We analyze the velocity dispersion for eight of the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal satellites in the context of finite temperature scalar field dark matter. In this model the finite temperature allows the scalar field to be in configurations that possess excited states, a feature that has proved to be necessary in order to explain the asymptotic rotational velocities found in low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. In this work we show that excited states are not only important in large galaxies but also have visible effects in dwarf spheroidals. Additionally, we stress that contrary to previous works where the scalar field dark matter halos are consider to be purely Bose-Einstein condensates, the inclusion of excited states in these halo configurations provides a consistent framework capable of describing LSB and dwarf galaxies of different sizes without arriving to contradictions within the scalar field dark matter model. Using this new framework we find that the addition of excited states accounts very well for the raise in the velocity dispersion in Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies improving the fit compared to the one obtained assuming all the dark matter to be in the form of a Bose-Einstein condensate.

• Received 27 October 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.023519