A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Astronomy and Astrophysics » Astronomy Misc
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Where is the Dark Matter?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old November 23rd 03, 08:11 PM
Joseph Lazio
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Where is the Dark Matter?

"N" == Notorius writes:

N How exactly can anybody be "right" about a theory that hasn't been
N sufficiently proven yet such as "Dark Matter" AKA "Yet Another
N Fudge Factor Theory" akin to Einstein's "Cosmological Constant"?

For the record, dark matter is not a theory. Dark matter is a
hypothesis to account for various discrepancies between theory and
observation.

If one assumes that general relativity is the correct theory to
describe gravity[1], then various observations indicate that there is
far more matter around than we detect via emission of photons. So one
has two options:

1. There is dark matter, matter that is either too faint for us to
detect or in some cases that is hypothesized not to emit photons at
all.

2. General relativity is not an accurate description of gravity.

Most mainstream astronomers and physicists pick #1, for a couple of
reasons. First, GR has passed all of the other experimental tests
thrown and it, and, second, we know examples of things that are
difficult to detect at large distances (e.g., planets) or that do not
emit photons at all (e.g., neutrinos). Some physicists have rejected
#1 and tried to come up with alternate theories for gravity (e.g.,
Modified Newtonian Dynamics, MOND).

[1] On the spatial scales of interest to dark matter, the fact that GR
and quantum mechanics appear difficult to reconcile is not important.

--
Lt. Lazio, HTML police | e-mail:
No means no, stop rape. |
http://patriot.net/%7Ejlazio/
sci.astro FAQ at http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
"Dark matter" forms dense clumps in ghost universe (Forwarded) Andrew Yee Astronomy Misc 0 November 21st 03 04:41 PM
Search for dark matter intensifies (Forwarded) Andrew Yee Astronomy Misc 0 November 21st 03 04:28 PM
Galaxies without dark matter halos? greywolf42 Astronomy Misc 34 November 5th 03 12:34 PM
A Detailed Map of Dark Matter in a Galactic Cluster Reveals How Giant Cosmic Structures Formed Ron Baalke Astronomy Misc 3 August 5th 03 02:16 PM
Hubble tracks down a galaxy cluster's dark matter (Forwarded) Andrew Yee Astronomy Misc 0 July 17th 03 01:42 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:01 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.