Related papers: Observing the dark sector
The acceleration of the cosmic expansion is a fundamental challenge to standard models of particle physics and cosmology. The new physics of dark energy may lie in the nature of gravity, the quantum vacuum, or extra dimensions. I give a…
Recent astrophysical observations have motivated novel theoretical models of the dark matter sector. A class of such models predicts the existence of GeV scale cosmic strings that communicate with the standard model sector by Aharonov-Bohm…
Our standard model of the Universe predicts the distribution of dark matter to $1\%$ at the scales needed for upcoming experiments, yet our predictions for how the luminous matter -- which has interactions besides gravity -- is distributed…
Despite the overwhelming evidence for the existence of dark energy and dark matter, their underlying fundamental physics remains unknown. This review article explores the tantalizing possibility that the dark sector includes new light…
Recently there has been much interest in hidden sectors, especially in the context of dark matter and dark forces, since they are a common feature of beyond standard model scenarios like string theory and SUSY and additionally exhibit…
Hidden sectors in connection with GeV-scale dark forces and dark matter are not only a common feature of physics beyond the Standard Model such as string theory and SUSY but are also phenomenologically of great interest regarding recent…
In the last decades, a cosmological model that fits observations through a vast range of scales emerged. It goes under the name of ${\Lambda}$CDM. However, there are still challenging questions that remain unanswered by this model, such as…
Discoveries in the last few years have revolutionized our knowledge of the universe and our ideas of its ultimate fate. Measurements of the expansion of the universe show that it is not slowing down under normal gravity but accelerating due…
Dark energy appears to be the dominant component of the physical Universe, yet there is no persuasive theoretical explanation for its existence or magnitude. The acceleration of the Universe is, along with dark matter, the observed…
In this work we explore a model of the universe in which dark energy is modelled explicitely with both a dynamical quintessence field (with a double exponential self-interaction potential) and a cosmological constant. For a given region of…
The current expansion of the Universe has been observed to be accelerating, and the widely accepted spatially-flat concordance model of general relativistic cosmology attributes this phenomenon to a constant dark energy, a cosmological…
A wide range of large scale observations hint towards possible modifications on the standard cosmological model which is based on a homogeneous and isotropic universe with a small cosmological constant and matter. These observations, also…
As we now know, there are indeed at least two major difficulties with General Relativity (GR). The first one is related with its incompatibility with quantum mechanics, in the absence of a widely accepted consistent theory that combines the…
There has been significant recent progress in observational cosmology. This, in turn, has provided an unprecedented picture of the early universe and its evolution. In this review I will present a (biased) view of how one can use these…
The current standard model of cosmology - the {\ensuremath{\Lambda}}CDM model - is appropriately named after its controversial foreign ingredients: a cosmological constant ({\ensuremath{\Lambda}}) that accounts for the recent accelerated…
A huge amount of good quality astrophysical data converges towards the picture of a spatially flat universe undergoing the today observed phase of accelerated expansion. This new observational trend is commonly addressed as Precision…
We discuss a model of the universe where dark energy is replaced by electrically-charged extremely-massive dark matter. The cosmological constant has a value of the same order as the mean matter density, consistent with observations, and is…
We discuss the present status and future prospects for cosmic shear observations and their cosmological constraints. We review the evidences supporting the cosmological origin of the measured signal, and discuss the possible problems coming…
The present observational status of neutrino physics is sketched, with emphasis on the hints that follow from solar and atmospheric neutrino observations, as well as dark matter. I also briefly review the ways to account for the observed…
The search for dark matter is a very wide and active field of research. Many potential hints of dark matter have appeared recently which led to a burst of theoretical activity and model building. I necessarily concentrate here only in some…