The Core Density of Dark Matter Halos: A Critical Challenge to the ΛCDM Paradigm?

We compare the central mass concentration of cold dark matter (CDM) halos found in cosmological N-body simulations with constraints derived from the Milky Way disk dynamics and from the Tully-Fisher relation. For currently favored values of the cosmological parameters (Ω₀ ~ 0.3; Λ₀ = 1 - Ω₀ ~ 0.7; h ~ 0.7; COBE- and cluster abundance-normalized σ₈; big bang nucleosynthesis Ω_b), we find that halos with circular velocities comparable to the rotation speed of the Galaxy have typically 3 times more dark matter inside the solar circle than inferred from observations of Galactic dynamics. Such high central concentrations of dark matter on the scale of galaxy disks also imply that stellar mass-to-light ratios much lower than expected from population synthesis models must be assumed in order to reproduce the zero point of the Tully-Fisher relation. Indeed, even under the extreme assumption that all baryons in a dark halo are turned into stars, disks with conventional I-band stellar mass-to-light ratios [M/L_I ~ 2 ± 1(M/L_I)_☉] are about 2 mag fainter than observed at a given rotation speed. We examine several modifications to the ΛCDM model that may account for these discrepancies and conclude that agreement can only be accomplished at the expense of renouncing other major successes of the model. Reproducing the observed properties of disk galaxies thus appears to demand substantial revision to the currently most successful model of structure formation.