Constant-anisotropy distribution function 2026-09-28
A spherical constant-anisotropy distribution function hasIts velocity moments have the radius-independent velocity-anisotropy parameter .
In a spherical Newtonian gravitational potential, use binding energy and specific angular momentum . The displayed stationary galactic distribution function has locally Gaussian radial and transverse velocities: , . Its mass density is . The velocity-anisotropy parameter is , so the core is nearly isotropic and the halo nearly radial. These exact Gaussian integrals use the untruncated distribution over all velocities; imposing an escape-energy cutoff changes them.
For an isolated spherical stellar system in equilibrium with constant mass-to-light ratio, the virial theorem gives . Spherical averaging gives , while . Dividing yields the displayed estimator, independent of the radial velocity-anisotropy parameter. It requires the full aperture and negligible boundary stress. A radially varying mass-to-light ratio or an independent dark matter halo prevents interpreting this expression as a general reconstruction of the mass profile.
Half-anisotropic distribution function 2026-10-06
For , with and , velocity integration gives . Thus at . The factor is locally integrable under the velocity-volume measure. Its angular measure is uniform in ; averages of and are both , so the total tangential second moment equals the radial second moment and the velocity-anisotropy parameter is . At the largest allowed radius , the derivative becomes , not . Positivity requires .
Heliocentric projection of a spherical velocity dispersion Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For a non-streaming spherical tracer population, the line of sight makes angle with the Galactocentric radial direction. The projected velocity dispersion iswhere is one tangential variance and is the velocity-anisotropy parameter. At a fixed radius, averaging with the observational angular weights gives , where .
Hypervirial distribution function Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-06
The hypervirial model is generated self-consistently by a constant-anisotropy distribution function proportional toIts velocity-anisotropy parameter is .
In a spherical galactic distribution function with , write and . The velocity Jacobian cancels the apparent singularity at . Integration of Gaussian energy components then reduces to one full-line and one half-line Gaussian integral. The angular average makes each tangential velocity dispersion half the radial one, so the velocity-anisotropy parameter is .
The density and self-consistent potential of a spherical galaxy need not determine its galactic distribution function. Different angular-momentum dependence can reproduce the same density with different velocity-anisotropy parameters. An isotropic Plummer model and its positive anisotropic Plummer distribution with unit anisotropy radius provide an explicit example. A chosen full augmented density is additional information.
Osipkov-Merritt distribution function 2026-10-06
An Osipkov-Merritt spherical distribution has for and vanishes otherwise. Rescaling transverse velocities by makes its velocity integral isotropic in the rescaled variables. Its velocity-anisotropy parameter is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 66 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First velocity moment. Assume a stationary, spherical, nonstreaming collisionless stellar system with constant mass-to-light ratio . Use a luminosity-weighted galactic distribution function, with luminosity density . Multiplying the Collisionless Boltzmann equation by and integrating over velocities, with its velocity-space boundary terms vanishing, givesSpherical symmetry makes the stress tensorHere is one tangential component, as in the paper; the total tangential variance is . Its radial divergence is , since the divergence of the radial unit vector is . With the velocity-anisotropy parameter , and enclosed mass , this gives the Spherical Jeans equationThis uses a constant ratio of total gravitating mass to luminosity, rather than an arbitrary independent dark halo.
Projection and elimination of anisotropy. Write for projected radius and for spherical radius. The Abel transform of the luminosity density giveswhose inverse is the displayed density inversion in the paper. At a point on this line of sight, . The line-of-sight second stellar velocity moment is . Therefore the measured quantity satisfiesThe Spherical Jeans equation gives . Substitution yieldsThe inner printed in the PDF's definition of must therefore be : the literal expression has an extra gravitational factor and lacks the density. Both this derivation and dimensional consistency require the correction. Define the projected spherical Jeans residual byTo express it entirely in terms of the radial stress, putDifferentiating the nonsingular representation gives . HenceIf vanishes at zero and infinity, then . These are the absence-of-boundary-stress conditions needed for the global result.
The virial relation, term by term. Interchange the order in the residual integral and useIt follows thatThe first term is : spherical averaging assigns one third of the integrated velocity-square to any fixed viewing direction, giving . The gravitational potential energy isThus the integrated residual is exactly , and its vanishing is the virial theorem. Solving for gives the global projected virial estimate of a mass-to-light ratio,It is independent of the radial anisotropy profile when the full aperture and the stated boundary conditions are used. A finite aperture retains a boundary term.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 72 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let and use the velocity-anisotropy parameter , with . Here the tangential variance is per component; a definition using the sum of both tangential variances instead has an extra factor of two. The original PDF has this correct per-component ratio, which the TeX corrupts.
At a point along the line of sight, . The radial direction makes an angle with the sightline satisfying . Spherical symmetry eliminates mixed moments, and projection givesUsing both sides of the galaxy and ,For this formula use as the projected density of the same tracer represented by . If is a mass density and an observed surface brightness, a constant mass-to-light ratio rescales by that factor; otherwise replace by the luminosity density throughout the tracer equation. The gravitating remains the total mass, not necessarily the tracer's mass.
The Spherical Jeans equation is . Eliminate from the projected integrand:Rearranging provesNo constancy of was needed. Convergence of the projected moments and the steady spherical assumptions are required. This is the integral form of the projected spherical Jeans residual.
Although has disappeared explicitly, the unknown radial pressure still carries the orbital information. Thus the identity does not remove the mass--anisotropy--density degeneracy: projected brightness and one projected second moment do not uniquely determine both and the radial/tangential partition. A central rise in velocity dispersion can reflect a compact central mass, radial orbital bias, or a changing mass-to-light ratio; flattening and departures from equilibrium add further ambiguities.
For example, within a point-mass-dominated region with tracer and constant , direct solution gives . For the projected velocity dispersion of a Keplerian cusp isThe beta function factors come from setting in the integrals along the line of sight. Different allowed generally change the mass needed to fit the same normalization; is a special cancellation, not the general case. Resolving the central black-hole sphere of influence and constraining orbital structure with higher velocity moments or additional kinematic directions strengthens a compact-mass inference. Brightness and velocity dispersion profiles alone do not establish a unique central black-hole mass, still less an event horizon.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 73 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Assume a stationary, spherical, nonrotating collisionless stellar system, a constant mass-to-light ratio , and vanishing boundary stresses at infinity. Let be the luminosity density, so , and set . Distinguish spatial radius from projected radius . The enclosed luminosity and radial force areHere is the velocity dispersion of either one of the two tangential components; thus . If a combined tangential variance is used instead, its contribution must be divided by two in this definition.
To derive the Jeans equation, start with the steady Collisionless Boltzmann equation . Multiply by and integrate over all velocities. Integration by parts in velocity, with decaying fast enough to eliminate boundary terms, givesThe same equation holds with luminosity weighting because the tracer's luminosity is conserved along its orbit. Spherical symmetry makes the local stellar velocity moment tensor diagonal, with entries , , . Its radial divergence is : the second term accounts for the changing directions of the radial and tangential unit vectors. ThereforeThis is the Spherical Jeans equation; it follows from a stellar velocity moment rather than requiring a particular form of the galactic distribution function.
Integrating the luminosity density along a line of sight gives its surface brightness:The second identity is Spherical Abel deprojection. For the second stellar velocity moment, the angle between the radial direction and the line of sight has . The line-of-sight velocity dispersion is therefore , andFrom the Spherical Jeans equation, . Substitution producesThe primary PDF has a genuine symbol error in its projected gravity term: it prints a second multiplying inside the integral, where is required. The corrected projected spherical Jeans residual isTo justify the derivative at the singular-looking lower limit, write . Differentiation then gives . In particular, . If tends to zero both at zero and infinity, as for a finite isolated equilibrium with sufficiently decaying stresses,If a boundary stress survives, its contribution must be retained; the zero-integral statement is not a finite-aperture identity.
Now identify each integral with a term in the virial theorem. Let be the total kinetic energy, including all three random components, and the gravitational potential energy. Averaging over spatial directions in a spherical system gives one third of the total stellar velocity moment along any chosen line of sight, even if the velocities are locally anisotropic. ThusBuilding the spherical mass shell by shell givesFinally, Fubini theorem and give the gravitational contribution to the residual integral explicitly:ConsequentlyThe global projected virial estimate of a mass-to-light ratio is independent of the velocity-anisotropy parameter under these assumptions. It does not remove the mass--anisotropy--density degeneracy for arbitrary radial mass profiles. In particular, if an independent dark matter halo makes mass fail to follow light, a single constant is no longer the physical enclosed mass-to-light ratio at every radius.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 69 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
An integral of motion is a function of phase space that is constant along a trajectory. Put , so the stellar acceleration is . In a time-independent spherical Newtonian gravitational potential,The second equality uses the radial direction of . Thus both the binding energy and the full specific angular momentum vector are integrals of motion.
The Collisionless Boltzmann equation isFor a stationary galactic distribution function, this says on every characteristic, so is constant on each stellar orbit. Locally choose a complete set of orbit labels , themselves integrals of motion; constancy along the characteristic means . Conversely, for any such differentiable , the chain rule gives . This proves Jeans theorem in its orbit-invariance form. It does not claim that just two particular integrals classify every orbit in an arbitrary potential. For the specified spherical model, is a rotationally invariant stationary choice.
For the velocity integration, write , , , and set . At fixed position the velocity-dependent factor isUse and integrate over . The mass density isSince ,These integrals use the stated untruncated galactic distribution function over all velocities; an additional escape-energy cutoff would change the result.
In local orthogonal velocity components the same exponent is . Each component is a centred Gaussian distribution. The one-dimensional identity yieldsIn particular the velocity-anisotropy parameter is . This is Gaussian angular-momentum suppression in a stellar distribution.
The radial laws also require self-consistency through the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity:For , outside a sufficiently small core, the model is almost isotropic and isothermal. Seek its scale-free envelope with . Its distribution-density relation gives , and the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity gives . Thus the intended intermediate singular isothermal sphere behaviour iswhere a core scale is .
The stated law cannot be the actual central limit of a regular finite-density model. For finite and , regularity and the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity instead giveand . A broad intermediate region exists only if ; the radius alone does not ensure it.
For the outer radially anisotropic isothermal halo asymptotics, put , and . At the density relation and Poisson equation becomeThe slow outer balance is , so , giving . Its consistency check is , for which . ThereforeThe reference radius changes only subleading logarithmic terms. The circular speed falls as , rather than remaining exactly flat.
Physically, the model has an almost isotropic central region and, if the scales separate, a flat-rotation isothermal envelope. Beyond , suppression of large specific angular momentum leaves predominantly radial orbits: radial velocity dispersion remains , while transverse dispersion falls as . The outer density acquires a logarithmic suppression and the galaxy rotation curve declines slowly. The enclosed mass still grows approximately as , so this untruncated model has infinite total mass.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 62 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A phase-space distribution function describes the mass in a small cell of positions and velocities: is that mass. Its velocity integral is the spatial mass density, and at a fixed position is a normalized velocity probability density. A number-normalized galactic distribution function differs by the stellar mass convention.
Take and . For the cusped logarithmic spherical galaxy model, differentiate the gravitational potential and use the spherical Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity:ThusA circular orbit requires . Its galaxy rotation curve is thereforeIt rises as at small radius and approaches from below at large radius.
The outer flat galaxy rotation curve is qualitatively useful for galaxies. However, the density has an inner cusp and an outer tail, while diverges. The model therefore requires an outer truncation for a finite galaxy, and does not describe a central constant-density core. Its gravitational potential cannot be normalized to zero at infinity.
For a star, the specific energy is and the specific angular momentum is . Since the gravitational potential is stationary and spherical,Thus both the specific energy and the entire angular-momentum vector are conserved.
For Jeans theorem, follow a stellar trajectory in phase space. The Collisionless Boltzmann equation is preciselyIn a steady system , so the value of the galactic distribution function is constant along every trajectory: it is itself an integral of motion. Conversely, if are time-independent integrals of motion, then satisfies . Locally, a complete set of invariant orbit labels expresses any steady galactic distribution function this way. This is the weak form of Jeans theorem; a stronger assertion about a small set of isolating integrals needs additional orbital regularity or mixing assumptions. In particular, the theorem does not say that every steady galaxy must have a galactic distribution function depending on only and .
For the proposed constant-anisotropy distribution function, write and . Introduce a polar angle in the tangential velocity plane. Then , so the apparent singularity cancels against the velocity Jacobian. This inverse-angular-momentum velocity integration makes the density finite for every .
Let , , , and . Each exponential component contributesHere the two Gaussian integrals and the angular integral have product . Consequently,The galactic distribution function is nonnegative, gives the required density, and depends on conserved ; by Jeans theorem it is a self-consistent steady solution.
Differentiating the Gaussian integral with respect to shows that each component has , and the same value for . Angular averaging gives . Weighting these by yields the velocity dispersionsThe radial numerator includes , as in the original PDF. All mean velocities vanish by parity. The same parity, or the zero angular average of , gives .
The velocity-anisotropy parameter isThe constant-anisotropy distribution function therefore favors radial motion at every radius: the radial variance is twice either individual tangential variance. It still has a substantial population with nonzero angular momentum, rather than exclusively radial orbits. The factor enhances low-angular-momentum stars. The radial velocity dispersion approaches at the centre and far out; each individual tangential variance is half as large. There is no mean rotation, despite the well-defined galaxy rotation curve for hypothetical circular orbits.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 320 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A spherically symmetric stellar model has no preferred direction in the tangent plane at a fixed radius. Rotations about the radial axis exchange its two transverse velocity directions, so . This uses spherical symmetry of the velocity distribution, not just a spherical mass density.
The augmented density treats radius and relative potential as independent variables, agreeing with the physical density only along . For any regular bound spherical galactic distribution function , write and . At fixed , and . Integration by parts therefore givesFor , the velocity measure is , and . Integrating the transverse derivative gives , while integrating the radial derivative in gives . Consequentlywhere is fixed. These identities show that the augmented representation holds for any such spherical distribution, not only a monomial ansatz. With radial pressure vanishing at the zero-binding boundary, set Along the physical curve, the chain rule gives . The Spherical Jeans equation then requiresThus the Jeans moments from an augmented density areThe partial derivative holds fixed. Substitution cancels the integral of and leaves precisely in the Spherical Jeans equation. This is a representation by a chosen augmented density, not a unique solution determined by the one-variable density: different extensions off the physical curve encode different anisotropies, and not every formal extension necessarily gives a nonnegative galactic distribution function.
For the hypervirial density-potential family, differentiate the potential and use the spherical shell theorem:Differentiating and dividing by givesThe enclosed mass tends to at infinity and to zero at the centre for every . The same result follows from , with the stated sign convention.
From now on set . The separable augmented density is . Integrating it givesand henceWith these are the requested radial expressions. The velocity-anisotropy parameter is , and the total mean square speed is .
The local kinetic-energy density is . With the potential zero at infinity, the gravitational energy density is , where . ThereforeThis is the local virial relation of the hypervirial model, a special property stronger than the global virial theorem. To compute the global energies as well, set . The substitution yields the global binding integral of the hypervirial modelThe beta function integral converges for all . ThusRestoring dimensions multiplies by .
To derive the hypervirial distribution function, let be the positive relative energy and the magnitude of the specific angular momentum. Seek for and zero otherwise. Its density isThe angular integral is . Substitution makes the radial integralMatching the augmented-density power gives . Matching its coefficient gives the normalization of the hypervirial distribution functionAll integrals are finite in velocity for , and . Because and are orbital integrals, this is a steady solution by the Jeans theorem. As checks, gives for the Hernquist model, and gives for the isotropic Plummer model.
The density and potential do not uniquely fix the stellar distribution. The preceding coefficient is fixed within the chosen separable power-law model, but nonuniqueness of spherical galactic distribution functions remains without that extra restriction. An explicit positive counterexample uses the same density. Define the Osipkov-Merritt distribution function variable and takeRescale the transverse velocity by . Then and the velocity Jacobian contributes . Direct integration givesexactly the same Plummer model density. This anisotropic Plummer distribution with unit anisotropy radius has , so it is distinct from the isotropic distribution while remaining positive and spherical. Its second moments differ, so it does not share the extra augmented-density and local-virial restrictions of the chosen hypervirial model.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 320 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Assume a time-independent spherical relative potential , with acceleration . The relative energy and specific angular momentum areAlong an orbit, and , since a spherical gradient is radial. Thus both and are integrals of motion. Choose the escape level and take the bound galactic distribution function to vanish for .
For an isotropic , integrate over a spherical coordinate system in velocity space:Differentiating gives . Convolve once more with the reciprocal-square-root kernel. Reversing the order of integration, under the usual integrability assumptions, usesTherefore . Differentiating proves Eddington inversion:Here is outside the square root, as in the original PDF; the TeX transcription wrongly places it inside. The assumptions include a locally integrable bound distribution and sufficient density regularity, with no extra unbound or boundary population. An inverted expression must additionally be nonnegative to be physical. Since the velocity measure and are invariant under all velocity rotations, whenever these moments exist; mixed moments vanish.
For the half-anisotropic distribution function, write the polar velocity angle from the radial direction as . Then , andThe apparent singularity is integrable because it cancels the factor in the velocity measure. Integrating and givesThe density relation requires at the escape boundary and for a physical distribution. Consider a monotonically decreasing . The largest allowed radius at fixed binding energy is the radial-orbit limit with ; a nonzero- orbit normally has a smaller apocenter because of its centrifugal term. Changing from to givesThe numerator in the original PDF instead uses . That is a genuine printed error: the chain rule for requires . It is not legitimate to prove the printed expression as written. A concrete counterexample is the unit-parameter Hernquist model at : , and . The printed quotient is , whereas the correct is . The former would give a negative distribution.
The angular weight after cancellation is uniform in , so the averages of and are both . The azimuthal angle splits the tangential term equally. Hence and each individual tangential moment is half the radial one. The velocity-anisotropy parameter is consequentlyThis is a radially biased constant-anisotropy distribution function, not an isotropic one or purely radial motion. It does not by itself prove dynamical stability; it preferentially weights small angular momentum while remaining integrable.
For the Hernquist model, use the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity with the relative-potential sign, . Since ,Its enclosed mass is , which tends to . Expressing the augmented density in the relative potential gives . The preceding derivative therefore giveswith zero bound-model population outside the allowed energy domain. It is nonnegative and reproduces the density by direct integration. The Hernquist model has a central density cusp, so the formulas for the local distribution are interpreted at . As a further check, the radial second moment obtained from the same integral is and each tangential second moment is , consistent with .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 349 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
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. WriteHere 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 becomesThe 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 givesThe 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 readsFor a power-law ansatz , , so . Therefore the scale-free spherical Jeans solution isThe 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 formso 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 isIf is the angle between and the Galactocentric radial direction, thenAfter correction for the Sun's motion, the intrinsic covariance matrix has eigenvalues in the local spherical basis. Projection onto the line of sight therefore givesAt fixed , and are constant across the spherical shell. Averaging its squared line of sight velocity, with zero mean, givesFor a uniformly sampled Galactocentric shell, the solid angle measure makes uniform on , giving the geometric correction for heliocentric velocity dispersionTo evaluate it, set and , and divide the integrand:The odd term integrates to zero, while . For , , and , this givesThe 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.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 320 3 a Solution 2026-09-28
At fixed radius, use spherical coordinates in velocity space with polar angle measured from the radial direction:The galactic distribution function and volume element give angular weightAll dependence on , , and cancels from ratios of second moments. Symmetry in the tangential plane givesWriting the angular integrals as beta function integrals and using the Gamma function recurrence,Therefore, for every admissible energy factor ,Equivalently, the velocity-anisotropy parameter is the constant .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 349 1 Solution 2026-09-28
With the convention in the question, the constant velocity-anisotropy parameter is . Since , the Spherical Jeans equation becomesFor and , its general integrating factor solution isThe homogeneous term represents a boundary pressure. For an extended scale-free system the physical boundary condition normally removes it, leavingPositivity requires . A complete physical model must also have a nonnegative galactic distribution function and sensible inner and outer boundary behaviour; for example, strong radial anisotropy is restricted by density-slope--anisotropy inequalities.
Observationally, the tracer density can be estimated from star counts only after correcting distances, extinction, survey selection, and incompleteness. Spectroscopy supplies mainly line-of-sight velocities; proper motions add transverse information but become less precise for distant halo stars. The equation shows the mass--anisotropy--density degeneracy directly: the same measured can result from a larger , a steeper tracer slope , or a different . Even globally constant power laws therefore do not determine the galactic mass profile unless some of these quantities are independently constrained.
If , , or changes near a break radius, the solution at one radius also depends on the outer boundary integral. A break in observed dispersion may be attributed to a mass-profile feature, a tracer-density break, or a change in orbital anisotropy. Separate tracer populations, full three-dimensional velocities, higher velocity moments, and measurements over a wide radial range help break this degeneracy.
More flexible alternatives model a nonnegative solution of the Collisionless Boltzmann equation itself. An action-based galactic distribution function gives an analytic or parametrized ; a Schwarzschild orbit-superposition model assigns nonnegative weights to an orbit library; and a made-to-measure stellar-dynamical model adjusts particle weights to reproduce observations. These methods retain more phase-space information than Jeans moments, although their flexibility introduces model choices and regularization.
For a scale-free tracer in a point-mass gravitational potential, with and constant velocity-anisotropy parameter, the Spherical Jeans equation gives when the outer pressure term vanishes. Project the tracer density and its second stellar velocity moment along the line of sight. The substitution reduces both integrals to powers of and hence the beta function, yielding the displayed expression. The ratio of the two numerator angular integrals is . This makes the mass-anisotropy ambiguity explicit. At the velocity-anisotropy parameter dependence cancels and ; that special slope does not remove the degeneracy in general. Physical use also requires a nonnegative tracer distribution and control of outer departures from the power law.
