16. Mass modeling in elliptical galaxies¶
To conclude this third part of the book, we apply what we have learned so far and particularly in this part, to investigate the mass distribution within elliptical galaxies. While they may at first glance look less interesting than spiral galaxies, we’ll see that the internal mass and orbital distribution of elliptical galaxies is actually quite interesting and that much can be learned about the formation and evolution of galaxies and their constituents by dissecting the internal structure of elliptical galaxies. Our approach will be to zoom out from the center to the far reaches of the dark matter halo, starting with a discussion of the dynamics and mass distribution within the inner few hundred parsec and continuing with the internal orbital structure of the stellar component of different types of elliptical galaxies, before ending with the distribution of dark matter out to hundreds of kiloparsec. On this journey, we will need the full complement of axisymmetric and triaxial dynamical modeling combined with the different regimes of gravitational lensing to fully comprehend the structure of elliptical galaxies.
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