Dark matter is a new fundamental particle
The gravitational anomalies attributed to dark matter are caused by an as-yet-undetected, weakly-interacting massive particle (or similar) beyond the Standard Model.
1 open contradiction
- Evidential: These hypotheses draw opposite conclusions from the same evidence. Conflicts with There is no dark matter; gravity is modified (MOND).
Evidence balance
Supporting
3- Bullet Cluster: mass and gas are spatially separatedw82
Clowe et al. · 2006 · Peer-reviewed
Bullet Cluster mass–gas separation is hard to explain without dark matter.
- Cosmic microwave background power spectrumw80
Planck Collaboration · 2020 · Peer-reviewed
CMB acoustic peaks require cold dark matter.
- Flat galaxy rotation curvesw55
Vera C. Rubin & W. Kent Ford · 1970 · Observation
Flat rotation curves are the original evidence for unseen mass.
Opposing
2- LUX-ZEPLIN direct-detection null resultw45
LZ Collaboration · 2023 · Peer-reviewed
Repeated direct-detection nulls disfavor the simplest particle models.
- MOND fits galactic dynamics with one parameterw35
Mordehai Milgrom · 1983 · Peer-reviewed
MOND's single-parameter success is a regularity particles must explain separately.
Assumptions
The anomalies are due to matter, not modified gravity
justified — Bullet Cluster strongly supports this.
The particle interacts weakly enough to have evaded detection
unjustified
Open questions within this hypothesis
- Why have direct searches seen nothing?
- Can it explain galactic scaling relations as well as MOND does?
Falsification criteria
A confirmed detection of a dark-matter particle would raise confidence; a compelling, fully predictive modified-gravity theory matching all cosmological data without dark matter would falsify it.