re: The case against dark matter

quote:

---

M Theory and Superstring theory contain explanations for dark matter and dark energy.

---

Ding ding ding

I obviously don’t think Einstein was completely off his rocker or anything. I’m just saying that general relativity and the equivalence between energy and mass are incomplete and we all know that what we observe doesn’t work into that perfectly.

That’s where quantum mechanics and quantum gravitational theory comes in and, like you said, the bridge between the two must be built. That’s where I think we’re heading.


ETA: I like how I agree with you and your OP and still get downvoted

Agreed.

What’s your opinion on dark matter though, undiscovered particle or flaw in our current models. They use the gravitational lensing effects of dark matter (assumedly) to map it which suggests an actual thing with mass but like the gravitational constant it just seems to be a tack on idea to make our models work to be and in the end the real solution is a lot more elegant.

quote:

---

That’s where quantum mechanics and quantum gravitational theory comes in and, like you said, the bridge between the two must be built.

---

The bridge is String Theory. It seems solid and has withstood every challenge to date. The only reason it isn't universally proclaimed is because there doesn't yet appear to be a way of empirically observing strings or even their effects.

quote:

---

What’s your opinion on dark matter though, undiscovered particle or flaw in our current models.

---

Because dark matter is behaving like ordinary matter, regarding the gravitational effect at least, there's no reason to think it isn't a form of matter that we just can't detect yet. Hell, some forms of ordinary matter, such as neutrinos, are practically undetectable as well.

quote:

---

They use the gravitational lensing effects of dark matter (assumedly) to map it which suggests an actual thing with mass but like the gravitational constant it just seems to be a tack on idea to make our models work to be and in the end the real solution is a lot more elegant.

---

The most elegant solutions in nature are always the simplest, I think. Vera Rubin discovered dark matter when she showed conclusively that the behavior of stars in galaxies required the presence of far more matter than was detectable.

The gravitational lensing of far away galaxies via undetectable matter between here and there is also conclusive. Both of these indirect observations of dark matter are easily understandable because of their simplicity. Dark matter is behaving a lot like ordinary matter. We just can't detect it. Yet.

I e posted these on here before but it’s worth a repeat, BBC documentary called Everything & Nothing that’s a great intro where the idea behind dark matter comes from for any interested:

LINK


Hosted by Jim Al-Khalili and all his stuff is top notch

Al-Khalili is my favorite "public educator" for science. His current thrust regards quantum biology. He's becming a leader in that new field.

quote:

---

It’s just the aether, bro.

---

In a way, it is. Spacetime can be considered to be the aether of old science. It's a physical presence everywhere. Absolutely everywhere in our Universe.

quote:

---

Spacetime

---

Since you seem to understand this well. Can you explain how we're currently defining this?

You know what else bends space time?