Related papers: Dark Matter Searches
Within the standard cosmological scenario the Universe is found to be filled by obscure components (dark matter and dark energy) for ~95% of its energy budget. In particular, almost all the matter content in the Universe is given by dark…
The Cold Dark Matter theory of gravitationally-driven hierarchical structure formation has earned its status as a paradigm by explaining the distribution of matter over large spans of cosmic distance and time. However, its central tenet,…
I will begin by reviewing the evidence for Dark Matter in the Universe, as well as the candidates for dark matter. At most 20% of the dark matter in galaxies can be in the form of MACHOs (Massive Compact Halo Objects); the remainder appears…
The nature of dark matter (DM), which is supposed to constitute about one-fourth of the universe, is still a mystery. There is evidence that much of the DM may be made up of as yet undiscovered particles with several experiments all over…
The cosmological observations coupled with theoretical calculations suggest the existence of enormous amount of unseen and unknown matter or dark matter in the universe. The evidence of their existence, the possible candidates and their…
Most of the matter in the universe is invisible. I review the status of dark matter and describe how both the theory of galaxy formation and novel types of experimental searches are revitalizing attempts to find non-baryonic dark matter.
The combination of detections of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation and observations of the large-scale distribution of galaxies probes the primordial density fluctuations of the universe on spatial scales varying by…
It is now believed that the universe is composed of a small amount of the normal luminous matter, a substantial amount of matter (Cold Dark Matter: CDM) which is non-luminous and a large amount of smooth energy (Dark Energy: DE). Both CDM…
From astronomical observations, we know that dark matter exists, makes up 23% of the mass budget of the Universe, clusters strongly to form the load-bearing frame of structure for galaxy formation, and hardly interacts with ordinary 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…
Many independent high resolution simulations have indicated that the standard collisionless cold dark matter model does not reproduce the structure of observed present day galaxies well. Several possible solutions in the form of…
The universe has evolved through several phases as its various constituents dominated its energy content. Candidate dark matter particles may have undergone freeze-out during any such phase. While the standard freeze-out scenarios have been…
Numerous observations point towards the existence of an unknown elementary particle with no electromagnetic interactions, a large population of which was presumably produced in the early stages of the history of the Universe. This so-called…
The evidence for the existence of dark matter in the universe is reviewed. A general picture emerges, where both baryonic and non-baryonic dark matter is needed to explain current observations. In particular, a wealth of observational…
In our current best cosmological model, the vast majority of matter in the Universe is dark, consisting of yet undetected, non-baryonic particles that do not interact electro-magnetically. So far, the only significant evidence for dark…
We demonstrate that if the universe is dominated by the massive cold dark matter, then besides the generally believed thermal distribution of the dark matter relics, there may exist some very energetic non-thermal relics of the dark matter…
We discuss an overlooked factor in dark matter studies. Namely, if massless particles are captured into a local structure and stop free streaming in the universe, they no longer lose energy by cosmological red-shift, and no longer smear out…
The Hot Big Bang is often considered as the origin of all matter and radiation in the Universe. Primordial nucleosynthesis (BBN) provides strong evidence that the early Universe contained a hot plasma of photons and baryons with a…
For nearly a century, more mass has been measured in galaxies than is contained in the luminous stars and gas. Through continual advances in observations and theory, it has become clear that the dark matter in galaxies is not comprised of…
In the first section, I will try to convey a sense of the variety of observational inputs that tell us about the existence and the spatial distribution of dark matter in the universe. In the second section, I will briefly review the four…