Dark matter as a dynamic effect due to a non-minimal gravitational coupling with matter

Abstract

In this work the phenomenology of models possessing a non-minimal coupling between matter and geometry is discussed, with a particular focus on the possibility of describing the flattening of the galactic rotation curves as a dynamically generated effect derived from this modification to General Relativity. Two possibilities are discussed: firstly, that the observed discrepancy between the measured rotation velocity and the classical prediction is due to a deviation from geodesic motion, due to a non-(covariant) conservation of the energy-momentum tensor; secondly, that even if the principle of energy conservation holds, the dynamical effects arising due to the non-trivial terms in the Einstein equations of motion can give rise to an extra density contribution that may be interpreted as dark matter. The mechanism of the latter alternative is detailed, and a numerical session ascertaining the order of magnitude of the relevant parameters is undertaken, with possible cosmological implications discussed.

Talk given at First Mediterranean Conference on Classical and Quantum Gravity, Kolymbari, Greece, 14-18 September 2009.

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• Non-minimal Gravitational Coupling of Phantom and Big Rip Singularity
• On the Chameleon Brans-Dicke Cosmology
• Late-time cosmological evolution of a general class of f(R, T) gravity with minimal curvature-matter coupling
• The Layzer-Irvine equation in theories with non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature
• Nuclear Limits on Non-Minimally Coupled Gravity
• Cosmic expansion from boson and fermion fields