Starting week 8, 2024 – every Thursday from 2pm - 4pm in room 119 – ending week 15, 2024
Room
22.02.2024 (Thursday): B1
29.02.2024 (Thursday): B1
05.03.2024 (Tuesday): 119
12.03.2024 (Tuesday): 119
21.03.2024 (Thursday): B1
28.03.2024 (Thursday): B1
09.04.2024 (Tuesday): 119
Description of the course:
Evidence for the existence of dark matter (DM) comes from a very wide range of astronomical scales,
from a few kiloparsecs (the dimension of small galaxies) to essentially the whole size of the observable Universe.
It all started with Fritz Zwicky, who, in the early ’30s, undertook a systematic study of the Coma Cluster.
After almost one century, we still do not know what dark matter is. Although this is not the only viable option,
the interpretation of DM as due to new particles has been put forward in a plethora of models and
triggered exciting theoretical and experimental programs. This is the focus of this course, namely an introduction
to particle dark matter. This multi-disciplinary research field mixes astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics.
We shall review the evidence for DM, its production mechanisms in the early universe and the current
strategies to detect it via its non-gravitational interactions.
Learning results of the course:
After the course, the students will have an historical understanding of the dark matter problem, with a focus
on the particle hypothesis. The students will familiarise with the typical requirements for a dark matter candidate
and the constraints coming from astrophysics and cosmology. Different production mechanisms in the early
universe will be addressed with various examples, that include the thermal freeze-out and freeze-in paradigms.
Some recent improvements towards a robust prediction of the DM energy density for a given particle physics
model will be discussed: non-perturbative effects for the non-relativistic dark matter annihilations, as well as
thermal masses and multiple soft scattering for freeze-in produced dark matter. The students will also be aware of
the more common detection strategies, such as direct, indirect and collider searches.
Lecturer:
Dr. Simone Biondini
