Cause of Spiral Galaxy Rotation Rates: a Massive Graviton

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the rotation rates of spiral galaxies can be explained by a combination of Newtonian and exponential gravitational potentials derived from a massive graviton, fitting observed data with universal constants.

Contribution

It introduces a new exponential gravitational potential derived from a Lagrangian, incorporating a massive graviton, and fits galaxy rotation data with this model.

Findings

Excellent fits to 12 galaxy rotation profiles.

Universal constants determined from data.

Supports a massive graviton as a gravitational component.

Abstract

We attribute the observed rotational velocity profiles of spiral galaxy disks to a combination of Newtonian and exponential gravitational potentials. We offer a novel, yet perfectly plausible, Lagrangian from which the exponential potential is derived. The exponential potential is defined by two universal constants (corresponding to a coupling constant and a graviton mass) that we determine from our sample of 12 THINGS disks. All velocity profile fits are excellent.