Dark matter might not actually exist, and the missing mass we see in galaxies could just be a trick of how we measure distance.
April 29, 2026
Original Paper
On the Observer-Frame Interpretation of Radial Coordinates in Gravitational Potentials
SSRN · 6589020
The Takeaway
Galactic rotation curves have puzzled astronomers for decades because galaxies spin faster than the visible matter should allow. This discrepancy is usually explained by an invisible substance called dark matter that provides extra gravity. A new interpretation suggests this is actually a geometric illusion caused by the vacuum of space acting like a medium that bends our measurements. When we account for this compliant medium, the math for galactic rotation works out without needing any extra mass. This theory challenges the very existence of most of the matter in the universe, suggesting our fundamental understanding of space and time is what needs fixing.
From the abstract
The discrepancy between galactic rotation curves and visible baryonic mass persists despite empirical scaling relations like the Radial Acceleration Relation (RAR) and Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation (BTFR). We explore a phenomenological framework where this discrepancy arises from the geometric misinterpretation of observables. Inspired by Painlevé-Gullstrand coordinates, we model the vacuum as a radially infalling compliant medium that induces an apparent compression of radial coordinates for d