The Initial Prediction of Dark Matter

A Comprehensive Exposition of a Paper by Fritz Zwicky

Jason Saroni
March 14, 2017

Some would joke that the department of things that are not seen is ignorance.
Others would say it is superstition. But the study of huge quantities of
invisible matter in space is as real as you can imagine. The initial argument
predicting the existence of dark matter by Fritz Zwicky is venturesome and
instructive. This exposition is meant for completeness; to work through
using our own technique and exhaustively every step that may or may not
be present in Zwickys original paper to arrive at the initial suggestion of
dark matter.

The Short Story

The ratio of the average mass of a nebula in the Coma cluster to the average
luminosity of a nebula is much higher than the same ratio in a different
cluster of nebulae. This suggested that the Coma cluster must contain a lot
of mass that is not luminous, dark matter! Or that further analysis of the
cluster was in order at the very least.

The Pencil Pusher Story

We find the mass of the Coma cluster. Invoke the Virial theorem. Define
X
S~ ~r p~

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Figure 1: A depiction of the Coma cluster. It is spherically symmetric al-
though it may be hard to see from this picture. [4]

Where ~r and p~ = m ~r are the position and momentum of the th nebula

respectively and they are functions of time. By the product rule

~ X
dS 
= ~r p~ + ~r p~
dt

Take the time average over a large period of time using calculus

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 * +
~
dS 1
Z ~
dS 1
Z
= dt = ~
dS
dt 0 dt 0

~ ) S(0)
S( ~
=

~r and p~ do not increase or decrease monotonically but fluctuate indefinitely
~ must fluctuate around some value. Then if we take sufficiently large
hence S
we get

~ ) S(0)
S( ~
=0

Now
* + * + * +
~
dS X X
= ~r p~ + ~r p~ =0
dt
* +
X X
m r2 + ~r F~


=0 (1)

Define
X
V ir ~r F~

We assume that the cluster is made up of so many nebulae that are infinites-
imally close compared to the size of the cluster. The mass of a single nebula
is infinitesimally small compared to the mass of the entire cluster. To tran-
sition from discrete to continuous, call the mass dm whose location is now
~r instead of ~r in a coordinate system whose origin is at the center of the
cluster.

By the shell-theorems, the gravitational force due to the cluster on dm is only

due to the sphere of mass from the cluster of which dm is just at the surface.
The force on dm due to this sphere of mass acts as though the sphere were
a point mass at its center. Formally

Theorem 0.1. (The shell-theorems)

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1. A spherically symmetric body of uniform mass density affects external
objects gravitationally as though all of its mass were concentrated at a point
at its center.

2. If the body is a spherically symmetric shell of uniform mass density (e.g.

a hollow ball), no net gravitational force is exerted by the shell on any object
inside, regardless of the objects location within the shell.

(Find a proof in the Appendix). With these theorems in mind, the force on
mass dm also becomes infinitesimal and is given by dF~ = GMr2dm r where M
is a sphere of mass from the cluster of which dm is just at the surface. From
its structure, we assume that the Coma cluster has uniform mass density.
M
Hence its density is = (4/3)R 3 where M is the total mass of the cluster and

R its radius. The mass M is of a sphere whose radius is equal to the distance
r of dm from the clusters center. M is equal to the volume it occupies times
3 M 4r3 3
its mass density, M = 4r 3
= (4/3)R 3 3
= Mr
R3
. Now taking the
transition from discrete to continuous for the second sum in equation (1)

* + Z  Z 
X GM dm GM
F~ ~r r ~r = dm hV IRi

r2 r

In spherical coordinates dm = dv = r2 sindddr

Z   Z   Z r=R 
GM M 2
dm = G r sindddr = 4G M rdr
r V r r=0

r=R
4GMR2 3GM2
 Z     
4M 4
3 r dr = =
R
r=0 5 5R
D 2
E
G, M, and R are constant over a large period of time so hV IRi = 3GM
5R
=
2
3GM
5R
.
Now consider the first sum in equation (1) and take the transition from
discrete to continuous similarly
X Z

2
2
m r r dm = hV IRi

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The mass average of hr 2 i over the entire cluster mass is
Z

2  1
2
r = r dm
M

2  3GM2
M r = hV IRi =
5R
5R hhr 2 ii
M=
3G
The Coma cluster is not exactly uniform as assumed. Instead its mass
density is greater closer to the center than away from it. To deal with this
we make the following approximation; we assume that at some radius closer
to the center, the mass density becomes constant right to the center and
is zero otherwise. The mass within this radius is just the total mass M.
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For a very conservative approximation we assume that the radius is 25 R
5GM2
which will also be arithmetically convenient. Then hV IRi = R is the
smallest possible value of hV IRi for the Coma cluster by our conservative
approximation. We only need the lower limit of hV IRi for our investigation.

5GM2
hV IRi
R

2  5GM2
M r
R
R hhr 2 ii
M
5G
We do not have a value of hhr ii but only know its component hhrs2 ii as an
2

average of averages of squared velocities of nebulae each along a line of sight s

from an observer to a particular nebula. We assume that there is no preferred
direction of motion for the nebula and without any overaching large external
influences this appears reasonable for the spherically symmetric cluster we
are dealing with. Thus the velocity distribution is spherically symmetric and
if we set rs, rx, for a rectangular Cartesian coordinate system we have
2 2 2
rx, = ry, = rz, , r2 = 3rs,
2
, hence

3R hhrs2 ii
M
5G

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Zwickys values for R and hhrs2 ii are approximately 2106 light-years and 5
1015 cm2 s2 where G = 6.674 1011 m3 kg1 s2 is the gravitational constant.
Using these we get

M 9 1043 kg
where we have taken approximations into account and rounded-off. The
Coma cluster contains about 1000 nebulae so we propose that the average
mass of one nebula is

M 9 1040 kg

M 4.5 1010 Msun

where Msun is the mass of the sun. Now consider luminosity. We understand
it as the intrinsic brightness of a celestial object. The luminosity of an
average nebula is about 8.5 107 suns as stated in Zwickys paper. Divide
the average mass of one nebula by the luminosity of an average nebula and
we get a factor 500 in sun units. As Zwicky notes, this factor for the
Coma cluster is very large compared to the corresponding factor 0 3 for
the local Kapteyn stellar system. Other strange things (such as the laws of
physics suddenly being different in the Coma cluster as opposed to the local
stellar system) discounted, this suggested that there must be a large quantity
of mass in the Coma cluster that doesnt radiate visibly. More investigation
into this dark matter mystery was due!

Appendix
A proof of the shell-theorems.
Proof. We use the potential method. That is, find the gravitational potential
due to the shell and use it to find the gravitational potential energy of a
mass m hence the force on the mass, first when the mass is located outside
then when it is located inside the shell. We use the diagram of Figure 2 on
the next page.
First note that even though point P is located to the right of the shell, if it
were located anywhere else around the shell we could simply rotate our co-
ordinate system and by spherical symmetry retrieve the configuration where

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Figure 2: A shell of uniform mass density and a point P in this configuration
[3]

P is located to the right of the shell. Now for continuous mass distributions
the potential is

(r0 )dv 0
Z
= G
V r
We use spherical coordinates where dv 0 = r0 2 sindddr0 . The theorems state
that (r0 ) is constant throughout the shell, (r0 ) = . Then

r0 2 sindddr0
Z
= G
V r
We use the following considerations to evaluate the triple integral. The law
of cosines gives r2 = r0 2 + R2 2r0 Rcos. Define Z(r) r2 and Z(r0 , )
r0 2 + R2 2r0 Rcos where R is constant from our configuration. Taking the
full differentials
z
Z(r) dz = dr = 2rdr
r
z 0 z
Z(r0 , ) dz = dr + d = 2r0 dr0 + 2r0 Rsind
r0

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 2rdr = 2r0 dr0 + 2r0 Rsind (2)
Again

r0 2 sindddr0
Z
= G
V r
Z r0 =a Z = Z =2 0 2  
r sin
= G d d dr0
r0 =b =0 =0 r
Z r0 =a Z = 0 2 
r sin
= 2G d dr0
0
r =b =0 r
Looking at the last integral in parentheses r0 is constant and only varies.
Check [2] for a review of triple integration. Note that r is a function of
hence the integral is incidentally complicated. We rewrite equation (2)

r0 sind dr r0 dr0
=
r R Rr

r0 2 sind r0 dr r0 2 dr0
=
r R Rr
r0 2 sind
r0 being constant in the integral in parentheses means dr0 = 0 hence r
=
r0 dr
R
.

We use the geometric configuration of Figure 2 to find the limits of r, namely

the values of r when = 0 and = and do change of variables to simplify
the integral. The limits depend on the position of point P . If P is outside
the shell, r = R r0 when = 0 and r = R + r0 when = . Then
Z r0 =a Z r=R+r0 0 !
r dr
= 2G dr0
r0 =b r=Rr0 R
r0 =a
2r0 2 0
Z
4G 3
a b3


= 2G dr =
r0 =b R 3R
Since is uniform throughout the shell, = M
V
where M and V are the total
mass and volume of the shell respectively. V = 34 (a3 b3 ) so = 4(a3M
3 b3 ) .

Then

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 4G (a3 b3 ) 3M GM
= 3 3
=
3R 4 (a b ) R
GM
= (for P outside)
R
If P is inside the shell, when = 0, r = r0 R and when = , r = r0 + R.
The integral becomes
Z r0 =a Z r=r0 +R 0 !
r
= 2G dr dr0
0
r =b 0
r=r R R
Z r0 =a
r0 dr0 = 2G a2 b2


= 4G
r0 =b

= 2G a2 b2


(for P inside)
By classical mechanics [3] the potential energy of some mass m due to a
mass configuration of potential is U = m. The force on m is the negative
of the gradient of the potential energy of m, F~ = U ~ . Going back to
Figure 2, the ~

force on some

massGMmm at point P outside the shell is F =
~
R GM m
= R GM m
R = R2 R using a spherical coordinate system
R
with origin at the center of the shell for the gradient. This is equivalent to the
force experienced by m due to a point mass M a distance R away. Theorem
1. is proved. For m at P inside, F~ = ~ (2Gm (a2 b2 )) = 0. Regardless
of the location of mass m inside the shell, it experiences zero force due to
the shell. Theorem 2. is proved. Note that when a = 0 our shell becomes a
sphere.

References
[1] Fritz Zwicky, On the Masses of Nebulae and of Clusters of Nebulae, 1937.

[2] James Stewart, Calculus, 2012.

[3] Stephen T. Thornton and Jerry B. Marion, Classical Dynamics of Parti-

cles and Systems, 2004.

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[4] Michael Richmond, http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys440/lectures/
gal(underscore)clus/, gal(underscore)clus.html directories.

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