{
  "abstract": "We investigate how reliably the global properties of Milky Way-mass dark matter haloes can be recovered from dynamical data from a limited range of radii, particularly ${\\lesssim} 30 \\,\\mathrm{kpc}$ where observations are most sensitive but baryonic processes modify the halo structure. Using the ARTEMIS (Assembly of high-ResoluTion Eagle simulations of MIlkyWay-type galaxieS) simulations, which produce varying degrees of baryon-induced contraction, we fit dark matter profiles over restricted radial ranges using commonly adopted parametric models. Assuming negligible observational uncertainties allows the systematic errors from these choices to be isolated. When fits are confined to inner radii, a Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) profile underestimates the virial mass by a factor of ${\\approx} 2$ on average (${\\approx} 4$ for some systems), and the concentration by a factor of ${\\approx} 2$. Einasto and generalized-NFW models provide excellent local fits but retain similar global biases. In contrast, a contracted halo prescription yields stable extrapolations and recovers unbiased halo mass estimates over all radii. The inferred mass improves systematically with increasing radial coverage, and tracers beyond ${\\gtrsim} 50 \\, \\mathrm{kpc}$ largely eliminate the mean bias for all models. The local dark matter density at the Solar radius is recovered to within ${\\lesssim} 5$% for all profiles other than NFW. These biases are sufficient to reconcile recent low Milky Way-mass estimates derived from inner rotation-curve analyses with the canonical ${\\approx} 10^{12}\\, \\mathrm{M}_\\odot$. We additionally find a halo-to-halo scatter of ${\\gtrsim} 0.1$ dex (${\\approx} 25$%) persists even under idealized conditions, setting a likely lower limit for the precision of halo mass estimates.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham DH1 3LE ,",
    "Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham DH1 3LE ,",
    "The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University , Albanova University Center, SE-106 91 Stockholm ,",
    "Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF ,"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Diego Dado",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-1030-8460"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Shaun T Brown",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8354-8474"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Azadeh Fattahi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6831-5215"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Andreea S Font"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ian G McCarthy",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1286-483X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e4m3h58ty2s6m.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/mnras/stag1865",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "e4m3h58ty2s6m",
  "issns": [
    "0035-8711",
    "1365-2966"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1865/8859319",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7138172496",
  "pdf_url": "https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1865/71561877/stag1865.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press (OUP)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e4m3h58ty2s6m.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:17Z",
      "native_id": "10.1093/mnras/stag1865",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1865/8859319"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "openalex:3103|Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena",
      "subfield": "galaxies"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Implications of a contracted dark matter halo for the Milky Way’s inferred virial mass",
  "title_text": "Implications of a contracted dark matter halo for the Milky Way’s inferred virial mass",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:17Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e4m3h58ty2s6m",
  "venue": "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",
  "versions": []
}