The Dekel-Zhao Dark Matter Halo Parameters of Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

Based on surface brightness (SB) data, velocity dispersion data, Jeans analysis, and constraints from virial shape parameters, we determine the best-fit Dekel-Zhao (DZ) dark matter (DM) density profiles for 10 Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). Benefits of the DZDM model include 1) a flexible, inner logarithmic slope parameter: 0 < g < 1, while 2) maintaining closed form integrals for, e.g., the DM mass enclosed within a given radius, as with the simpler DM profiles with fixed, inner logarithmic slopes, i.e., Burkert (core: g = 0) and NFW (cusp: g = 1). We discuss the best-fit range for g demanded by the data and how close the best-fit DZDM density profiles of each dSph are to the core (g=0) or cusp (g=1) case. Additionally, we show that there are strong correlations between the optical half-light radii of the dSphs and the best-fit values of g, as well as the scale radii and scale densities of their best-fit DZDM profiles. If these relationships hold beyond this small sample of galaxies, it could enable astronomers to estimate the properties of a galaxy's DM halo simply by measuring its half-light radius