Abstract
The current cosmological paradigm, the cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant, requires that the mass-energy of the Universe be dominated by invisible components: dark matter and dark energy. An alternative to these dark components is that the law of gravity be modified on the relevant scales. A test of these ideas is provided by the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR), an empirical relation between the observed mass of a galaxy and its rotation velocity. Here, I report a test using gas rich galaxies for which both axes of the BTFR can be measured independently of the theories being tested and without the systematic uncertainty in stellar mass that affects the same test with star dominated spirals. The data fall precisely where predicted a priori by the modified Newtonian dynamics. The scatter in the BTFR is attributable entirely to observational uncertainty, consistent with a single effective force law.
- Received 12 November 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.121303
© 2011 American Physical Society
Erratum
Erratum: Novel Test of Modified Newtonian Dynamics with Gas Rich Galaxies [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 121303 (2011)]
Stacy S. McGaugh
Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 229901 (2011)
Viewpoint
Testing gravity in gas-rich galaxies
Published 21 March 2011
A modification of the theory of gravity can explain the dynamics of gas-rich galaxies without the need for dark matter.
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