Related papers: Dark Matter Astrophysics
I begin by briefly reviewing the evidence for the existence of Dark Matter (DM), emphasizing that {\em many} observations, at length scales between kpc (the size of the smallest galaxies) and Gpc (the Hubble radius) can be described by the…
Astrophysical observations indicate that about 23% of the energy density of the universe is in the form of non-baryonic particles beyond the standard model of particle physics. One exciting and well motivated candidate is the lightest…
The identity of dark matter is one of the key outstanding problems in both particle and astrophysics. In this thesis, I review some candidates of dark matter, especially WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) which is one of the best…
The combination of S-matrix unitarity and the dynamics of thermal freeze-out for massive relic particles (denoted here simply by WIMPs) implies a lower limit on the density of such particles, that provide a (potentially sub-dominant)…
Assuming that cosmological dark matter consists of weakly interacting massive particles, we use the recent precise measurement of cosmological parameters to predict the guaranteed rates of production of such particles in association with…
One of the most interesting mysteries of astrophysics is the puzzle of dark matter. Although numerous techniques have been explored and developed to detect this elusive substance, its nature remains unknown. One such method uses large…
We propose that dark matter is composed of particles that naturally have the correct thermal relic density, but have neither weak-scale masses nor weak interactions. These WIMPless models emerge naturally from gauge-mediated supersymmetry…
An overview is given of various dark matter candidates. Among the many suggestions given in the literature, axions, inert Higgs doublet, sterile neutrinos, supersymmetric particles and Kaluza-Klein particles are discussed. The situation has…
Despite the compelling amount of evidence for the existence of dark matter, its exact nature is still one of the main open questions in modern physics. A great experimental effort has been performed to probe one of the most popular dark…
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…
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,…
Two leading dark matter candidates from supersymmetry and other theories of physics beyond the standard model are WIMPs and weak scale gravitinos. If the lightest stable particle is a gravitino, then a WIMP will decay into it with a natural…
We look at our since long studied model for dark matter as being pearls of a speculated new vacuum containing highly compressed ordinary matter, with so much ordinary in it that the content of ordinary matter in the dark matter pearls…
This is a set of four lectures presented at the Theoretical Advanced Study Institute (TASI-09) in June 2009. I provide an introduction to experiments designed to detect WIMP dark matter directly, focusing on building intuitive understanding…
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…
What is the connection between how the dark matter was produced in the early universe and how we can detect it today? Where does the WIMP miracle come from, and is it really a "WIMP" miracle? What brackets the mass range for thermal relics?…
We describe the scenario of WIMPless dark matter. In this scenario of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, a dark matter candidate in the hidden sector is found to naturally have approximately the right relic density to explain…
Dark matter (comprising a quarter of the Universe) is usually assumed to be due to one and only one weakly interacting particle which is neutral and absolutely stable. We consider the possibility that there are several coexisting…
Since neither supersymmetry nor dark matter WIMPs have yet been observed, pessimism about their reality has been growing. Here we discuss a new supersymmetric theory and a new dark matter candidate which are naturally consistent with…
The axion arises in well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics and is regarded as an alternative to the weakly interacting massive particle paradigm to explain the nature of dark matter. In this contribution, we…