Related papers: Globular Clusters as a Test for Gravity in the Wea…
We look for empirical evidence of a non-minimal coupling (NMC) between dark matter (DM) and gravity in the dynamics of local spiral galaxies. In particular, we consider a theoretically motivated NMC that may arise dynamically from the…
A specific modification of Newtonian dynamics known as MOND has been shown to reproduce the dynamics of most astrophysical systems at different scales without invoking non-baryonic dark matter (DM). There is, however, a long-standing…
By the time, in 1937, the Swiss astronomer Zwicky measured the velocity dispersion of the Coma cluster of galaxies, astronomers somehow got acquainted with the idea that the universe is filled by some kind of dark matter. After almost a…
Although the theoretical understanding of the nonlinear gravitational clustering has greatly advanced in the last decades, in particular by the outstanding improvement on numerical N-body simulations, the physics behind this process is not…
We consider for the first time the implications on the modified gravity MOND model of galaxies, of the presence of dark baryons, under the form of cold molecular gas in galaxy discs. We show that MOND models of rotation curves are still…
Based upon the kinematics of ten globular clusters, it has recently been claimed that the ultra-diffuse galaxy, NCD 1052-DF2, lacks a significant quantity of dark matter. Dynamical analyses have generally assumed that this galaxy is…
The most simple observed cases of gravitational lensing of distant quasars and galaxies by galaxies and clusters of galaxies are used to test Einstein's theory of General Relativity and Newtonian Gravity over galactic and intergalactic…
If the accelerated expansion of the universe is due to a modification of general relativity at late times, it is likely that the growth of structure on large scales would also display deviations from the standard cosmology. We investigate…
Over the past couple of years, a number of observational studies have confirmed the flattening of the radial velocity dispersion profiles for stars in various nearby globular clusters. As the projected radial coordinate is increased, a…
The works in this portfolio test the hypothesis that it is not possible to extrapolate the Newtonian inverse square law of gravity from Solar System to galaxy scales. In particular, I look into various tests of Modified Newtonian Dynamics…
The missing gravity in galaxies requires dark matter, or alternatively a modification of gravity or inertia. These theoretical possibilities of fundamental importance may be distinguished by the statistical relation between the observed…
What is the role of clusters of galaxies in probing the large-scale velocity field of the universe? We investigate the distribution of peculiar velocities of clusters of galaxies in the popular low-density ($\Omega=0.3$) flat…
It has been proposed that the flat rotation curves observed at large radii in disk galaxies can be interpreted as an effect of General Relativity (GR) instead of the presence of dark matter (DM) halos in Newtonian gravity. In Ciotti (2022)…
It has been suggested that the observed flat rotation curves of disk galaxies can be a peculiar effect of General Relativity (GR) rather than evidence for the presence of dark matter (DM) halos in Newtonian gravity. In Ciotti (2022) the…
While a wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological phenomena suggest the presence of Dark Matter, all evidence remains via its gravitational effect on the known matter. As such, it is conceivable that this evidence could be explained by…
The dark matter constraint imposed by the recent WMAP experiment on gravitational theories is analyzed. Using the non-linearity of the vacuum Einstein's equations, it is shown that when the slow motion condition is applied to the geodesic…
We present the results of a series of one-dimensional N-body and hydrodynamical simulations which have been used for testing the different clustering properties of baryonic and dark matter in an expanding background. Initial Gaussian random…
We show that hard encounters in the central regions of globular clusters embedded in dark matter (DM) haloes necessarily lead to the formation of gravitationally-bound stellar envelopes that extend far beyond the nominal tidal radius of the…
The dark matter in Galactic halos, or some fraction of it, may be in the form of dark clusters which consist of small mass objects. Carr & Lacey (1987) have derived the permissible properties of such systems, and proposed the existence of…
Dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies are ideal objects to test modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), because in most of these galaxies the accelerations fall below the threshold below where MOND supposedly applies. We have selected from…