Related papers: TASI 2008 Lectures on Dark Matter
Dark matter is thought to make up most of the matter density of the Universe, yet its true nature remains uncertain. Among dark matter theories, Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are a prominent candidate for dark matter because…
The recent determination of the dark matter density in the Universe by the WMAP satellite has brought new attention to the interplay of results from particle physics experiments at accelerators and from cosmology. In this paper we discuss…
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) have long reigned as one of the leading classes of dark matter candidates. The observed dark matter abundance can be naturally obtained by freezeout of weak-scale dark matter annihilations in the…
In this review article, we discuss the current status of particle dark matter, including experimental evidence and theoretical motivations. We discuss a wide array of candidates for particle dark matter, but focus on neutralinos in models…
In this contribution, CTAs potential role in detection of particle dark matter in the context of other detection approaches is briefly discussed for an audience of gamma-ray astronomers. In particular searches for new particles at the large…
We review some recent determinations of the amount of dark matter on galactic, cluster, and large scales, noting some puzzles and their possible resolutions. We discuss the interpretation of big bang nucleosynthesis for dark matter, and…
While the paradigm of a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) has guided our search strategies for dark matter in the past decades, their null-results have stimulated growing interest in alternative explanations pointing towards…
Direct searches for dark matter lead to serious problems for simple models with stable neutral Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) as candidates for dark matter. A possibility is discussed that new stable quarks and charged leptons…
I review two different connections between particle theory and early-Universe cosmology: (1) Cosmic-microwave-background (CMB) tests of inflation and (2) particle dark matter. The inflationary predictions of a flat Universe and a nearly…
In this review article the current status of particle dark matter is addressed. We discuss the main theoretical extensions of the standard model which allow to explain dark matter in terms of a (yet undiscovered) elementary particle. We…
A weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) is a leading candidate of the dark matter. The WIMP dark matter abundance is determined by the freeze-out mechanism. Once we know the property of the WIMP particle such as the mass and…
Evidence has continued to accumulate over the last few decades as to the existence and nature of dark matter. Depending on the particle candidate, the dark matter can exhibit one of several cosmologically defined models: hot dark matter,…
The existence of dark matter (DM) was first noticed by Zwicky in the 1930s, but its nature remains one of the great unsolved problems of physics. A variety of observations indicate that it is non-baryonic and non-relativistic. One of the…
The identity of dark matter is one of the key outstanding problems in both particle and astrophysics. In this thesis, I describe a number of complementary searches for particle dark matter. I discuss how the impact of dark matter on stars…
Dark Matter is a hypothetical particle proposed to explain the missing matter expected from the cosmological observation. The motivation of Dark Matter is overwhelming however as it is mainly deduced from its gravitational interaction, for…
After a brief introduction to dark matter in general and to WIMPs as candidates, we review recent results of direct dark matter searches. We concentrate on older and more recent hints pointing to light WIMP's with mass below 10 GeV.
In this review, we discuss the role of the various experimental programs taking part in the broader effort to identify the particle nature of dark matter. In particular, we focus on electroweak scale dark matter particles and discuss a wide…
Cold dark matter may be made of superweakly-interacting massive particles, superWIMPs, that naturally inherit the desired relic density from late decays of metastable WIMPs. Well-motivated examples are weak-scale gravitinos in supergravity…
Astronomical and cosmological observations of the past 80 years build solid evidence that atomic matter makes up only a small fraction of the matter in the universe. The dominant fraction does not interact with electromagnetic radiation,…
These notes cover some of the topics associated with direct detection of dark matter at an introductory level. The general principles of dark matter search are summarized. The current status of some experiments is described, with an…