# The Dark Matter Profiles in the Milky Way

## TL;DR

This study analyzes the Milky Way's dark matter distribution by fitting various baryonic and dark matter profiles to observed rotation curve data, finding the NFW profile provides the best fit.

## Contribution

It systematically compares multiple baryonic and dark matter profiles to determine the most accurate model for the Milky Way's dark matter distribution.

## Key findings

- NFW profile fits the rotation curve data better than alternatives.
- The best NFW model has a scale length of 8.1 kpc.
- Local dark matter density at the Sun's position is 0.51 GeV/cm³.

## Abstract

We investigate the dark matter profile of the Milky Way using the observed rotation curve data out to 100 kpc. The baryonic matter of the Milky Way is divided into bulge, disk and gas components, and each component is modelled using various possible mass profiles available in literature. The arbitrary combination of seven bulge profiles, four disk profiles and two gas profiles results in fifty-six baryon models. These baryon models are combined with one of the four dark matter profiles: Burkert profile, core-modified profile, pseudo-isothermal profile and NFW profile, to fit the observed rotation curve data. Results show that in general the NFW profile fits the data better than the Burkert profile, while the core-modified profile and the pseudo-isothermal profile are essentially ruled out. The best-fitting NFW model has the scale length $r_0=8.1\pm 0.7$ kpc, and the corresponding local density of dark matter is $\rho_{\rm dm}(R=R_\odot)=0.51\pm0.09~{\rm GeV}/{\rm cm}^3$.