Radial Acceleration Relation in Rotationally Supported Galaxies

2016/09/19 by Stacy McGaugh, Federico Lelli, James M. Schombert +1 · 1 voice · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Acceleration #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Baryon #Classical mechanics #Dark matter #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Galaxy rotation curve #Geometry #Physics #Rotation (mathematics) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.GA

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.117.201101

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 201101 (2016) · 6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters

arxiv created 2016/09/19 · arxiv published 2016/09/19 · openalex publication_date 2016/11/09 · arxiv updated 2016/11/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We report a correlation between the radial acceleration traced by rotation curves and that predicted by the observed distribution of baryons. The same relation is followed by 2693 points in 153 galaxies with very different morphologies, masses, sizes, and gas fractions. The correlation persists even when dark matter dominates. Consequently, the dark matter contribution is fully specified by that of the baryons. The observed scatter is small and largely dominated by observational uncertainties. This radial acceleration relation is tantamount to a natural law for rotating galaxies.

Citations

• Modified Newtonian Dynamics, an Introductory Review
• A STUDY IN BLUE: THE BARYON CONTENT OF ISOLATED LOW-MASS GALAXIES
• A modification of the Newtonian dynamics - Implications for galaxies
• Novel Test of Modified Newtonian Dynamics with Gas Rich Galaxies
• The Tully-Fisher relation for low surface brightness galaxies: implications for galaxy evolution
• Milky Way Mass Models and MOND
• Does Low Surface Brightness Mean Low Density?
• A Tale of Two Paradigms: the Mutual Incommensurability of LCDM and MOND
• RESOLVE AND ECO: THE HALO MASS-DEPENDENT SHAPE OF GALAXY STELLAR AND BARYONIC MASS FUNCTIONS
• THE RELATION BETWEEN STELLAR AND DYNAMICAL SURFACE DENSITIES IN THE CENTRAL REGIONS OF DISK GALAXIES
• The DiskMass Survey

Cited by

• Four principles for quantum gravity
• How the Nonbaryonic Dark Matter Theory Grew
• Long range effects in gravity theories with Vainshtein screening
• Enigmatic velocity dispersions of ultradiffuse galaxies in light of modified gravity theories and the radial acceleration relation

Discussions

• Correlation between galaxy rotation and visible matter (2016) [hn, 1 points, 0 comments]

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