On the Evidence for the Violation of the Equivalence Principle in Disk Galaxies
We examine the claimed observations of a gravitational external field effect (EFE) reported by Chae et al. We show that observations suggestive of the EFE can be interpreted without violating Einstein’s equivalence principle, namely from known correlations between the morphology, the environment, and dynamics of galaxies. While Chae et al.’s analysis provides a valuable attempt at a clear test of modified Newtonian dynamics, an evidently important topic, a re-analysis of the observational data does not permit us to confidently assess the presence of an EFE or to distinguish this interpretation from that proposed in this article.
Authors
- Corey Sargent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3217-9984)
- Alicia Mand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9697-1702)
- William T. Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8571-3465)
- Alexis Lane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-2717)
- Balša Terzić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9646-8155)
- Antonia Seifert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9892-3667)
- A. Deur (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2203-7723)
- Emerson Rogers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1069-630X)
Institutions
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Old Dominion University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Particles
- Published
- 2025-06-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/particles8030065
- Primary Topic
- Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Old Dominion University