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Galactic Charge

S. Reucroft 1

ThinkIncubate, Inc., Wellesley, Mass., USA

Abstract

The hypothesis of a galactic charge separation between core and periphery is noted as apossible explanation of the apparent anomalous rotation behaviour.

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It is often stated that galactic rotation curves provide strong evidence for the existenceof dark matter. Figure 1 shows a typical galactic rotation curve (solid line). It is based onmeasurements on our own Milky Way galaxy [1]. Other galactic rotation curves are verysimilar [2]. All of these curves show an initial increase in rotation speed as the distancefrom galactic center is increased with the rotation speed being approximately constantoutside the galactic core. Taking into account the visible distribution of galactic matter,these curves are not consistent with Keplerian motion. For example, the dotted line infigure 1 shows a theoretical rotation curve that assumes Keplerian motion with the visiblegalactic mass distribution. The curve shows a reduction in rotation velocity outside thegalactic core and this is not consistent with data. This has led to the suggestion that mostof the galactic matter is composed of some hitherto unknown substance that interactsgravitationally but not electromagnetically.

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We have investigated the possibility that these galaxies exhibiting anomalous rotationbehavior are, in fact, electrically non-isotropic and that the apparent anomalous behaviorstems from attractive electrostatic forces between core and periphery.

Given the extreme and violent activity in a galactic core, it is probable that the coreshould evolve with a net positive electrical charge. In fact it is quite implausible that thecore should remain electrically neutral. It is worth noting that normal stellar processesare not expected to cause a star to develop a large positive charge although it has beenshown that, under some conditions, a thermalized self-gravitating plasma can developsubstantial large-scale charge separation [3]. The same processes that charge the corewould cause the outer regions of the galaxy to develop a net negative electrical charge.

We have developed a galactic model that incorporates a separation of charge between coreand periphery. The detailed rotation curve behavior depends on the charge distributionassumed in the galactic periphery, but the total quantity of electrical charge needed isvery small and almost independent of the details of the charge distribution. We canreproduce the galactic rotation curve of figure 1 if we assume a net galactic core chargeof approximately 10 31 C with an equal and opposite charge distributed throughout thegalactic periphery. At first glance, this might seem like a large charge; however, itconsists of less than one part in 10 17 of the available charge in the galactic core. Itcorresponds to one free proton for every ~10 11 m3 of galactic core volume. Such a galacticcore charge would produce a galactic electric field at the location of the solar system ofapproximately 1 V/m.

It is interesting that this model would interpret a galaxy as an electric dipole and a clusterof galaxies might exhibit attractive dipole-dipole interactions. Also, super novae remnantsmight have an anomalous motion with respect to the galactic core.

Acknowledgements

It is a pleasure to acknowledge very useful discussions with Phil Butler, Robert Harringtonand Shomeek Mukhopadhyay. Errors, misconceptions, etc. are of course the authorsresponsibility.

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References

1. See, for example, the following:

M. Lopez-Corredoira, arXiv:1402.3551v2 (2014);

P. Bhattacharjee, S. Chaudhury and S. Kundu, arXiv:1310.2659v3 (2014);

Y. Sofue, arXiv:1307.8241v1 (2013);

Y. Sofue, arXiv:1307.8215v1 (2013);

Y. Sofue, arXiv:1110.4431v4 (2013);

J. Bovy et al., arXiv:1209.0759v1 (2012).

2. See, for example, the following:

M. Persic and P. Salucci, arXiv:astro-ph/9502091v1 (1995);

V. Rubin, W. K. Ford and N. Thonnard, Astro. J. 238:471 (1980);

V. Rubin, W. K. Ford and N. Thonnard, Astro. J. 225, L107 (1978);

F. Zwicky, Helv. Phys. Acta 6, 110 (1933).

3. E. R. Wollman, Phys. Rev. A337, 3052 (1988).