(Re)Assessing Galaxy Clusters with Cosmological Models: Scales, Anisotropies, and Scientific Explanation
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Galaxy clusters are commonly used tracers of cosmology. Gravitational lensing analysis of the Bullet Cluster is claimed to evidentially support dark matter, an important component in the ${\rm{\Lambda }}$ CDM cosmology. I argue that such ${\rm{\Lambda }}$ CDM-based models of individual galaxy clusters should be explanatory to meet such claims, but hardly in an ontic sense, due to galaxy cluster anisotropies, empirically equivalent non- ${\rm{\Lambda }}$ CDM-based models, and currently unaccountable cases. I propose that adopting an alternative epistemic/representational conception of scientific explanation can maintain the explanatory nature of individual galaxy cluster models, cope with the three complications, and be potentially generalizable to other branches of astrophysics.
Source: Philosophy of Science
Author: Tianzhe Cozette Shen
Institution: University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
Funder: University of Cambridge
OpenAlex ID: W4413903022