Turning Galaxy Rotation Curves into Radial Cosmic Chronometers: A Nexus Paradigm Approach

[2604.17597] Turning Galaxy Rotation Curves into Radial Cosmic Chronometers: A Nexus Paradigm Approach Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Astrophysics > Astrophysics of Galaxies arXiv:2604.17597 (astro-ph) [Submitted on 19 Apr 2026] Title: Turning Galaxy Rotation Curves into Radial Cosmic Chronometers: A Nexus Paradigm Approach Authors: Stuart Marongwe , Stuart A. Kauffman View a PDF of the paper titled Turning Galaxy Rotation Curves into Radial Cosmic Chronometers: A Nexus Paradigm Approach, by Stuart Marongwe and Stuart A. Kauffman View PDF Abstract: We present a method for transforming galaxy rotation curves into radially resolved dynamical chronometers, enabling reconstruction of galaxy assembly histories directly from kinematic data. Within the Nexus Paradigm, the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation provides an estimate of the dynamical mass profile $ M_{dyn}(r)=v^4/Ga_0$, where $a_0=H_0/2\pi $.By Comparing this with independently derived intrinsic baryonic mass profiles, $M_{int}(r)$, obtained from stellar Sérsic fits and gas surface density measurements, we construct the ratio $ M_{dyn}(r)/M_{int}(r)$, which maps directly to a formation redshift via $ 1+z_{form}(r)=(M_{dyn}/M_{int})^{1/4}$. Inverting this relation with$\Lambda CDM$ cosmology yields a radial lookback-time profile, $t_{lb}(r)$, representing the time since the last dynamical reconfiguration at each radius. Applying this framework to a pilot sample of SPARC galaxies spanning high-and low -surface-brightness systems, together with the Milky Way, we recover diverse radial age structures, including flat profiles consistent with coherent disk assembly and stratified profiles indicative of inside-out growth. The method operates without dark-matter halo fitting and provides a kinematic chronometer complementary to stellar-population and chemical-evolution approaches. While the inferred ages depend on the accuracy of baryonic mass reconstruction and local applicability of the evolving baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, the results demonstrate that galaxy rotation curves encode time-resolved dynamical information. This establishes the radial dynamical chronometer as a new observable for probing galaxy evolution and testing gravitational frameworks. Comments: 16 pages, 3 figures Subjects: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) Cite as: arXiv:2604.17597 [astro-ph.GA] (or arXiv:2604.17597v1 [astro-ph.GA] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.17597 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Galaxies 2026, Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies14040063 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Stuart Marongwe [ view email ] [v1] Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:08:07 UTC (1,051 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Turning Galaxy Rotation Curves into Radial Cosmic Chronometers: A Nexus Paradigm Approach, by Stuart Marongwe and Stuart A. Kauffman View PDF view license Current browse context: astro-ph.GA < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-04 Change to browse by: astro-ph References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... 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