A Novel Test of the Modified Newtonian Dynamics with Gas Rich Galaxies

TL;DR

This paper tests modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) using gas-rich galaxies and finds that their observed properties align precisely with MOND predictions, challenging the dark matter paradigm.

Contribution

It provides a direct empirical test of MOND with gas-rich galaxies, reducing uncertainties present in previous tests with star-dominated galaxies.

Findings

Gas-rich galaxy data match MOND predictions exactly.

Scatter in the BTFR is due to observational uncertainties.

Results challenge the fine-tuning of LCDM models.

Abstract

The current cosmological paradigm, LCDM, 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 (MOND). The scatter in the BTFR is attributable entirely to observational uncertainty. This is consistent with the action of a single effective force law but poses a serious fine-tuning problem for LCDM.