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The vertical Jeans equation determines $K_z={\partial }_z\Phi$ from a tracer's density and velocity dispersion, with a correction for the tilted velocity ellipsoid. Integrating the axisymmetric Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity givesfor $z>0$ and reflection symmetry. Subtracting independently estimated stellar and gas surface densities constrains any additional gravitating component; a dark matter halo also contributes, so an excess is not automatically a dark disk.

At fixed position a two-integral distribution depends on $v_R,v_z$ only through $v_R^2+v_z^2$. Swapping these integration variables makes their second moments equal. Their odd moments and mixed second moments vanish by reflection symmetry. For an even function of $L_z$ the azimuthal velocity is also centered, so all mixed entries of the velocity ellipsoid vanish.

Reflection symmetry makes $\overline{v_R{v}_z}$ odd in height, so its value at the midplane vanishes while its derivative need not vanish. The radial Jeans equation includes this derivative in the stellar asymmetric drift. For a velocity ellipsoid locally aligned with spherical coordinates, $\overline{v_R{v}_z}\simeq ({\sigma }_R^2-{\sigma }_z^2)z/R$, and its midplane contribution is $-({\sigma }_R^2-{\sigma }_z^2)$. Dropping a mixed moment at the symmetry plane does not justify dropping its derivative.

The Jeans equations express local momentum conservation for a collisionless stellar system, just as the Euler equations do for a gas. The mean streaming velocity plays the role of fluid flow, the gravitational force is a body force, and random stellar motions supply a pressure tensor through $\rho {\sigma }_{ij}^2$. Taking moments smooths over individual stellar orbits and produces fields of density, mean velocity and random-motion stress; this is the sense of “stellar hydrodynamics”.

Ordinary gas pressure is usually nearly isotropic because collisions relax its local velocity distribution. A collisionless stellar system can retain an anisotropic velocity ellipsoid, so its pressure tensor is not generally a scalar times the identity. There are more unknown second moments than momentum equations, and their evolution introduces higher moments. The Jeans equations therefore require further dynamical assumptions or a specified one-particle distribution function for closure; they do not by themselves establish local thermal equilibrium or a gas equation of state.

In an axisymmetric cylindrical coordinate system, the steady Collisionless Boltzmann equation isLet $\nu =\int f{d}^{3}v$ and $\overline{A}={\nu }^{-1}\int Af{d}^{3}v$. Multiply by $v_R$ and integrate over velocities. The spatial terms give ${\partial }_R(\nu \overline{v_R^2})+{\partial }_z(\nu \overline{v_R{v}_z})$. Integration by parts in $v_R$ supplies $\nu {\Phi }_R-\nu \overline{v_{\varphi }^2}/R$, and the $v_{\varphi }$ derivative supplies $\nu \overline{v_R^2}/R$. The $v_z$ force term vanishes because $v_R$ does not depend on $v_z$. This assumes sufficient decay of the galactic distribution function to discard all velocity boundary terms. The radial Jeans equation is consequentlyReflection symmetry about $z=0$ makes $\nu$ even and $\overline{v_R{v}_z}$ odd. At the midplane the latter vanishes, and ${\nu }^{-1}{\partial }_z(\nu \overline{v_R{v}_z})={\partial }_z\overline{v_R{v}_z}$. Multiplying by $R/\nu$ provesAll quadratic velocities here are population moments, not individual stellar velocities. In particular, symmetry does not make the midplane tilt contribution to asymmetric drift disappear: an odd mixed moment can have a nonzero derivative at zero.

For application to the Milky Way, assume negligible mean radial and vertical flows, and define the circular speed by $v_c^2=R{\Phi }_R(R,0)$. Write $\overline{v_R^2}={\sigma }_R^2$ and $\overline{v_{\varphi }^2}={\overline{v}}_{\varphi }^2+{\sigma }_{\varphi }^2$. Rearranging gives the exact stress-support relationThus the stellar asymmetric drift $v_a=v_c-{\overline{v}}_{\varphi }$ is the right-hand side divided by $v_c+{\overline{v}}_{\varphi }$. For $v_a\ll v_c$, this denominator is approximately $2v_c$. If $\nu \propto e^{-R/h_{\nu }}$ and ${\sigma }_R^2\propto e^{-R/h_{\sigma }}$ locally, the bracket becomes $R/h_{\nu }+R/h_{\sigma }-1+{\sigma }_{\varphi }^2/{\sigma }_R^2$, making the density and dispersion-gradient contributions explicit.

A radially declining random-motion stress supplies some of the force needed to support a galactic disk, so its stars need less ordered azimuthal motion than a population on circular orbits. Hotter, often older, stellar populations therefore generally rotate more slowly than cold populations in the same gravitational potential; this is the observed stellar asymmetric drift. It is a stress-support effect, not a frictional slowing of each orbit. For a velocity ellipsoid aligned approximately with spherical coordinates, $\overline{v_R{v}_z}\simeq ({\sigma }_R^2-{\sigma }_z^2)z/R$, and the midplane tilt term contributes $-({\sigma }_R^2-{\sigma }_z^2)$ rather than zero.

Local measurements of mean rotation and all components of the velocity dispersion, combined with tracer-density and dispersion gradients, can therefore constrain $v_c$ and the radial Newtonian gravitational field. A hotter sample's mean rotation must not be identified directly with the circular speed. The tracer number density need not be the gravitating mass density. Nonaxisymmetric streaming, a nonstationary disk, poorly measured radial gradients, or a neglected tilt term can bias this inference; these are assumptions of the derivation rather than extra free corrections to the circular force.

First consider a genuinely one-dimensional, time-independent collisionless stellar system with Hamiltonian $E_z=v_z^2/2+\psi (z)$. Choose $\psi (0)=0$. For bound vertical oscillations, a phase-mixed population has equal occupations of the upward and downward branches of each orbit. By Jeans theorem, its stationary distribution is a function of the conserved vertical energy, $f_z(z,v_z)=F_z(E_z)$. Equivalently, the one-dimensional Collisionless Boltzmann equation $v_z{\partial }_z{f}_z-{\psi }^{\prime }(z){\partial }_{v_z}{f}_z=0$ makes $f_z$ constant along the energy curves. Branch-dependent incoming and outgoing populations or time-dependent waves would not satisfy this assumption.

Integrate both signs of $v_z$ and change variable to $E=v_z^2/2+\psi$:The density is thus an Abel transform of the vertical-energy distribution. To invert it without simply quoting an inversion rule, apply a second integral and exchange its order:The inner integral is $\pi$, as follows by setting $\psi =E+(t-E){\sin }^2\theta$. Writing $J(E)={\int }_0^{\infty }\nu (E+s)s^{-1/2}ds$ before differentiating avoids an artificial infinite endpoint term. Under sufficient differentiability and decay,The vertical-energy Abel inversion of a stellar distribution is thereforeThis proves the normalization, including the factor from the two velocity signs. The additive origin of $\psi$ merely changes the origin of energy.

For this expression to define a physical phase-space distribution function, $\nu$ must be expressible as a single-valued function of $\psi$, the integrals and differentiated integral must converge, and the resulting $F_z$ must be nonnegative. Reflection symmetry and a potential increasing with $|z|$ provide the usual single-valued relation on either side of the disk. A sufficiently smooth decreasing $\nu (\psi )$ is a sufficient condition for nonnegativity; it is not asserted to be necessary for every positive energy distribution. If there is a finite escape energy, replace the infinite limits by that energy and impose the appropriate cutoff and boundary conditions. The displayed infinite-limit formula presumes either a confining potential or a distribution extended by zero above its allowed energy, with no omitted boundary population.

A three-dimensional galactic disk does not automatically meet these hypotheses. Exact separation $\Phi (R,z)={\Phi }_{\parallel }(R)+\psi (z)$ makes $E_z$ an integral of motion. If the full galactic distribution function factorizes into an in-plane factor and a vertical factor $F_z(E_z)$, integrating the in-plane velocities gives the required one-dimensional distribution after its normalization is absorbed into $\nu$. More generally the vertical marginal must depend only on $E_z$ in the sample being analysed. Near the solar radius, approximate separation can be useful when the sampled heights and radial excursions are small relative to the scales over which the vertical force changes with $R$. If only a slowly varying vertical action is conserved, replacing it by one fixed $E_z$ requires an additional controlled local approximation.

The population must be sufficiently stationary and phase mixed, with negligible mean vertical flow, and the data must measure a well-defined tracer population with a known selection function. Radial coupling and the tilted velocity ellipsoid must be negligible or modelled. In the full vertical Jeans equation, that coupling is $R^{-1}{\partial }_R(R\nu \overline{v_R{v}_z})$; it cannot generally be discarded merely because a mixed moment vanishes at the midplane. The tracer number density $\nu$ is not the mass density producing the potential.

To infer the local mass, measure the tracer density as a function of height and its vertical velocity distribution near the midplane. With $\psi (0)=0$, the latter directly samples $F_z(v_z^2/2)$. Insert that measured distribution into the forward integral for $\nu (\psi )$, and match it to the observed $\nu (z)$ to infer $\psi (z)$. Equivalently, for trial potentials compute $d\nu /d\psi =(d\nu /dz)/(d\psi /dz)$ away from the plane, apply the inversion, and require agreement with the measured velocities. Density data alone do not determine both an unknown potential and an unknown energy distribution.

Once the vertical force is known, use the full axisymmetric Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity, rather than identifying every vertical derivative with density in isolation:At the midplane, $v_c^2(R)=R{\partial }_R\Phi (R,0)$, soIn terms of the circular-orbit Oort constants, $A=\frac{1}{2}(v_c/R-d{v}_c/dR)$ and $B=-\frac{1}{2}(v_c/R+d{v}_c/dR)$, the radial term equals $2(B^2-A^2)$. It vanishes for a locally flat rotation curve, not for an arbitrary rotating disk. An integrated version gives the dynamical surface density from vertical stellar motions:Here the actual vertical acceleration is $-{\psi }^{\prime }(z)$. The sign of the radial correction follows directly from the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity.

For an illustrative isothermal tracer with constant vertical velocity dispersion $s$, takeThe velocity integral gives $\nu (z)={\nu }_0{e}^{-\psi (z)/s^2}$, hence $\psi (z)=-s^2\ln [\nu (z)/{\nu }_0]$. For a locally flat rotation curve this yieldsThis example shows explicitly how a measured tracer scale and velocity scale constrain the gravitating density; using the tracer's own density as the mass source would instead impose an unjustified self-gravitating model.

The inferred density includes luminous and faint stars, gas and dark matter. Comparing it with an independently estimated baryonic census tests for extra gravitating mass. An excess need not be a dark disk: a dark matter halo also contributes to the local force. Conversely, agreement with the baryonic density locally does not exclude a halo at other radii or heights. Vertical disequilibrium, radial mixing, errors in selection or tracer populations, and neglected velocity tilt can mimic a mass discrepancy, so the one-dimensional equilibrium assumptions must be tested when interpreting such an inference.

Use cylindrical coordinates and tracer density $\nu (R,z)$. A steady axisymmetric Jeans equation, with no mean radial or vertical flow, isWrite $\overline{v_R^2}={\sigma }_R^2$, $\overline{v_{\varphi }^2}={\bar{v}}_{\varphi }^2+{\sigma }_{\varphi }^2$, and $V_c^2=R{\partial }_R\Phi$. Rearrangement gives the stellar asymmetric drift equationFor an isotropic velocity ellipsoid, all three dispersions equal $\sigma$ and the cross stress vanishes. Therefore the required general result isThe positive root is for a prograde galactic disk. A declining radial stress gives $A>0$: random motions supply some support, so mean stellar rotation is slower than cold-gas circular rotation. For $A{\sigma }^2\ll V_c^2$, $V_c-{\bar{v}}_{\varphi }\simeq A{\sigma }^2/(2V_c)$. The condition $\sigma <V_c$ alone is insufficient; one also needs $A{\sigma }^2\le V_c^2$.

There is no universal numerical coefficient expressible from $V_c$ and $\sigma$ alone. For constant velocity dispersion and $\nu \propto R^{-p}$, $A=p$. Thus $p=2$ gives the often-used estimate ${\bar{v}}_{\varphi }=\sqrt{V_c^2-2{\sigma }^2}$, while $p=1$ gives a different answer with the same $V_c$ and $\sigma$. For an exponential galactic disk tracer with $\nu \propto e^{-R/R_d}$ and ${\sigma }^2\propto e^{-R/R_{\sigma }}$, the exponential-disk asymmetric drift has $A=R(R_d^{-1}+R_{\sigma }^{-1})$.

Real galactic disks generally have anisotropic velocity dispersions, often ${\sigma }_R>{\sigma }_{\varphi }>{\sigma }_z$. In the small-random-motion epicyclic motion limit for a flat galaxy rotation curve, ${\sigma }_{\varphi }^2/{\sigma }_R^2\simeq 1/2$, 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 $V_c$ much better than a hot stellar population.

A nonrotating elliptical galaxy need not have an isotropic velocity ellipsoid: unequal random-motion stresses in different directions can support an oblate or triaxial shape without substantial mean rotation. The tensor virial theorem, $2T_{ij}+W_{ij}=0$ for a stationary isolated system with appropriate boundary terms, balances this directional kinetic stress against the directional gravitational stress. Anisotropic random motions can supply the flattening, whereas an isotropic nonrotating equilibrium has much stronger restrictions on its shape.

Measure the number-density profile $n(z)$ and vertical velocity dispersion ${\sigma }_z(z)$ of a tracer stellar population. The vertical Jeans equation estimates the restoring field fromThe second term accounts for the tilt of the velocity ellipsoid; an exponential tracer with constant velocity dispersion and negligible tilt gives $K_z={\sigma }_z^2/h$ above the plane. The tracer need not supply all the gravitating mass. To infer the dynamical surface density from vertical stellar motions, integrate the axisymmetric Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity:For a nearly flat galaxy rotation curve with a small radial correction, this reduces to $K_z/(2\pi G)$. Estimate stellar surface density independently from counts, the initial mass function and faint objects, and add the gas surface density and stellar remnants. The residuallimits the allowed unseen material within the same height interval. A fitted dark matter halo contributes too: measurements at several heights help distinguish its extended density from a thin dark component in the galactic disk. Under a specified decomposition, the disc dark-matter fraction is the inferred dark-disc surface density divided by the total disc surface density, with uncertainty or an upper limit if the residual is consistent with zero. Selection effects, disequilibrium, the tilt term and uncertain baryonic counts must enter the error budget; an excess alone does not establish that all of it is in the galactic disk.

Put $V=|v_0|>0$, take $q>0$ without loss of generality, and write $s=R^2+z^2/q^2$. The Newtonian gravitational potential is singular at the origin; all pointwise claims below concern $s>0$. 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 givesThe two contributions to the Laplacian areConsequently the mass density of the axisymmetric logarithmic gravitational potential isThe coefficient of $R^2$ is positive. The coefficient of $z^2$ determines the density positivity for an axisymmetric logarithmic potential: strict positivity at every noncentral point requires $q^2>1/2$ and $v_0\ne 0$. Nonnegativity permits $q^2=1/2$, where the mass density vanishes on the noncentral symmetry axis. For $q^2<1/2$ it is negative near that axis. Either sign of a nonzero real $q$ gives the same model, and $q=0$ is undefined. Setting $v_0=0$ yields vacuum away from the singular origin, not strictly positive mass density. The $r^{-2}$ 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 $v_c^2/R$. Thus the circular speed isThis is a flat galaxy rotation curve. The singular center does not define an additional circular orbit at $R=0$.

The specific orbital energy $E=\frac{1}{2}(v_R^2+v_{\varphi }^2+v_z^2)+\Phi$ is conserved because the Newtonian gravitational potential is time independent. The axial specific angular momentum $L_z=R{v}_{\varphi }$ is conserved because the Newtonian gravitational potential is axisymmetric. Hence the Jeans theorem, or directly $dF(E,L_z^2)/dt=0$ in the Collisionless Boltzmann equation, permits a stationary two-integral galactic distribution function. Using $L_z^2$ 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 $L_z$, or dependence on a third integral of motion; neither is required for this construction.

At each position define $\rho ⟨g⟩=\int gF{d}^{3}v$. The two-integral galactic distribution function is invariant under swapping $v_R$ and $v_z$, since only their sum of squares occurs in $E$. 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. ThereforeAll mean velocities vanish, so these are also the corresponding statements for the velocity ellipsoid and its centered covariance tensor. They do not require $⟨v_{\varphi }^2⟩$ 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 $e^{-2\Phi /V^2}=s^{-1}$ and $e^{-4\Phi /V^2}=s^{-2}$, the Gaussian integral and its derivative giveThus velocity integration of the galactic distribution function yields $A{R}^2{s}^{-2}{\pi }^{3/2}{V}^5/(8\sqrt{2})+B{s}^{-1}{\pi }^{3/2}{V}^3$. Matching the independent spatial factors determinesThis verifies both the stationary Collisionless Boltzmann equation and the required Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity. A shift $\Phi \mapsto \Phi +C$ changes the normalizations to $A{e}^{4C/V^2}$ and $B{e}^{2C/V^2}$; the physical mass density is unchanged.

There is an important distinction between positive mass density and a nonnegative galactic distribution function. For $1/2\le q^2\le 1$, both coefficients above are nonnegative. For a prolate model $q^2>1$, $A<0$ 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 $v_R=v_z=0$, $v_{\varphi }^2=V^2$. The nonnegativity bound for a prolate logarithmic-potential distribution is consequentlyFor larger $q$, 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.

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 givesA declining density and larger random velocities generally increase the lag; gravitational balance is supplied partly by random-motion stresses.

The velocity ellipsoid represents the positive velocity covariance tensor by its orthogonal principal axes and eigenvalue square roots. The uncentered second-moment tensor differs from covariance when a population streams. Vanishing mixed second moments align the second-moment ellipsoid with the chosen frame; for pure azimuthal streaming in a phase-mixed axisymmetric model, the off-diagonal covariance also vanishes.

For a phase-mixed one-dimensional collisionless stellar system, $E=v_z^2/2+\psi (z)$ is an integral of motion and $f_z=F(E)$. Integrating both signs of velocity gives $\nu (\psi )=\sqrt{2}{\int }_{\psi }^{\infty }F(E)(E-\psi {)}^{-1/2}dE$. Applying the Abel transform a second time gives ${\int }_E^{\infty }\nu (\psi )(\psi -E{)}^{-1/2}d\psi =\pi \sqrt{2}{\int }_E^{\infty }F(t)dt$; differentiating proves the inverse. Sufficient convergence, regularity, and correct escape-energy boundary conditions are essential. An arbitrary tracer-density/potential pair is physical only if the reconstructed phase-space distribution function is nonnegative. Applying this inversion to a galactic disk requires a locally separable vertical dynamics or a justified approximation to it, and control of radial mixing and the tilted velocity ellipsoid.

For a steady axisymmetric stellar population with no mean vertical motion, the vertical Jeans equation balances the gradient of the vertical random-motion stress and the radial gradient of the tilted velocity ellipsoid against the vertical Newtonian gravitational field. Neglecting the mixed moment gives ${\partial }_z(n{\sigma }_z^2)=-n{\partial }_z\Phi$. A tracer density $n$ need not equal the density sourcing the gravitational potential.