Galactic Potentials

TL;DR

This paper shows that galactic rotation curves can determine gravitational potentials and mass distributions under minimal assumptions, challenging specific dark matter models without relying on a particular gravity theory.

Contribution

It introduces a method to derive galactic potentials and masses directly from rotation curves using minimal assumptions, independent of specific gravity theories.

Findings

Rotation curves determine galactic potentials without assuming a metric theory.

Mass and anisotropy functions can be derived simultaneously in a Newtonian limit.

The approach constrains dark matter models based on minimal assumptions.

Abstract

The information contained in galactic rotation curves is examined under a minimal set of assumptions. If emission occurs from stable circular geodesic orbits of a static spherically symmetric field, with information propagated to us along null geodesics, observed rotation curves determine galactic potentials without specific reference to any metric theory of gravity. Given the potential, the gravitational mass can be obtained by way of an anisotropy function of this field. The gravitational mass and anisotropy function can be solved for simultaneously in a Newtonian limit without specifying any specific source. This procedure, based on a minimal set of assumptions, puts very strong constraints on any model of the "dark matter".