On 24 Mar 2017, Martin Brown wrote:
http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf.../aa3061-05.pdf
https://www.astro.umd.edu/~richard/A...ergy_equip.pdf
... At a handwaving level a single test particle in an evolved spherically
symmetric globular cluster moves in a gravitational potential that far
out is roughly 1/r^2 but closer in becomes weaker ...

Thanks for the references -- the measurements of proper motion are a
great step forward, but the authors go on to calculate orbitals (or
fractions thereof) using certain standard assumptions. Stars shooting
out of the globular cluster are assumed to have highly eccentric
elliptical orbits, etc. The notion of orbits is a given.

I'm realizing nowadays that my old notion of "gravitational scalar"
really is just the same as today's notion of "dark matter". If dark
matter resides throughout an elliptical galaxy or globular cluster (or
the Galactic halo) then it could raise the ambient background
gravitational level to where a resident star no longer feels the
gravitational effect from its neighbours or from the system centre.
Instead, the star would follow thre contours (potentials) of the dark
matter structure. So stars would just mingle throughout without
following orbits as such. Thus my concern about the current narrative
which puts all star motions in a framework of orbits.

cheers.