MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is an alternative explanation for the rotation-distance curves of galaxies that modifies Newton’s law for gravity at low gravitational accelerations, opposing dark matter.
Since its initial proposal, many interpolation functions for MOND have been proposed.
One potential interpolation function is the de Sitter interpolation, based on the properties of the de Sitter space. It is newly tested on globular clusters through simulation in this thesis. A simulation is needed because no analytical solution exits. Although the de Sitter interpolation function is quite old, limited research has gone into it so far.
In this thesis, the credibility of this function will be examined by comparing it to one of the most
popular functions: the standard interpolation. It will be tested on two globular clusters (NGC 6101 and NGC 5466), using the approximation of an isothermal sphere for initialization and an N-body particle mesh code to simulate the systems according to the gravitational law obtained through both of these functions. Afterwards, the resulting star density and velocity dispersion, both as function of distance to the centre of the cluster, will be compared to their observed counterparts.
The credibility of the results will be discussed in depth, comparing the system to the isothermal sphere, considering what changes variations in the parameters cause and assuring the system is in equilibrium after simulation.
The results show the de Sitter interpolation is on par with the standard interpolation, producing very similar results. Both match very well to the observed star count densities, and the velocity dispersion of NGC 6101 matches well to the observations too, whereas the velocity dispersion of NGC 5466 does not, in which case both functions match equally badly and predict a too high velocity dispersion.
In short, this thesis proves the usability of the de Sitter interpolation on globular clusters approximated as isothermal spheres, but further research is required to prove or disprove its superiority - in terms of its ability to match the observations - to the standard function.