Pavel Kroupa - The existence of dark matter

Friday 14 Apr 2023, 10:00 → 12:00 Europe/Berlin

Villa (DESY)

The standard model of cosmology relies on the existence of dark matter particles which drive structure and galaxy formation. A rigorous prediction of this model is that each present-day galaxy must be embedded in a massive and extended halo of dark matter particles. If this is the case then the rotation curve of a galaxy cannot be predicted from the visible matter alone. For the first time in history (?) we thus have a theory that doe not allow the prediction of a very basic and central property of a macroscopic object. This statement can be discussed from a philosophical point of view. But the existence of halos of dark matter can be tested for by applying Chandrasekhar dynamical friction. I will present the results that have been achieved on this with the conclusion that the galaxy--galaxy motion data do not support the existence of these halos. Independent tests of the dark-matter model via dwarf galaxies in galaxy clusters and large-scale matter inhomogeneities are consistent with this conclusion, the implications of which need to be discussed.

Kroupa_DESY-AstroparticleSeminars_14-04-2023.mp4

PKroupa_DarkMatter_doesnotexist.pdf