Resolve the Dark Matter Question

Determine whether dark matter exists and, if so, characterize its physical nature and properties sufficiently to account for observed astrophysical mass discrepancies and to enable empirical detection.

Background

The paper surveys philosophical and historical strategies used to justify belief in dark matter in the absence of direct detection. Despite decades of experimental effort, dark matter has not been observed, leaving the field reliant on explanatory virtues and historical narratives. The author underscores that, given this lack of empirical confirmation, dark matter remains a major unresolved issue in physics.

This open problem frames the core scientific challenge: to establish the existence and nature of dark matter. It motivates both the rationalist arguments discussed (explanatory unification, simplicity) and the scrutiny of historical continuity claims, and it highlights the need for empirical resolution beyond current non-empirical assessments.