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Radial Acceleration Relation in Rotationally Supported Galaxies

Stacy S. McGaugh, Federico Lelli, and James M. Schombert
Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 201101 – Published 9 November 2016
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Abstract

We report a correlation between the radial acceleration traced by rotation curves and that predicted by the observed distribution of baryons. The same relation is followed by 2693 points in 153 galaxies with very different morphologies, masses, sizes, and gas fractions. The correlation persists even when dark matter dominates. Consequently, the dark matter contribution is fully specified by that of the baryons. The observed scatter is small and largely dominated by observational uncertainties. This radial acceleration relation is tantamount to a natural law for rotating galaxies.

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  • Received 18 May 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.201101

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

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Connecting the Bright and Dark Sides of Galaxies

Published 9 November 2016

A universal law shows that the rotation of a disk galaxy is determined entirely by the visible matter it contains, even if the disk is mostly filled with dark matter.

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Authors & Affiliations

Stacy S. McGaugh and Federico Lelli

  • Department of Astronomy, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA

James M. Schombert

  • Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

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Issue

Vol. 117, Iss. 20 — 11 November 2016

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