High-resolution mass models of the Large Magellanic Cloud

We perform disk-halo decomposition of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using a novel HI velocity field extraction method, aimed at better deriving its HI kinematics and thus mass distribution in the galaxy including both baryons and dark matter. We decompose all the line-of-sight velocity profiles of the combined HI data cube of the LMC, taken from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and Parkes radio telescopes with an optimal number of Gaussian components. For this, we use a novel tool, the so-called BAYGAUD which performs profile decomposition based on Bayesian MCMC techniques. From this, we disentangle turbulent non-ordered HI gas motions from the decomposed gas components, and produce an HI bulk velocity field which better follows the global circular rotation of the galaxy. From a 2D tilted-ring analysis of the HI bulk velocity field, we derive the rotation curve of the LMC after correcting for its transverse, nutation and precession motions. The dynamical contributions of baryons like stars and gaseous components which are derived using the Spitzer 3.6 micron image and the HI data are then subtracted from the total kinematics of the LMC. Here, we present the bulk HI rotation curve, the mass models of stars and gaseous components, and the resulting dark matter density profile of the LMC.