Using the motion of S2 to constrain scalar clouds around Sgr A*

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Abstract

The motion of S2, one of the stars closest to the Galactic Centre, has been measured accurately and used to study the compact object at the centre of the Milky Way. It is commonly accepted that this object is a supermassive black hole, but the nature of its environment is open to discussion. Here, we investigate the possibility that dark matter in the form of an ultralight scalar field ‘cloud’ clusters around Sgr A*. We use the available data for S2 to perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis and find the best-fit estimates for a scalar cloud structure.

Year of Publication
2023
Date Published
2023-06
Journal Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume
524
Start Page or Article ID (correct)
1075-1086
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