A New Theory of Gravity Just Passed its First Test. Here’s What This Means for Physics
IN BRIEF Erik Verlinde's emergent gravity theory makes sense of the behavior of gravity without the need for the existence of a dark matter particle. Researchers from the Leiden Observatory have studied more than 33,000 galaxies to see if Verlinde’s theory checks out. EMERGENT GRAVITY In 2010, renowned string theory expert Erik Verlinde from the University of Amsterdam and the Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics proposed that gravity is not a fundamental force of nature, but rather an “emergent phenomenon.” And now, one hundred years after Einstein published the final version of his general theory of relativity, Verlinde published his paper expounding on his stance on gravity—with a big claim that challenges the very foundation of physics as we know it. Verlinde’s emergent gravity theory makes one very important implication: dark matter does not exist. His research makes sense of the behavior of gravity without the n...