General relativistic dynamics applied to the rotation curves of galaxies

TL;DR

This paper applies a general relativistic approach to model galactic rotation curves, achieving precise fits with lower baryonic mass estimates than Newtonian models, and correlates galactic radii with specific density values.

Contribution

It extends previous relativistic analyses to multiple galaxies, demonstrating improved mass estimates and correlations that support the validity of the relativistic modeling approach.

Findings

Fits to rotation curve data are highly precise.

Baryonic masses are lower than those predicted by Newtonian gravity.

Galactic radii correlate with densities near 10^{-21.75} kg/m^3.

Abstract

We extend our general relativistic analysis of galactic rotation curves with galaxies NGC 2841, NGC 2903 and NGC 5033. As before, we employ the solution of the Einstein field equations of general relativity with an expansion in Bessel functions. As in our earlier studies, the fits to the data are found to be very precise and the calculated baryonic masses are lower than those based upon Newtonian gravity. Also as in our previous studies, the galactic radii at which the optical luminosities terminate are seen to correlate with densities near $10^{-21.75}$ kg$\cdot$m$^{-3}$. This concordance lends further support to the correctness of the procedure as well as providing a potentially valuable piece of information in the understanding of galactic evolution.