Dark matter and gravity

Abstract: Dark matter was introduced in the 30's as an additional kind of matter that could not be directly detected from any electromagnetic waves, but whose presence could be inferred from gravitational phenomena. What was in the beginning a curious fact turned out to be the start of a solid, although indirect, evidence for an "invisible giant": it was far from an additional detail, it was the main gravitational actor at the scales of galaxies and beyond, while no one could "see" it. It is therefore tempting to dismiss this invisible giant as an illusion caused by using the wrong gravitational theory. I will argue why this is even less likely. In particular, I will talk about a well known proposal called "modified newtonian dynamics" and why it is relevant as a phenomenological relation, not as a theory for gravity.

astrophysicscondensed mattergeneral relativity and quantum cosmologyhigh energy physicsmathematical physicsclassical physicsgeneral physics

Audience: researchers in the topic

Theoretical physics seminar @ Tartu