Re: Secrets of Dark Matter

Stephen Tonkin wrote:

Martin Brown <|||newspam|||@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:

[...]

I tend to agree. Despite its many problems, BBT is the best theory we've got.

[...]

What is not in doubt is that there is a lot of non-luminous gravitating matter that we cannot see or detect at present.


Actually, AIUI there is some doubt in some quarters. IIRC there is a hypothesis that does away with the need for dark matter by postulating a mean path length -- the figure 17kpc lurches to mind, but is probably wrong -- for gravitons. I have no more problem accepting a mean path length we cannot measure for a particle that we cannot detect than I do accepting the existence of matter that we cannot detect.

ISTR it is more along the lines of having gravitons with mass and breaking Lorentz invariance. Is this the hypothesis that you mean?

http://moriond.in2p3.fr/EW/2005/Transparencies/2_Monday/1_morning/6_P_Tinyakov/Tinyakov.pdf

Seems to me like it makes testable predictions so it qualifies as a scientific theory.

To me it seems increasingly likely that Fred Hoyle was right (continuous
creation) and the microwave background is caused by something other than
the Big Bang.

Not a chance. Even in the 1960's it was apparent that the Steady State Universe was totally inconsistent

[...]

there is essentially no doubt that remotest parts of the universe are receeding from us at speeds close to c.

AIUI Hoyle and Wickramasinghe postulated a Continuous Creation that is not Steady State and which is consistent with the recession speed observations.

ISTR they did, but it doesn't really have much appeal. That the young universe looks different (much more active) compared to the present day and makes Big Bang a far more natural choice with fewer ad hoc adjustments.

Regards,
Martin Brown
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Epistemology 201: The Science of Science
    ... > Albert Wagner wrote: ... >> matter, gravitons, and undead cats. ... In that case nothing remains of my entire castle in the air, gravitation theory included, the rest of modern physics." ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Epistemology 201: The Science of Science
    ... > Albert Wagner wrote: ... >> matter, gravitons, and undead cats. ... In that case nothing remains of my entire castle in the air, gravitation theory included, the rest of modern physics." ...
    (sci.cognitive)
  • Re: Epistemology 201: The Science of Science
    ... > Albert Wagner wrote: ... >> matter, gravitons, and undead cats. ... In that case nothing remains of my entire castle in the air, gravitation theory included, the rest of modern physics." ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: gravitons
    ... > everything in reach(tensor algbra, quantum physics, relativity, ... Remember, energy has mass, intrinsically. ... Mass is not matter. ... The idea of Gravitons seems to go in an other ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: Secrets of Dark Matter
    ... IIRC there is a hypothesis that does away with the need for dark matter by postulating a mean path length -- the figure 17kpc lurches to mind, but is probably wrong -- for gravitons. ... AIUI Hoyle and Wickramasinghe postulated a Continuous Creation that is not Steady State and which is consistent with the recession speed observations. ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)