British physicist Dr Mike McCulloch, who previously used quantised inertia to explain how the controversial electromagnetic space propulsion technology EmDrive works, says that he has new evidence showing his theory can also explain galaxy rotation, which is one of physics' biggest mysteries.

McCulloch, a lecturer in geomatics at Plymouth University's school of marine science and engineering, says he now has even more evidence that his "new physics theory" about quantised inertia works, and that it makes it possible to explain why galaxies are not ripped apart without using theory of dark matter.

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How the EmDrive works The EmDrive is the invention of British scientist Roger Shawyer who, in 1999, proposed that – based on the theory of special relativity – electricity converted into microwaves and fired within a truncated cone-shaped closed metal cavity causes microwave particles to exert more force on the flat surface at the large end of the cone. The Great Meme War helped Donald Trump win — now Europe should prepare for the hidden battle There is less combined particle momentum at the narrow end due to a reduction in group particle velocity, so this thereby generates thrust. His critics say that – according to the law of conservation of momentum – his theory cannot work as, in order for a thruster to gain momentum in one direction, a propellant must be expelled in the opposite direction – and the EmDrive is a closed system. EmDrive: UK scientist claims 'new physics' explains galaxy rotation and theoretical space propulsion However, Shawyer says that, following fundamental physics involving the theory of special relativity, the EmDrive does in fact preserve the law of conservation of momentum and energy. For an in-depth explanation, see What is the EmDrive and why should I care?

One of the biggest problems in physics today is how galaxies rotate. Galaxies are collections of millions of stars swirling around, and galaxies spin so rapidly that their centrifugal force should cause them fly apart, as there isn't enough visible matter in them to hold them together by the force of gravity.

To try explain how galaxies are held together, astronomers use the popular theory of dark matter, which was discovered by Fritz Zwicky in 1933 and then popularised by Vera Rubin in the 1970s.

Galaxies and how dark matter works

The theory is that galaxies contain dark matter and that this makes them gravitationally stable in the standard model of physics. McCulloch is sceptical about dark matter and he says that it is an implausible theory to explain dwarf galaxies, which are super-tiny galaxies containing only between 1,000-10,000 stars that revolve around the milky way.

There are 20 dwarf galaxies in existence from Segue-1 (the smallest) to Canes Venatici-1 (the largest), and dark matter is only meant to work by spreading out across a wide distance, but it is still used to explain dwarf galaxies, even though this requires dark matter to be concentrated within these systems, which is implausible.

Instead, McCulloch asserts that quantised inertia can be used to explain how galaxies rotate without using dark matter, and he has written a paper that has been accepted by the bi-monthly peer reviewed journal Astrophysics and Space Science.

"The photons in the EmDrive, when they go into the narrow bit of the EmDrive, fewer Unruh wavelengths fit into that narrow bit, so they lose inertial mass, and that's what I'm saying causes the EmDrive to move," he told IBTimes UK.

"In the galaxy, as you go out to the edge, the acceleration of the stars reduces, and that means the Unruh wavelengths get longer. Just like for the EmDrive, few of them fit into the cosmos so their inertial mass decreases in the same way. This is further evidence that this theory is correct, as it seems to explain both the EmDrive and galaxy rotation."

To prove that quantised inertia exists in dwarf galaxies, McCulloch came up with an equation and used it to analyse data compiled by the Panoramic Survey Telescope Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), which is an international collaboration of astronomers hunting for dwarf galaxies.

Using quantised inertia to explain dwarf galaxies

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