DARK-MATTER VERSUS MACHS PRINCIPLE

Empirical and theoretical evidence show that the astrophysical problem of dark matter might be solved by a theory of Einstein-Mayer type. In this theory, up to global Lorentz rotations, the reference system is determined by the motion of cosmic matter. Thus, one is led to a ''Rie mannian space with teleparallelism'' realizing a geometric version of the Mach-Einstein doctrine. The field equations of this gravitational theory contain hidden matter terms, where the existence of hidden matt er is inferred solely from its gravitational effects. It is argued tha t, in the nonrelativistic mechanical approximation, they provide an in ertia-fee mechanics, where the inertial mass of a body is induced by t he gravitational action of the comic masses. Interpreted from the Newt onian point of view, this mechanics shows that the effective gravitati onal mass of astrophysical objects depends on r such that one expects the existence of dark matter.