Conformal theory of gravitation and cosmology

IBM Almaden Research Center - 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120-6099, USA

Received: 11 June 2020
Accepted: 26 June 2020

Abstract

The postulate of universal local Weyl scaling (conformal) symmetry modifies both general relativity and the Higgs scalar field model. Conformal gravity (CG) has recently been fitted to rotation data for 138 galaxies. The conformal Higgs model (CHM) acquires a gravitational effect that fits observed Hubble expansion for redshifts (7.33 Gyr) accurately with only one free constant parameter. Conformal theory explains dark energy and does not require dark matter, providing a viable alternative to the ΛCDM standard paradigm. Vanishing of centripetal acceleration outside a galactic halo boundary is a unique implication of the theory. The fit to observed astrophysical data by conformal models CG and CHM is shown here to account for both parameters w² and λ of postulated Higgs potential , responsible for symmetry-breaking finite in particle theory. Recent criticism of CG is resolved here by showing that CG and CHM are interdependent but compatible. Nonclassical CG radial acceleration parameter γ is determined by the CHM. A recently established empirical relationship between classical and nonclassical galactic radial acceleration requires parameter γ to be independent of galactic mass. Conformal theory is shown here to be consistent with this and with the v⁴ baryonic Tully-Fisher relation for galactic rotation velocities.