Physics@Veldhoven 2017, Erik Verlinde – Emergent gravity and the dark universe

November 2016, Erik Verlinde shared his alternative theory about gravity. Verlinde presents gravity as an emergent phenomenon. This means that at the very smallest scale gravity does not exist. It is a consequence of the distribution of information in the universe, which manifests at a larger scale.

Abstract by Erik Verlinde: Logically speaking the observed deviations from the laws of gravity of Newton and Einstein in galaxies and clusters can be either due to the presence of unseen dark matter particles or due to a change in the way gravity works in these situations. Until recently there appeared to be no reason to doubt that general relativity correctly describes gravity in all circumstances. In the last few year insights from black hole physics and string theory have led to important theoretical advances in our understanding of gravity. A new theoretical framework is being developed in which the gravitational laws are derived as emerging from changes in the quantum entanglement of the microscopic information that is underlying space-time. I will make clear that this new theory of emergent gravity provides a conceptual explanation for why general relativity receives modifications in galaxies and clusters. I will present a quantitative estimate of these modifications and show that these agree with the observed phenomena currently attributed to dark matter.