Mathematics and the “Dark Matter” Puzzle

Abstract

Surprisingly, aspects of the compelling mystery of “dark matter”—the mysterious, undiscovered material that supposedly consumes most of a spiral galaxy’s mass—are mathematical issues rather than astronomical ones. When analyzed from the perspective of mathematics, doubt is cast on standard predictions about the existence of huge amounts of this material.

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Donald G. Saari

DON SAARI received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Michigan Technological University and his math Ph.D. from Purdue. After a postdoctoral position in the Yale Astronomy Department, he moved to the mathematics department at Northwestern University, where he was the Pancoe Professor of Mathematics. In 2000, he moved to the University of California, Irvine, where he is the director of the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences.