New gravity theory eliminates the need for dark matter: ‘A long history of deception’

Conventional scientific wisdom suggests that dark matter makes up 85% of the mass of the Universe, writes The Guardian. But proponents of a radical new theory of gravity in which space-time is “wobbly” say their approach could make the elusive substance obsolete.

The proposal outlined in the new paper raises the controversial possibility that dark matter, which has never been directly observed, is a mirage that much of the physics community has been chasing for decades. The theory has yet to be thoroughly tested, but the latest claims are causing a stir in the world of physics, notes The Guardian.

Announcing the article, Professor Jonathan Oppenheim from University College London emphasized: “Guys, something seems to be happening. We show that our theory of gravity… can explain the expansion of the Universe and the rotation of galaxies without dark matter or dark energy.”

There is plenty of evidence for the existence of dark matter, but its nature remains mysterious, and searches with the Large Hadron Collider have come up empty. Last year, the European Space Agency launched the Euclid mission, which aimed to map dark matter in space.

The latest paper, published on the website Arxiv and not yet peer-reviewed, raises the question of whether it even exists, drawing parallels between dark matter and flawed concepts of the past, such as “aether,” an invisible substance that was thought to permeate all space.

“In the absence of any direct evidence for the existence of dark energy or dark matter, it is natural to wonder whether they may be unnecessary scientific constructs, such as the celestial spheres, the ether, or the planet Vulcan, all of which have been replaced by simpler explanations,” the paper says. “Gravity has a long history of deception.”

In this case, a simpler explanation is proposed – Oppenheim’s “post-quantum theory of classical gravity”. The University of California professor has spent the last five years developing an approach that aims to unify two pillars of modern physics: quantum theory and Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which are fundamentally incompatible.

Oppenheim’s theory views the fabric of spacetime as smooth and continuous (classical), but inherently unstable. The speed at which the streams of time will fluctuate randomly, like a seething stream, space will be randomly curved, and time will diverge in different parts of the Universe. The theory also suggests an internal violation of predictability.

The paper argues that this view of the universe can explain the landmark observations of rotating galaxies that led to the “discovery” of dark matter. Stars at the edges of galaxies, where gravity is expected to be weakest based on visible matter, should spin slower than stars at the center. But in fact, the orbital motion of stars does not stop. Based on this, astronomers concluded that there is a halo of invisible (dark) matter exerting gravitational attraction.

In Oppenheim’s approach, the extra energy needed to keep stars in orbit is provided by random fluctuations in spacetime, which essentially adds background noise to gravity. This would be negligible in high gravity interactions such as the Earth’s rotation around the Sun. But in low-gravity environments, such as the outskirts of the galaxy, this phenomenon would dominate—and collectively could account for most of the energy in the universe.

“We show that this can explain the expansion of the Universe and the rotation curves of galaxies without the need for dark matter or dark energy,” Oppenheim noted on Platform X. “We urge caution, however, as there is other indirect evidence for the existence of dark matter, so further research is needed.” calculations and comparison with data. But if this is true, then it would turn out that 95% of the energy in the Universe comes from the unstable nature of space-time, signaling either a fundamental breakdown in the predictability of physics, or that we are immersed in an environment that does not obey the laws of classical or quantum theory “

Not everyone is convinced, including renowned theorists Professor Carlo Rovelli and Professor Geoff Penington, who made a 5,000:1 bet with Oppenheim that his theory would be correct.

“I think it’s good that physicists are exploring a wide range of approaches to very difficult problems, such as combining quantum mechanics with gravity,” Penington said.

“Personally, I don’t think this particular approach is likely to be the right one. Obviously, I put my money where my mouth is, and there is nothing new in recent articles that would cause me to change that assessment.”

Others are more enthusiastic. “I think the authors are on to something really interesting by exploring some beautiful and new ideas,” says Professor Andrew Pontzen, a cosmologist at University College London. “The problem with replacing dark matter, however, is that there is so much different evidence pointing to its presence. So far they have only considered one of these areas. Only time will tell whether new ideas can truly explain the huge variety of phenomena pointing to dark matter.”