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Session:
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Frontiers in Astronomy
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Paper Type:
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Invited
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Title:
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Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters: Past, Present, and Future
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Meeting:
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2016 Summer Meeting: Sacremento, California |
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Location:
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N/A |
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Date:
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Time:
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9:00AM
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Author:
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David Wittman, University of California, Davis
530-554-2354, dwittman@physics.ucdavis.edu
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Co-Author(s):
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None
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Abstract:
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Dark matter makes a wonderful case study in the nature of science. What should astronomers do when they see orbits that apparently conflict with the known law of gravity? Two competing explanations always arise: dark matter (unseen mass influencing the orbit according to the known law of gravity) and modified gravity. I will briefly review two historical examples---one in which dark matter turned out to be the correct explanation and one in which modified gravity turned out to be correct---to set the stage for the modern conception of dark matter. Turning to the present, I will explain how merging clusters of galaxies prove the case for dark matter despite its apparently extravagant violation of Occam's razor. Looking to the future, I will show how the latest observations of merging clusters could tell us something surprising about dark matter.
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Footnotes:
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None
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Presentation:
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dm-clusters.pdf
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