Phase-space structure of cold dark matter halos

摘要

A galactic halo of cold dark matter particles has a sheet-like structure in phase-space. The energy and momentum spectra of such particles on earth has a set of peaks whose central values and intensities form a record of the formation of the Galaxy. Scattering of the dark matter particles by stars and globular clusters broadens the peaks but does not erase them entirely. The giant shells around some elliptical galaxies may be a manifestation of this structure.