Missing Mass as Evidence for Modified Newtonian Dynamics at Low Accelerations

Abstract

Milgrom has proposed that the appearance of discrepancies between the Newtonian dynamical mass and the directly observable mass in astronomical systems could be due to a breakdown of Newtonian dynamics in the limit of low accelerations rather than the presence of unseen matter. Milgrom's hypothesis, modified Newtonian dynamics or MOND, has been remarkably successful in explaining systematic properties of spiral and elliptical galaxies and predicting in detail the observed rotation curves of spiral galaxies with only one additional parameter — a critical acceleration which is on the order of the cosmologically interesting value of cH0. Here we review the empirical successes of this idea and discuss its possible extension to cosmology and structure formation.