Dynamics of galaxies and clusters in \textit{refracted gravity}

Abstract

We investigate the proof of concept and the implications of \textit{refracted gravity}, a novel modified gravity aimed to solve the discrepancy between the luminous and the dynamical mass of cosmic structures without resorting to dark matter. Inspired by the behavior of electric fields in matter, refracted gravity introduces a gravitational permittivity that depends on the local mass density and modifies the standard Poisson equation. The resulting gravitational field can become more intense than the Newtonian field and can mimic the presence of dark matter. We show that the refracted gravitational field correctly describes (1) the rotation curves and the Tully-Fisher relation of disk galaxies; and (2) the observed temperature profile of the X-ray gas of galaxy clusters. According to these promising results, we conclude that refracted gravity deserves further investigation.

29 pages, 17 figures, prepared for submission to JCAP

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Generalizing MOND to explain the missing mass in galaxy clusters
• The Double Galaxy Cluster Abell 2465 III. X-ray and Weak-lensing Observations
• Dark Coincidences: Small-Scale Solutions with Refracted Gravity and MOND