A geometric alternative to dark matter

TL;DR

This paper proposes a geometric model based on space-time frame dragging as an alternative to dark matter, explaining galaxy rotation curves and spiral structures without invoking unseen matter.

Contribution

It introduces a geometric hypothesis rooted in general relativity and Mach's principle to explain galactic dynamics without dark matter.

Findings

Model fits observed galaxy rotation curves

Explains spiral galaxy structure

Provides an alternative to dark matter hypothesis

Abstract

The existence of "dark matter", inferred from the observed rotation curves of galaxies, is a hypothesis which is widely regarded as problematic. This paper proposes an alternative hypothesis based on the space-time geometry near a rotating body and formulated in terms of the dragging of inertial frames. This hypothesis is true in a certain linear approximation to General Relativity (D Sciama, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 113 (1953) 34--42) and is justified in general by Mach's principle. Dark matter corrects the rotation curve but does not predict the ubiquitous spiral structure of galaxies. The geometric alternative suggested here deals with both problems and allows the construction of a simple model for the dynamics of spiral galaxies which fits observations well.