Dark Matter Astrophysics

Abstract

These lectures are intended to provide a brief pedagogical review of dark matter for the newcomer to the subject. We begin with a discussion of the astrophysical evidence for dark matter. The standard weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) scenario--the motivation, particle models, and detection techniques--is then reviewed. We provide a brief sampling of some recent variations to the standard WIMP scenario as well as some alternatives (axions and sterile neutrinos). Exercises are provided for the reader.

Based on lectures given by MK at the Villa Olmo School on "The Dark Side of the Universe," 14--18 May 2007 and by KS at the XIX Heidelberg Physics Graduate Days, 8--12 October 2007. 33 pages, 15 figures

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• Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints
• Supersymmetric Dark Matter
• Observation of an anomalous positron abundance in the cosmic radiation
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Likelihoods and Parameters from the WMAP data
• Sterile Neutrinos as Dark Matter
• Non-Baryonic Dark Matter - Observational Evidence and Detection Methods
• Constraints on the Self-Interaction Cross-Section of Dark Matter from Numerical Simulations of the Merging Galaxy Cluster 1E 0657-5
• Cosmology from Maxima-1, Boomerang and COBE/DMR CMB Observations
• Cosmological-Parameter Determination with Microwave Background Maps
• Updated Bounds on Milli-Charged Particles
• Dark Matter and Dark Radiation
• Measuring the Small-Scale Power Spectrum of Cosmic Density Fluctuations Through 21 cm Tomography Prior to the Epoch of Structure Formation
• Experimental observation of optical rotation generated in vacuum by a magnetic field
• Early SPI/INTEGRAL measurements of galactic 511 keV line emission from positron annihilation
• Particle physics catalysis of thermal Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• What mass are the smallest protohalos?
• Extended Anomalous Foreground Emission in the WMAP 3-Year Data
• Where to find a dark matter sterile neutrino?
• Clumpy Neutralino Dark Matter
• Evidence Of Dark Matter Annihilations In The WMAP Haze
• Search for axion-like particles using a variable baseline photon regeneration technique
• Early SPI/INTEGRAL contraints on the morphology of the 511 keV line emission in the 4th galactic quadrant
• Weighing the Universe with the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Dark Matter from Early Decays
• Improved Spin-Dependent WIMP Limits from a Bubble Chamber
• Anisotropy of the cosmic gamma-ray background from dark matter annihilation
• Tidal Tails Test the Equivalence Principle in the Dark Sector
• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis with Long Lived Charged Massive Particles
• Gamma-ray continuum emission from the inner Galactic region as observed with INTEGRAL/SPI
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• Dipolar Dark Matter
• Dark matter annihilation or unresolved astrophysical sources? Anisotropy probe of the origin of cosmic gamma-ray background
• Galactic Substructure and Direct Detection of Dark Matter
• Galilean Equivalence for Galactic Dark Matter
• Kinetic decoupling of neutralino dark matter
• Charged-particle decay and suppression of small-scale power
• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis with Bound States of Long-lived Charged Particles
• Experimental Constraints on the Axion Dark Matter Halo Density
• Pulsar kicks from neutrino oscillations
• Structure formation in a string-inspired modification of the cold dark matter model
• Revealing dark matter substructure with anisotropies in the diffuse gamma-ray background
• Photon Regeneration from Pseudoscalars at X-ray Laser Facilities
• A Running Spectral Index in Supersymmetric Dark-Matter Models with Quasi-Stable Charged Particles
• Dark-Matter-Induced Weak Equivalence Principle Violation
• Proper motion of gamma-rays from microhalo sources
• Angular Signatures of Annihilating Dark Matter in the Cosmic Gamma-Ray Background
• Possible Indications of a Clumpy Dark Matter Halo
• The Signature of Large Scale Structures on the Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Sky
• Almost-Goldstone Bosons from Extra-Dimensional Gauge Theories
• The Highest-Energy Photons Seen by the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
• Galaxy Satellites and the Weak Equivalence Principle
• Implications of a Scalar Dark Force for Terrestrial Experiments
• Can proper motions of dark-matter subhalos be detected?
• The Shadow of Dark Matter
• Cosmic 21-cm Fluctuations as a Probe of Fundamental Physics
• Are symmetric tidal streams possible with long-range dark-matter forces?
• Planck Scale Effects and Axions in Supersymmetry
• SPI observations of positron annihilation radiation from the 4th galactic quadrant: sky distribution

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Testing General Relativity in Cosmology
• Soft L_e-L_mu-L_tau flavour symmetry breaking and sterile neutrino keV Dark Matter
• Dark matter subhaloes as gamma-ray sources and candidates in the first Fermi-LAT catalogue
• Direct Detection of Mirror Matter in Twin Higgs Models
• Dark Matter annihilation energy output and its effects on the high-z IGM
• Magnetic dipole moment and keV neutrino dark matter
• Dark Energy and Dark Matter as Inertial Effects
• Consequences of Modified Cosmologies in DM abundance and PeV IceCube signals