Could modified gravity explain galactic rotation instead of dark matter?

[humanino]

But for lack of a better way of saying it in my limited vocabulary - Seriously? Dark matter? Come on.

Please come up with something better. I assure you, everybody tries, but it's not like dark matter has been an easy guess.

 

[Chronos]

Dark matter is a drop dead easy answer. It's the only solution that makes sense without throwing theoretical physics, as we know it, out on its head. It's possible all our theories of physics are fundamentally flawed, but, unlikely.

 

[humanino]

Dark matter is a drop dead easy answer.

Technically maybe. But I meant it was not easily accepted historically.

 

[Phrak]

There was a time where these additions to gravity were attributed to the local nature of space. Recall $\Lambda$, Einstein's cosomological constant. Then it became thought ambiguous. Now it seems wholly attributed to something of particle nature. Is this correct, or is

$$R_{\mu \nu} - \frac{1}{2}Rg_{\mu \nu} + D_{\mu \nu} = 8 \pi G T_{\mu \nu}$$

still an option, where D is a attribute of the vacuum?