High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph); Cosmology
and Extragalactic Astrophysics.
astro-ph/1006.2483
For a PDF version of the article, click here.
DARK MATTER: A PRIMER
Katherine Garrett & Gintaras Duda
Department of
Physics, Creighton
University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
Abstract.
Dark matter is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in
cosmology at the present time. About 80% of the universe's
gravitating matter is non-luminous, and its nature and
distribution are for the most part unknown. In this paper,
we will outline the history, astrophysical evidence, candidates,
and detection methods of dark matter, with the goal to give the
reader an accessible but rigorous introduction to the puzzle of
dark matter. This review targets advanced students and researchers new
to the field of dark matter, and includes an extensive list of
references for further study.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
- HISTORY AND EARLY INDICATIONS
- MODERN UNDERSTANDING AND EVIDENCE
- Microlensing
- Cosmological Evidence
- Most recent evidence
- PARTICLE CANDIDATES
- The Standard Model and the Neutrino
- Problems of the Standard Model
- SUPERSYMMETRY
- EXOTIC CANDIDATES
- PRODUCTION IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE
- Review of Big Bang Cosmology
- Thermodynamics in the Early Universe
- Particle Production and Relic Density: The
Boltzmann Equation
- DETECTION SCHEMES
- Production in Accelerators
- Direct Detection
- Indirect Detection
- Gamma-rays
- Neutrinos
- Antimatter
- CONCLUSION AND CHALLENGES
- APPENDIX: MOND THEORIES AS ALTERNATIVES TO DARK
MATTER
- REFERENCES
