Particle Physics Approach to Dark Matter

Abstract

We review the main proposals of particle physics for the composition of the cold dark matter in the universe. Strong axion contribution to cold dark matter is not favored if the Peccei-Quinn field emerges with non-zero value at the end of inflation and the inflationary scale is superheavy since, under these circumstances, it leads to unacceptably large isocurvature perturbations. The lightest neutralino is the most popular candidate constituent of cold dark matter. Its relic abundance in the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model can be reduced to acceptable values by pole annihilation of neutralinos or neutralino-stau coannihilation. Axinos can also contribute to cold dark matter provided that the reheat temperature is adequately low. Gravitinos can constitute the cold dark matter only in limited regions of the parameter space. We present a supersymmetric grand unified model leading to violation of Yukawa unification and, thus, allowing an acceptable b-quark mass within the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model with mu>0. The model possesses a wide range of parameters consistent with the data on the cold dark matter abundance as well as other phenomenological constraints. Also, it leads to a new version of shifted hybrid inflation.

32 pages including 6 figures, uses svmult.cls, some clarifications added, lectures given at the Third Aegean Summer School "The Invisible Universe: Dark Matter and Dark Energy", 26 September-1 October 2005, Karfas, Island of Chios, Greece (to appear in the proceedings)

References in corpus (9)

• Dark matter: A spin one half fermion field with mass dimension one?
• Gravitino Dark Matter in the CMSSM and Implications for Leptogenesis and the LHC
• Signatures of Axinos and Gravitinos at Colliders
• Indirect Sensitivities to the Scale of Supersymmetry
• Constraints on a mixed inflaton and curvaton scenario for the generation of the curvature perturbation
• Quintessential Kination and Cold Dark Matter Abundance
• Constraints on isocurvature models from the WMAP first-year data
• Bounds on CDM and neutrino isocurvature perturbations from CMB and LSS data
• Density perturbations from both the inflaton and the curvaton

Cited by in corpus (9)

• The theory of local mass dimension one fermions of spin one half
• Quintessential Kination and Thermal Production of Gravitinos and Axinos
• Shift Symmetry and Higgs Inflation in Supergravity with Observable Gravitational Waves
• Archimedean-type force in a cosmic dark fluid: I. Exact solutions for the late-time accelerated expansion
• Archimedean-type force in a cosmic dark fluid: II. Qualitative and numerical study of a multistage Universe expansion
• Axion-induced oscillations of cooperative electric field in a cosmic magneto-active plasma
• Electromagnetic waves in an axion-active relativistic plasma non-minimally coupled to gravity
• Tracking Quintessence and Cold Dark Matter Candidates
• Light propagation with non-minimal couplings in a two-component cosmic dark fluid with an Archimedean-type force and unlighted cosmological epochs