(Pedestrian seminars) Dark Matter: what is it, and how do we find it?

por Aaron Vincent

miércoles 4 jun. 2014 16:30 → 18:00 Europe/Madrid

Seminar 1.1.1 (IFIC)

I will present an overview of the motivation behind dark matter research, and its current status. I will start with the main evidence for dark matter, and show that even though we have ample evidence from the gravitational sector, its particle nature still eludes us. Focusing more on phenomenology than model-building, I will present the main candidates for particle dark matter, including the WIMP, and describe the various ways DM physicists try to look for it. These include direct detection in underground labs, observation of astrophysical excesses, and production in colliders, along with a few other "non-standard" approaches.