nonnegative. For a prolate model , and one must test the sum rather than reject the model just because one term is negative. On accessible phase space,
with equality in the equatorial plane at , . The nonnegativity bound for a prolate logarithmic-potential distribution is consequently
For larger , the displayed algebraic expression still integrates to the positive mass density, but is negative at those equatorial circular orbit phase points and is not a physical galactic distribution function. This extra restriction is distinct from the earlier density-only answer.
For an axisymmetric Newtonian gravitational potential, the vacuum Laplace equation in cylindrical coordinates is . Use separation of variables, . Dividing by and setting the separated constant to , with , gives
The first equation has solutions ; with , the second is the order-zero Bessel differential equation. Regularity at the axis selects the Bessel function of the first kind , rather than the singular Bessel function of the second kind . Thus
There are also zero-separation-constant modes, and other boundary conditions can select other separated families. For a localized reflection-symmetric thin disk, decay away from the disk selects on the respective half-spaces.
Apply the divergence theorem to the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity across a narrow pillbox enclosing disk area. Writing the volume mass density as gives
Reflection symmetry makes . A superposition of the regular vacuum modes therefore satisfies
The order-zero Hankel transform and its inversion now determine the Hankel representation of thin-disk gravity:
The sign is fixed by the positive derivative of an attractive Newtonian gravitational potential above the disk. For ordinary finite disks the representation uses the isolated boundary condition, fixing any extra vacuum field or additive constant. Infinite scale-free disks require suitable regularization of the potential itself.
Equatorial circular orbit balance is . Using in the Hankel representation of thin-disk gravity gives
Differentiation under the integral is justified by convergence for regular models, or by first working off the disk and taking the limiting radial field.
Write . For the Mestel disk, the supplied Bessel function integral gives for . The circular speed is then
Meanwhile the interior mass is . Consequently
The Mestel disk has a flat galaxy rotation curve, despite its nonspherical geometry.
Its infinite total mass prevents setting the Newtonian gravitational potential to zero at infinity. Indeed the integral for diverges at because . Subtracting the potential at a reference point removes this additive divergence. As an explicit check, the Mestel disk potential-density pair is
It is harmonic for , its vertical derivative jump is , and . Equivalently, an Abel regularization of an oscillatory integral with damping factor in the radial-field integral gives , which tends to one as . The force is well-defined although the unreferenced potential is not.
The equality with is special to the Mestel disk, not a thin-disk shell theorem. The spherical shell theorem normally makes that formula possible, but does not apply to an astrophysical disk. Exterior annuli exert outward radial gravitational acceleration inside their radii, while interior annuli do not act exactly as point masses at the origin. For this particular scale-free surface density, their combined contributions happen to produce the same result as the interior mass expression. Changing the radial surface density or truncating the disk generally destroys the equality: enclosed mass does not determine a disc rotation curve.
Let describe the halo and let . The cosmic baryon fraction is , so the specified settled fraction gives . The specific angular momentum constraint at the disk edge is
To infer an actual circular speed one must specify the disk's radial mass distribution: enclosed mass does not determine a disc rotation curve. Introduce a finite geometry coefficient by . A rounded, centrally concentrated disk permits a monopole estimate at its outer edge; it is an explicit approximation, not the spherical shell theorem applied exactly to a razor-thin disk. Ignore the force of the unsettled baryons as well as the dark matter within the disk. Using , the angular-momentum estimate of a self-gravitating galactic disk gives
An exact disk answer cannot be fixed by total disk mass alone; the dependence on records that missing input.
For the numerical virial radius of a dark-matter halo, adopt mean density times the critical density at the formation epoch. This conventional definition gives
The supplied expansion law gives , and hence . Taking yields
The corresponding virial mass of a dark-matter halo is , and . Other overdensity conventions give at fixed .
Interpret the wavelength separation as an observed-frame local mean near the redshift in question. Since Lyman-alpha absorption appears at , the incidence is
Assume one counted absorption system per intercepted disk, no unrelated forest systems or missed absorbers, unity neutral covering fraction, and a locally slowly varying population. Let be the proper interception cross-section and the comoving number density. The proper density is , and the proper line element along the light path is . Thus the absorber incidence and comoving number density relation is
For a thin circular disk, the projected area is . Isotropically oriented normals have , so the random-orientation absorbing-disk cross-section is . Consequently
If all disks are taken face-on instead, . Generally the random-orientation result scales as and is divided by the neutral covering fraction. The finite mean redshift spacing is sizable, so a precision inference would integrate the incidence over the actual redshift interval rather than identify it with one local value.
There is also a halo abundance mass-budget bound on this formal result. The present mean matter density for these parameters is . Distinct haloes of this mass cannot have , even if every matter particle belonged to them. Yet the inferred random-orientation population has
Even the face-on estimate exceeds this bound by about twenty-one. The numerical incidence result is conditional; the supplied population assumptions are not cosmologically consistent under this standard virial and compact-disk estimate. A larger neutral-gas absorption radius, a different absorber population, or different physical inputs are needed. For example, random orientations would require an absorbing radius at least about merely to reach the all-matter upper bound, much larger than the calculated centrifugal radius. This check does not change the algebraic answer, but prevents treating it as a realizable population.
Write for the genuine surface density of a disk, and for its three-dimensional mass density. The delta function in the printed surface density formula belongs to , not to . Introduce a reference length to make logarithms dimensionless. The intended model is the infinite, self-gravitating, scale-free Mestel disk, with no extra source or imposed gravitational field.
The circular speed satisfies . Thus the flat galaxy rotation curve gives
A reflection-symmetric harmonic function with this midplane boundary value is
Verify this continuation using the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity. For , set ; then
Hence off the astrophysical disk, and reflection gives the lower-half-space solution. Across the astrophysical disk the derivative jumps by . The distributional Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity therefore gives
At the origin the enclosed disk mass tends to zero linearly with radius, so there is no additional central point mass. This verifies the Mestel disk potential-density pair. The astrophysical disk has infinite total mass and a logarithmic Newtonian gravitational potential, so it is not an isolated finite-mass model with Newtonian gravitational potential zero at infinity. The usual scale-free boundary condition is important: the midplane rotation curve alone would also permit an added term , representing an extra uniform sheet without changing the radial circular force. That contribution is excluded in the intended Mestel disk model.
Use a mass-weighted planar galactic distribution function, so is the stellar mass in a small planar phase space element. A number-weighted function instead needs the stellar mass factor when computing . Assume a steady collisionless stellar system and isotropy in the two in-plane velocity components. Put and write . The stationary Collisionless Boltzmann equation becomes
Since this holds in every velocity direction, . In coordinates with , this is exactly . Therefore the planar isotropic distribution is , where is the specific orbital energy. Stationarity is essential; instantaneous isotropy alone would not imply this result.
Integrating over the two-dimensional velocity plane gives the planar isotropic distribution inversion:
On the astrophysical disk , so . Differentiate the integral with respect to its lower limit:
The boundary value as verifies the integrated equation as well as its derivative. Choosing the implicit length unit recovers the printed normalization. Changing the additive energy zero changes this prefactor accordingly.
At a fixed radius, the normalized velocity density is
It is a product of centered Gaussian distributions. Differentiating the supplied Gaussian integral with respect to its coefficient gives the second moments, and odd moments vanish. Thus the in-plane velocity dispersions are
An exactly planar astrophysical disk has and . The nonzero circular speed is a property of the force field, not a statement that this hot stellar distribution has net rotation.
Reversing every retrograde star folds the azimuthal Gaussian to a half-normal distribution. Equivalently the new steady galactic distribution function is , because and are integrals of the motion. Its density and even velocity moments are unchanged. Its streaming velocity is
This maximally prograde stellar distribution still has radial motion and a spread of azimuthal speeds; it does not place every star on a circular orbit. In particular while . The mean speed is smaller than the root-mean-square speed , which explains why it is not the circular speed.
Use a stationary, non-streaming tracer population with spherical symmetry in its full velocity distribution. In particular, the mean velocities vanish, the mixed covariances vanish, and the two tangential components have equal velocity dispersions. Write
Here is the variance of one tangential component. In the alternative convention using the sum of both tangential variances, the same velocity-anisotropy parameter is . These definitions agree; they must not be mixed by inserting an extra factor of two.
The time derivative and mean-velocity terms in the supplied Jeans equation vanish, as do its angular mixed-moment terms. Its remaining geometric term is . Thus the Spherical Jeans equation becomes
The no-streaming assumption excludes a steady radial flow; stationarity of the density alone would not remove its advective terms.
By the shell theorem, the gravitational potential of a spherical mass distribution satisfies . Expanding the derivative above, dividing by , and using logarithmic derivatives gives
The tracer density need not be the density of the gravitating matter. The circular speed is , whether or not the tracers themselves follow circular orbits.
Now let be constant, , and . With , the Spherical Jeans equation reads
For a power-law ansatz , , so . Therefore the scale-free spherical Jeans solution is
The positivity condition is necessary for this particular solution to be a physical velocity dispersion.
There is a boundary condition implicit in selecting this solution. The integrating factor gives, when ,
The homogeneous term represents an additional radial-pressure boundary contribution. It is removed, for example, by requiring at infinity. Under that condition,
and convergence requires , giving the boxed result. If , the solution instead has the logarithmic form
so the quoted constant proportionality does not apply. A finite outer boundary can retain a homogeneous term even when .
To derive the heliocentric projection of a spherical velocity dispersion, put the Sun at vector of length , and a tracer at . Its heliocentric line of sight is
If is the angle between and the Galactocentric radial direction, then
After correction for the Sun's motion, the intrinsic covariance matrix has eigenvalues in the local spherical basis. Projection onto the line of sight therefore gives
At fixed , and are constant across the spherical shell. Averaging its squared line of sight velocity, with zero mean, gives
For a uniformly sampled Galactocentric shell, the solid angle measure makes uniform on , giving the geometric correction for heliocentric velocity dispersion
To evaluate it, set and , and divide the integrand:
The odd term integrates to zero, while . For , , and , this gives
The removable limit at is . As , , while as , . If , and the observed velocity dispersion is exactly radial. For isotropic velocities, , the correction vanishes at every radius.
The averaging measure matters. If directions are instead uniform in heliocentric solid angle at a fixed Galactocentric radius , let be the angle between the line of sight and . Geometry gives , so that particular weighting gives exactly. The logarithmic expression above uses uniform tracer weighting on a Galactocentric shell. For an observational sample, use its actual angular selection weights in ; the boxed dispersion relation remains valid.
The definition of the virial radius of a dark-matter halo immediately gives the virial mass of a dark-matter halo
In an Einstein-de Sitter universe, spherical collapse gives , conventionally rounded to about .
For the Navarro--Frenk--White profile, put . Direct integration gives
Using and therefore yields
At small radius the bracket is , so , consistent with the central cusp. At large radius it is , so the mass diverges logarithmically unless the halo is truncated.
The primordial free streaming of warm dark matter erases small-scale density fluctuations and lowers the central phase-space density, tending to replace the smallest, earliest cold-dark-matter cusps by shallower central profiles or cores.
Since , the spherical potential that vanishes at infinity is
Indeed, , and normalization at requires
The circular speed is consequently
It rises as near the centre, peaks at , and then declines approximately as . Increasing the concentration of a dark-matter halo moves the peak inward in units of and raises it relative to . Thus an NFW curve can be fairly broad but is not exactly a flat galaxy rotation curve; stellar and gas contributions matter when comparing with an observed galaxy rotation curve.
Lower-mass haloes typically collapse earlier, when the cosmic background density is larger. Their characteristic inner densities are consequently larger relative to the present virial density, producing the mass-concentration relation of dark-matter haloes in which concentration decreases weakly with mass.
For a mass smaller by ,
and . Hence
A halo of roughly and kiloparsec scale naturally hosts a dwarf galaxy, possibly an extremely faint one if star formation is inefficient.
Set
The spherical Poisson equation gives
The numerator identity
splits this into two scale-free density-potential components:
Thus
At small radius, and the first term dominates:
The cusp has finite enclosed mass because . Moreover,
so the circular speed tends to zero as . At large radius, and
Since is integrable at infinity and , the total mass is finite and equals .
Put
Part a gives
while the host circular speed is . The Chandrasekhar dynamical friction acceleration reduces to the radius-independent value
Assume stripped material leaves with the satellite's instantaneous specific angular momentum. The remaining orbit then obeys
Since ,
For initial radius ,
and
In this ideal cusp, radius and remaining mass both reach zero at the finite time .
For a self-consistent Gaussian angular-momentum suppression in a stellar distribution, put and . At large radius the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity reduces to , where . The asymptotic balance gives , the displayed density, and circular speed . A sufficiently small regular core can have an intermediate isotropic singular isothermal sphere envelope with and . At the actual regular centre, however, and ; the intermediate power law must not be mistaken for a central limit.
For and , the unreferenced relative potential of the Kuzmin reflection method diverges at large . Referencing each component to the origin before integrating gives the finite potential difference
At small the subtraction is integrable because ; at large the difference is , integrable because . Its plane force is , where . A circular speed fixes , giving
The beta function substitutions for the force and surface density have different exponents. Its central mass is locally finite, but its total mass diverges at large radius; a potential zero at infinity cannot be imposed. The force and density approach those of the Mestel disk as .
Stellar asymmetric drift 2026-10-14
Stellar asymmetric drift is the lag of a pressure-supported stellar population's mean rotation behind the local circular speed. Neglecting the tilted velocity ellipsoid, radial Jeans equation balance gives
A declining density and larger random velocities generally increase the lag; gravitational balance is supplied partly by random-motion stresses.
Streaming velocity Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
The streaming velocity is the local mean stellar velocity obtained by averaging with the galactic distribution function. In an axisymmetric disk it usually denotes . It differs from the circular speed, which is set by the force field, and from the velocity dispersion, which measures fluctuations about the mean.