Dark matter may be an illusion caused by the quantum vacuum

[Analog]

(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the biggest unsolved problems in astrophysics is that galaxies and galaxy clusters rotate faster than expected, given the amount of existing baryonic (normal) matter. The fast orbits require a larger central mass than the nearby stars, dust, and other baryonic objects can provide, leading scientists to propose that every galaxy resides in a halo of (as yet undetectable) dark matter made of non-baryonic particles. As one of many scientists who have become somewhat skeptical of dark matter, CERN physicist Dragan Slavkov Hajdukovic has proposed that the illusion of dark matter may be caused by the gravitational polarization of the quantum vacuum.

“The key message of my paper is that dark matter may not exist and that phenomena attributed to dark matter may be explained by the gravitational polarization of the quantum vacuum,” Hajdukovic told PhysOrg.com. “The future experiments and observations will reveal if my results are only (surprising) numerical coincidences or an embryo of a new scientific revolution.”

 

[brainhulk]

when i sit on the toilet, dark matter comes out of the black hole in my uranus

 

[Regs]

So that means that dark matter gun i baught on ebay is total bull shit.

Great. What am I gonna tell my wife now?

 

[DesiPower]

I was about to say some thing then I realized it's an Analog thread!!

 

[Analog]

I was about to say some thing then I realized it's an Analog thread!!

True, I usually cover all the bases in the original post... 😛

 

[JTsyo]

Yea, the theory of dark matter seemed like it was just a place holder. Though wasn't there a picture of two galaxies colliding and dark matter being separated from regular matter? Would this new theory account for that observation?

 

[DirkGently1]

Yea, the theory of dark matter seemed like it was just a place holder. Though wasn't there a picture of two galaxies colliding and dark matter being separated from regular matter? Would this new theory account for that observation?

Place holder is a good way of putting it. I would liken it the 'Cosmological Constant' which turned out to be a place holder for the Big Bang and expansion breakthrough. Einsteins biggest blunder and ultimately somebody else's amazing discovery.

Perhaps we'll soon have another breakthrough to explain the Dark Matter mystery and we'll look back on the current theory as a blunder too.

 

[DrPizza]

Yea, the theory of dark matter seemed like it was just a place holder. Though wasn't there a picture of two galaxies colliding and dark matter being separated from regular matter? Would this new theory account for that observation?

That's what I was thinking too - the rotation of galaxies is only one piece of the evidence for dark matter.

 

[dainthomas]

Some more info on the quantum vacuum.

http://www.exitmundi.nl/vacuum.htm

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

God changed the laws of physics again.