This week we look at the work of Vera Rubin and Fritz Zwicky that led to the idea that roughly 85% of the matter in the universe can't be detected except by the gravitational influence on the matter we can see. We also consider alternative explanations such as MOND theories as well as consider candidates for dark matter including WHIM, MACHOs and WIMPs (including axions). Finally, examine the evidence in favor of dark matter being a new type of matter using what can be thought of as a "complex inference from best explanation" argument.
Vera Rubin
Rotation Curves from Several Spiral Galaxies (Figure from Rubin, Ford, and Thonnard (1978), Ap. J. Lett., 225, L107.)
Fritz Zwicky
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