Mimicking dark matter through a non-minimal gravitational coupling with matter

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2010

Authors

Bertolami, O (Author) FCUP; Paramos, J (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

Vol. 2010

Pages: 009-009

ISSN: 1475-7516

Publisher: Institute of Physics Publishing

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 89 Citations

Scopus - 78 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Physical sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-003-8R7

DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2010/03/009

Abstract (EN): In this study one resorts to the phenomenology of models endowed with a non-minimal coupling between matter and geometry, in order to develop a mechanism through which dynamics similar to that due to the presence of dark matter is generated. As a first attempt, one tries to account for the flattening of the galaxy rotation curves as an effect of the non-(covariant) conservation of the energy-momentum tensor of visible matter. Afterwards, one assumes instead that this non-minimal coupling modifies the scalar curvature in a way that can be interpreted as a dark matter component (albeit with negative pressure). It is concluded that it is possible to mimic known dark matter density profiles through an appropriate power-law coupling f(2) = (R/R-0)(n), with a negative index n - a fact that reflects the dominance of dark matter at large distances. The properties of the model are extensively discussed, and possible cosmological implications are addressed.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 38