Is dark matter futile on the brane?

TL;DR

This paper explores if alternative source terms in the effective Einstein equations on a brane can replace dark matter, considering geometric and bulk field contributions in higher-dimensional models.

Contribution

It systematically analyzes various non-conventional source terms in brane-world scenarios as potential substitutes for dark matter.

Findings

Quadratic matter source terms can mimic dark matter effects.

Bulk Weyl curvature contributes to gravitational phenomena attributed to dark matter.

Asymmetric embedding and non-standard bulk fields offer alternative explanations for dark matter observations.

Abstract

We investigate whether dark matter can be replaced by various source terms appearing in the effective Einstein equation, valid on a brane embedded into a higher dimensional space-time (the bulk). Such non-conventional source terms include a quadratic (ordinary) matter source term, a geometric source term originating in the Weyl curvature of the bulk, a source term arising from the possible asymmetric embedding, and finally the pull-back to the brane of possible non-standard model bulk fields.