Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

Volume

748

Issue Number

L24

First Page

1

Last Page

6

DOI

10.1088/2041-8205/748/2/L24

Disciplines

Astrophysics and Astronomy

Abstract

We present the first analysis of extended stellar kinematics of elliptical galaxies where a Yukawa-like correction to the Newtonian gravitational potential derived from f(R)-gravity is considered as an alternative to dark matter. In this framework, we model long-slit data and planetary nebula data out to 7 R eff of three galaxies with either decreasing or flat dispersion profiles. We use the corrected Newtonian potential in a dispersion-kurtosis Jeans analysis to account for the mass-anisotropy degeneracy. We find that these modified potentials are able to fit nicely all three elliptical galaxies and the anisotropy distribution is consistent with that estimated if a dark halo is considered. The parameter which measures the "strength" of the Yukawa-like correction is, on average, smaller than the one found previously in spiral galaxies and correlates both with the scale length of the Yukawa-like term and the orbital anisotropy.

Comments

Copyright © 2012 Institute of Physics. The published version of the article can be found online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/748/2/L24.

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