A fundamental test for MOND

The relation between these accelerations is given by a non-linear function that depends on an acceleration scale a_+_. Some have interpreted this as an evidence for a gravity model, such as modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND), which posits a fundamental acceleration scale a_0_ common to all the galaxies.

However, it was later shown, using Bayesian inference, that this seems not to be the case: the a_0_ credible intervals for individual galaxies were not found to be compatible among themselves. A test like the latter is a fundamental test for MOND as a theory for gravity, since it directly evaluates its basic assumption and this using the data that most favour MOND: galaxy rotation curves. Here we improve upon the previous analyses by introducing a more robust method to assess the compatibility between the credible intervals, in particular without Gaussian approximations.