Use cylindrical coordinates and tracer density . A steady axisymmetric Jeans equation, with no mean radial or vertical flow, is
Write , , and . Rearrangement gives the stellar asymmetric drift equation
For an isotropic velocity ellipsoid, all three dispersions equal and the cross stress vanishes. Therefore the required general result is
The positive root is for a prograde galactic disk. A declining radial stress gives : random motions supply some support, so mean stellar rotation is slower than cold-gas circular rotation. For , . The condition alone is insufficient; one also needs .
There is no universal numerical coefficient expressible from and alone. For constant velocity dispersion and , . Thus gives the often-used estimate , while gives a different answer with the same and . For an exponential galactic disk tracer with and , the exponential-disk asymmetric drift has .
Real galactic disks generally have anisotropic velocity dispersions, often . In the small-random-motion epicyclic motion limit for a flat galaxy rotation curve, , so even the non-gradient term matters. The velocity ellipsoid can tilt, and bars or spiral structure can violate steady axisymmetry. Age-dependent galactic disk heating makes the lag population dependent. Gas has finite turbulent and thermal stresses too, though a cold gas disk often approximates much better than a hot stellar population.
For a concrete Milky-Way-like illustration, take
and isotropic tracer velocity dispersion
With local tracer density , the exponential-disk asymmetric drift then predicts
The sketch shows the cold gas following , rising in the inner galaxy and becoming approximately flat, while the stellar curve sits below it. Only radii are used for the stellar approximation; a central galactic bulge needs a separate model.
Figure 1.
Milky-Way-like cold-gas circular rotation and a stellar rotation curve with explicitly specified asymmetric drift
. Details.
At , and , giving gas speed about , stellar speed about , and a lag about . These are representative scales for the requested schematic, not a fit to the Milky Way. Hotter old stellar populations would have a larger lag: doubling this dispersion at the same radius gives a stellar speed about . The specified radial laws and isotropy make the example reproducible while retaining the qualifications in the preceding derivation.