Minimum accelerations from quantised inertia
Abstract
It has recently been observed that there are no disc galaxies with masses less than 109Modot and this cutoff has not been explained. It is shown here that this minimum mass can be predicted using a model that assumes that 1) inertia is due to Unruh radiation, and 2) this radiation is subject to a Hubble-scale Casimir effect. The model predicts that as the acceleration of an object decreases, its inertial mass eventually decreases even faster stabilising the acceleration at a minimum value, which is close to the observed cosmic acceleration. When applied to rotating disc galaxies the same model predicts that they have a minimum rotational acceleration, i.e.: a minimum apparent mass of 1.1×109Modot, close to the observed minimum mass. The Hubble mass can also be predicted. It is suggested that assumption 1 above could be tested using a cyclotron to accelerate particles until the Unruh radiation they see is short enough to be supplemented by manmade radiation. The increase in inertia may be detectable.
- Publication:
-
EPL (Europhysics Letters)
- Pub Date:
- April 2010
- DOI:
- 10.1209/0295-5075/90/29001
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1004.3303
- Bibcode:
- 2010EL.....9029001M
- Keywords:
-
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics;
- Physics - General Physics
- E-Print:
- 10 pages. Accepted by EPL (Europhysics Letters) on the 19th April, 2010.