Emergence of the Gravitational Field from the Reduction of Degrees of Freedom in Self-Interacting Dark Matter (Sidm)

Abstract

This work hypothesizes that the gravitational field is not a fundamental interaction but an emergent phenomenon arising from entropic constraints on the degrees of freedom of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) in regions dominated by baryonic matter. Inspired by entropy-driven phenomena in soft matter physics, such as hydrophobic interactions, it is proposed that baryonic structures locally modulate the configurational entropy of SIDM, restricting its self-interaction capacity. This reduction in accessible microstates induces a macroscopic reorganization of dark matter, leading to an emergent force miming gravitational attraction. Mathematically, this hypothesis is formalized by introducing a baryon-dependent modulation into the SIDM cross-section, encoding the effect of baryonic matter density on local dark matter interactions. The resulting framework provides predictions for effective forces, halo stability, and velocity distributions, offering a new perspective on cosmic structure formation and the large-scale behavior of dark matter. Unlike alternative gravity models relying on modified dynamics or geometric modifications of spacetime, this approach derives gravitational effects purely from interaction-driven configurational constraints, establishing a direct link between entropy-driven emergent forces and the observed large-scale structure of the universe.

Keywords: Emergent gravity, self-interacting dark matter, entropy constraints, galaxy rotation curves, baryonic modulation