Charles F. Gallo
Charles F. Gallo | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Modeling spiral-galaxy rotation curves without dark matter |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Superconix Inc. (Lake Elmo, Minnesota) |
Charles F. Gallo is a physicist known for proposing that the observed rotation curves of spiral galaxies can be explained by Newtonian gravity applied to thin-disk mass distributions, without invoking halos of dark matter. They are listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Gallo, working at Superconix Inc. in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, together with collaborator James Q. Feng, published a series of papers on arXiv modeling the rotation of spiral galaxies. Their approach treats a galaxy as an axisymmetric, self-gravitating thin disk and solves a force-balance equation from Newton's laws using the measured rotation velocity profile to infer the underlying mass distribution.
From this analysis they concluded that the flat rotation curves observed in most spiral galaxies correspond to an exponentially decreasing mass density from the galactic center (apart from the central core and the outer edge), and argued that the inferred mass is consistent with astronomical observations and standard Newtonian dynamics without requiring dark matter halos. This interpretation lies outside the mainstream consensus, which attributes flat rotation curves to non-baryonic dark matter.
Relevant papers include "Galactic Rotation Described with Bulge+Disk Gravitational Models" (arXiv:0804.3203) and "Galactic Rotation Described with Various Thin-Disk Gravitational Models" (arXiv:0804.0217).