Dark Matter May Not Be Necessary: A critical Review of Alternative Theories and Evidence

Dark matter has been one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology, proposed to explain gravitational anomalies in galaxies and clusters. However, the lack of direct detection of dark matter particles and observational inconsistencies have raised doubts about its existence. This critical review examines the evidence against dark matter, explores alternative theories such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) and modified gravity, and proposes that baryonic matter, together with modified gravitational effects, may account for the observations without invoking dark matter.