- Trippe, Sascha
- Journal of the Korean astronomical society = 천문학회지
- 46, n.1
- pp.41-47
- 2013
- 원문 바로보기
I present a simple scheme for the treatment of gravitational interactions on galactic scales. In anal- ogy with known mechanisms of quantum field theory, I assume ad hoc that gravitation is mediated by virtual exchange particles-gravitons-with very small but non-zero masses. The resulting den- sity and mass profiles are proportional to the mass of the gravitating body. The mass profile scales with the centripetal acceleration experienced by a test particle orbiting the central mass, but this comes at the cost of postulating a universal characteristic acceleration <TEX>$a_0{\approx}4.3{\times}10^{-12}msec^{-2}$</TEX> (or <TEX>$8{\pi}a_0{\approx}1.1{\times}10^{-10}msec^{-2}$</TEX>). The scheme predicts the asymptotic flattening of galactic rotation curves, the Tully-Fisher/Faber-Jackson relations, the mass discrepancy-acceleration relation of galaxies, the surface brightness-acceleration relation of galaxies, the kinematics of galaxy clusters, and 'Renzo's rule' correctly; additional (dark) mass components are not required. Given that it is based on various ad-hoc assumptions and given further limitations, the scheme I present is not yet a consistent theory of gravitation; rather, it is a 'toy model' providing a convenient scaling law that simplifies the description of gravity on galactic scales.