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Paper: Central Rotation Curves by CO Lines
Volume: 396, Formation and Evolution of Galaxy Disks
Page: 27
Authors: Sofue, Y.
Abstract: Central rotation curves are fundamental to understand the mass distribution inside galactic bulges and central disks, which may be physically linked to central massive objects. We review observational studies of central rotation curves using mm-wave interferometers in the CO 2.6mm line emission. Observed high-accuracy rotation curves show steep rise in the nuclei, or more likely, they start at finite speed from the center. Mass distributions show that spiral galaxies generally nest a massive core of ∼ 109 M in the central 100 pc, which is supposed to link the black hole and bulge. Massive cores are often associated with high-density molecular gas nuclei, and the core mass and gas density are proportional. The molecular nuclei are gravitationally stabilized by high velocity differential rotation in the deep gravitational potential.
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