Could GR contextuality resolve the missing mass problem?

Abstract

In Newtonian gravity, mass is an intrinsic property of matter, while in general relativity (GR), mass is a contextual property of matter, e.g. when two different GR spacetimes are adjoined. Herein, we explore the possibility that the astrophysical missing mass attributed to nonbaryonic dark matter (DM) actually obtains because we have been assuming the Newtonian intrinsic view of mass rather than the GR contextual view. Perhaps we should model astrophysical phenomena via combined GR spacetimes to better account for their complexity. Accordingly, we consider a GR ansatz in fitting galactic rotation curve data (THINGS), X-ray cluster mass profile data (ROSAT/ASCA), and CMB angular power spectrum data (Planck 2015) without DM. We find that our fits compare well with both modified gravity programs and DM programs.