'Dark Matter' as a Quantum Foam In-Flow Effect

Abstract

The galactic `dark matter' effect is regarded as one of the major problems in fundamental physics. Here it is explained as a self-interaction dynamical effect of space itself, and so is not caused by an unknown form of matter. Because it was based on Kepler's Laws for the motion of the planets in the solar system the Newtonian theory of gravity was too restricted. A reformulation and generalisation of the Newtonian theory of gravity in terms of a velocity in-flow field, representing at a classical level the relative motion of a quantum-foam substructure to space, reveals a key dynamical feature of the phenomenon of gravity, namely the so called `dark matter' effect, which manifests not only in spiral galaxy rotation curves, but also in the borehole g anomaly, globular and galactic black holes, and in ongoing problems in improving the accuracy with which Newton's gravitational constant G is measured. The new theory of gravity involves an additional new dimensionless gravitational constant, and experimental data reveals this to be the fine structure constant. The new theory correctly predicts the globular cluster black hole masses, and that the `frame-dragging' effect is caused by vorticity in the in-flow. The relationship of the new theory of gravity to General Relativity which, like Newtonian gravity, does not have the `dark matter' dynamics, is explained.