/GalRotpy

A Python-based tool to parametrize the rotation curve and the gravitational potential of disk-like galaxies

Primary LanguagePython

GalRotpy

A Python-based tool for parametrizing the rotation curve and the galaxy potential of disk-like galaxies.

GalRotpy is intended to the understanding of the contributions of each mass component to the gravitational potential of disk-like galaxies and in the corresponding rotation curve. This software is presented as a pedagogical tool for supporting the following research areas: galactic dynamics, cosmology and gravitation.

GalRotpy requires essentially the galpy package and the three fundamental Python packages: Numpy, Scipy and Matplotlib. GalRotpy supports Python2.7.

About the rotation curve and mass component parametrization

The GalRotpy tool can give a first approximation of the galaxy rotation curve using the following schemas:

  • bulge model uning a Miyamoto-Nagai potential,
  • stellar or gaseous disk:
    • thin or thick disks implementing Miyamoto-Nagai potentials, and/or
    • an exponential disk model
  • and finally the Dark Halo with a Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) or with a Burkert potential.

The real time composition of rotation curves of disk-like galaxies is a simple and powerful method to:

  • checking the presence of an assumed mass type component in a observed rotation curve,
  • determine quantitatively the main mass contribution in a galaxy by means of the mass ratios of a given set of five potentials,
  • to bound the contribution of each mass component given its radial and height scales.

The related pre-print reference: GalRotpy: an educational tool to understand and parametrize the rotation curve and gravitational potential of disk-like galaxies