Testing the Dark Matter Hypothesis with Low Surface Brightness Galaxies and Other Evidence

The severity of the mass discrepancy in spiral galaxies is strongly correlated with the central surface brightness of the disk. Progressively lower surface brightness galaxies have ever larger mass discrepancies. No other parameter (luminosity, size, velocity, morphology) is so well correlated with the magnitude of the mass deficit. The rotation curves of low surface brightness disks thus provide a unique data set with which to probe the dark matter distribution in galaxies. The mass discrepancy is apparent from R = 0 giving a nearly direct map of the halo mass distribution. The luminous mass is insignificant. Interpreting the data in terms of dark matter leads to troublesome fine-tuning problems. Different observations require contradictory amounts of dark matter. Structure formation theories are as yet far from able to explain the observations. Subject headings: cosmology: dark matter — galaxies: formation — galaxies: halos — galaxies: kinematics and dynamics — galaxies: structure — gravitation What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just aint so. — Yogi Berra Present Address: Physics and Astronmy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 Present Address: Astrophysics Groups, School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia