Understanding galaxy rotation curves with Verlinde’s emergent gravity

Abstract

Abstract We present the results from the analysis of galaxy rotation curves with Verlinde’s emergent gravity. We use the data in the Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves database, which contains a sample of 175 nearby disk galaxies with 3.6 µm surface photometry and rotation curves. We compute the gravitational acceleration at different galactocentric radii expected from the baryon distribution of the galaxies with the emergent gravity, and compare it with the observed gravitational acceleration derived from galactic rotation curves. The predicted and observed accelerations agree well with a mean offset μ [ l o g ( g o b s ) − l o g ( g V e r ) ] = − 0.060 ± 0.004 and a scatter σ [ l o g ( g o b s ) − l o g ( g V e r ) ] = 0.137 ± 0.004 by assuming a de Sitter Universe. These offset and scatter become smaller when we assume a more realistic Universe, quasi de Sitter Universe, as μ = − 0.027 ± 0.003 and σ = 0.129 ± 0.003 . Our results suggest that Verlinde’s emergent gravity could be a good solution to the missing mass problem without introducing dark matter.