New Published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyNow published in MNRAS

Private equity · M&A · Physics

Gary Alcock

I’ve spent nearly 20 years sourcing and executing deals for private equity firms and corporate buyers. I’m also an independent physicist, and my astrophysics research on galaxies is now published in MNRAS.

See the paper Work with me

Peer-reviewed Open access Published 7 Sept 2026

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Vol. 551, Issue 4 · stag1485 · doi:10.1093/mnras/stag1485

Is the acceleration scale of the radial acceleration relation tracking the cosmic expansion rate?

Stars in the outskirts of galaxies orbit faster than their visible matter can explain. The effect kicks in below a tiny acceleration called a₀, and a₀ sits suspiciously close to the speed of light times the expansion rate of the universe.

If that’s no coincidence, a₀ should have been larger in the past. This paper tests the idea directly, using galaxies seen as they were up to about 9 billion years ago.

It’s a model-independent astrophysics paper, and it stands on its own. It is separate from my work on Density Field Dynamics, whose papers are preprints.

5.3σ

Constant a₀ excluded, using the published bin errors

2.1σ

Consistent with a₀ tracking the expansion rate H(z)

0.78 ± 0.15

Growth exponent γ in a₀ ∝ (1+z)^γ

Read the paper

The acceleration scale a₀ rises with redshift

MUSE-DARK bins compared with three scalings. Model amplitudes are fitted to the four bins.

MUSE-DARK bins
SPARC, today
a₀ ∝ H(z)
Constant a₀
a₀ ∝ (1+z)^1.5

Data table

Acceleration scale a0 by redshift, in units of 10^-10 m s^-2
Sample	z	a₀	Error
SPARC (local)	0	1.20	±0.02 stat, ±0.24 sys
MUSE-DARK bin 1	0.503	1.990	−0.085 / +0.086
MUSE-DARK bin 2	0.825	2.200	±0.105
MUSE-DARK bin 3	1.047	2.571	−0.114 / +0.110
MUSE-DARK bin 4	1.276	2.710	−0.134 / +0.138

Units of 10⁻¹⁰ m s⁻². Bins from Ciocan et al. (2026) as analysed in the paper; SPARC value from McGaugh, Lelli & Schombert (2016).

What I do

Two fields, one habit of mind.

Deals and physics reward the same things. You have to see the pattern early, price the risk honestly, and test the idea against reality before you bet on it.

M&A

Business development

I’ve sourced and executed M&A for private equity and corporate clients for nearly 20 years, with a focus on proprietary, off-market deals.

Advisory

Private equity

Special situations

I source and execute corporate carve-outs, platforms, add-ons, and complex restructurings for financial and independent sponsors.

GTA Companies

Astrophysics

Galaxies and cosmology

My peer-reviewed work tests whether the acceleration scale of galaxies tracks the expansion rate of the universe.

Research

Theoretical physics

Density Field Dynamics

DFD treats gravity as a refractive medium for light. It reproduces the standard tests of General Relativity and makes falsifiable predictions.

densityfielddynamics.com

Private equity & advisory

Real businesses, hard situations.

I work on deals where sourcing, execution, and practical operating judgment matter as much as capital. That usually means carve-outs, multi-plant separations, and assets that need hands-on work.

How I work with sponsors

GTA CompaniesDeal flow & advisory
Revolution Capital GroupFormer Managing Director
Liberty Bay CapitalFormer Managing Director
Houlihan LokeyM&A advisory

Industrials
Manufacturing
Distribution
Aerospace & defense
Media
Technology
Healthcare
Business services
Consumer

Physics research

Gravity as a refractive medium.

Density Field Dynamics replaces curved spacetime with a single field, ψ, on flat space. The same field sets how fast light travels and how matter falls. It matches the standard weak-field tests of General Relativity, and it is built to be checked against data.

Explore DFD Research overview

n = eψ

Light slows where ψ is high. The refractive index of empty space is set by ψ, so light bends around mass.

a = ½c²∇ψ

Matter falls toward higher ψ. The same field that bends light also sets the acceleration of a falling body.

Writing

Two books in progress.

In development

Skip the MBA, Own the Company

A book about treating ownership as the goal instead of job titles and degrees. It covers carve-outs, small acquisitions, and leverage in the lower middle market.

In development

The Lazy Universe

Density Field Dynamics for a general audience. It strips the theory to its essential ideas and explains, in plain English, why clocks and gravity matter to everyone.

Let’s talk.

I’m glad to hear from sponsors with a mandate, researchers with a dataset, and anyone working where finance and physics overlap.

gary@gtacompanies.com LinkedIn

Los Angeles, CA