The Local Dark Matter Density

TL;DR

This paper introduces a robust local method to determine the dark matter density at the Sun's position, independent of global galaxy models, providing a precise measurement with quantifiable uncertainties.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel local technique for measuring dark matter density that does not depend on galaxy-wide mass models or rotation curve data.

Findings

Dark matter density at the Sun's location: 0.43 GeV/cm³

Method is independent of dark matter profile shape

Technique can incorporate future data improvements

Abstract

We present the recent robust determination of the value of the Dark Matter density at the Sun's location ($\rho_\odot$) with a technique that does not rely on a global mass-modeling of the Galaxy. The method is based on the local equation of centrifugal equilibrium and depends on local and quite well known quantities such as the angular Sun's velocity, the disk to dark contribution to the circular velocity at the Sun, and the thin stellar disk scale length. This determination is independent of the shape of the dark matter density profile, the knowledge of the rotation curve at any radius, and the very uncertain bulge/disk/dark-halo mass decomposition. The result is: $\rho_\odot=0.43 (0.11)(0.10)\,$GeV/cm$^{3}$, where the quoted uncertainties are due to the uncertainty a) in the slope of the circular-velocity at the Sun location and b) in the ratio between this radius and the exponential length scale of the stellar disk. The devised technique is also able to take into account any future improvement in the data relevant for the estimate.