Predicting the scaling relations between the dark matter halo mass and observables from generalised profiles I: Kinematic tracers

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between a dark matter halo’s mass profile and measures of the velocity dispersion of kinematic tracers within its gravitational potential. By predicting the scaling relation of the halo mass with the aperture velocity dispersion, Mvir – σap, we present the expected form and dependence of this halo mass tracer on physical parameters within our analytic halo model: parameterized by the halo’s negative inner logarithmic density slope, α, its concentration parameter, c, and its velocity anisotropy parameter, β. For these idealised halos, we obtain a general solution to the Jeans equation, which is projected over the line of sight and averaged within an aperture to form the corresponding aperture velocity dispersion profile. Through dimensional analysis, the Mvir – σap scaling relation is devised explicitly in terms of analytical bounds for these aperture velocity dispersion profiles: allowing constraints to be placed on this relation for motivated parameter choices. We predict the M200 – σap and M500 – σap scaling relations, each with an uncertainty of 60.5% and 56.2%, respectively. These halo mass estimates are found to be weakly sensitive to the halo’s concentration and mass scale, and most sensitive to the size of the aperture radius in which the aperture velocity dispersion is measured, the maximum value for the halo’s inner slope, and the minimum and maximum values of the velocity anisotropy. Our results show that a halo’s structural and kinematic profiles impose only a minor uncertainty in estimating its mass. Consequently, spectroscopic surveys aimed at constraining the halo mass using kinematic tracers can focus on characterising other, more complex sources of uncertainty and observational systematics.