Abstract
DIRAC1 suggested in 1937 that the gravitational ‘constant’ G might vary with time. This idea has since been used in several cosmologies, particularly those of Hoyle and Narlikar2 and those invoking the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity3. Limits to Ġhave been suggested by Barnothy and Tinsley4 from the observed form of the redshift–magnitude relation and by Dearborn and Schramm5 from the existence of clusters. Nevertheless, Van Flandern6 has provided substantial observational support for a secular decrease in G such that Ġ/G = −(7.5±2.7)×10−11 yr−1, and this is supported by Morrison and Ward's7 work on the transits of Mercury. The idea deserves to be explored further, pragmatically in non-cosmological contexts, but we are here primarily concerned with the explanation it affords for the ‘missing mass’ paradox.
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LEWIS, B. Variable G: a solution to the missing mass problem. Nature 261, 302–304 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261302a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261302a0
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