Sep 7, 2018 · 1 min read
Make Einsteinian gravity conformally invariant and you’ll have a theory that at least partially explains dark matter (I tried it with just R² in the free-space Einstein-Hilbert action, but there are also scalar, tensor and spinor actions that also work). It’s one thing to introduce a bunch of free parameters into a theory to explain observations, but quite another to invent an invisible, odorless, tasteless, undetectable aether-like “stuff” to explain rotation curves and the behavior of galaxy clusters.
When the umpteenth costly dark matter detection experiment fails, dark matter will persist as a kind of religious faith. Until they put the damned particle in my hands, I ain’t buying it.