Dark Matter Theory

Seminar for Master students  -  Masterpflichtseminar

Mondays, 14:15 - 16:00, online on zoom.

First meeting: Monday, April 12.

Zoom connection

Link: https://zoom.us/j/4752215323?pwd=Rk5ZYjRDZ1pyNm8xc2xWOWhXUUF5dz09
Meeting-ID: 475 221 5323
Code: 089259

Chat

https://uebungen.physik.uni-heidelberg.de/chat/group/ss21-dark-matter-theory-1

Welcome to the dark side of the universe

As of today, we have ample evidence for dark matter based on astrophysical and cosmological observations. But we know very little about the fundamental nature of dark matter. In this seminar, we will explore the hypothesis that dark matter is a new particle, or an entire sector of new particles, from a theory perspective. We will discuss what we think are good candidates for dark matter, how dark matter could have been produced in the early universe, and how we search for dark matter at experiments today.

Seminar course

Each student will give a 3 x 12 minutes presentation on one of the topics, followed by a discussion with all of us. We will distribute the topics at our first meeting. In addition, you will write a summary of your presentation in 5-8 DIN A4 pages. This write-up is due 2 weeks after your presentation.

What you should know

To be equipped with background knowledge for this seminar, you should have attended at least one of the courses listed below (or equivalent courses).

• The Standard Model of Particle Physics
• Quantum Field Theory I/II

Schedule

• Mon   12.4.2021 14:15   Introduction
  
  • 120421-introduction.pdf
• Mon   19.4.2021 14:15   Preparation - get-together
  
• Mon   26.4.2021 14:15   Evidence for Dark Matter
  Alexander Oestreicher
  • S1-material.pdf
  • Evidence_of_Dark_Matter_Presentation.pdf
  • Evidence_of_Dark_Matter_Summary.pdf
• Mon   3.5.2021 14:15   Dark Matter candidates
  Maya Hager
  • S2-material.pdf
  • Dark_Matter_Candidates.pdf
  • Dark_Matter_Candidates_Summary.pdf
• Mon   10.5.2021 14:15   Thermal Dark Matter and relic abundance
  Yannic Pietschke
  • S3-material.pdf
  • ThermalDM.pdf
  • ThermalDM_Summary.pdf
• Mon   17.5.2021 14:15   Portals to a dark sector
  Marcel Horstmann
  • S4-material.pdf
  • Portals_to_a_dark_sector.pdf
  • Portals_Summary.pdf
• Mon   24.5.2021 14:15   Pentecost - no seminar
  
• Mon   31.5.2021 14:15   Dark Matter annilhilation and indirect detection
  Cedric Quint
  • S5-material.pdf
  • DarkMatterAnnihilation_and_IndirectDetection_Presentation.pdf
  • IndirectDetection_CedricQuint_report.pdf
• Mon   7.6.2021 14:15   Dark Matter-nucleon scattering and direct detection
  Benedikt Schosser
  • S6-material.pdf
  • DarkMatterNucleonScattering_and_DirectDetection_presentation.pdf
  • DarkMatterNucleonScattering_and_DirectDetection_summary.pdf
• Mon   14.6.2021 14:15   Dark Matter production at colliders
  Cihan Cicek
  • S7-material.pdf
  • cicek.pdf
• Mon   21.6.2021 14:15   Non-thermal Dark Matter
  Tom Wolf
  • S8-material.pdf
  • Non-thermal_dark_matter.pdf
  • Non-thermal_dark_matter-summary.pdf
• Mon   28.6.2021 14:15   Dark Matter searches with long-lived particles
  Rohan Kulkarni
  • S9-material.pdf
  • slides.pdf
• Mon   5.7.2021 14:15   Axion Dark Matter
  Kilian Hoefling
  • S10-material.pdf
  • Axion-dark-matter-Kilian-Ho_fling-slides.pdf
  • Axion-dark-matter_summary_Kilian_Ho_fling.pdf
• Mon   12.7.2021 14:15   Sterile neutrinos as Dark Matter
  Björn Steven Friedrich
  • S11-material.pdf
  • writeup_sterile_neutrinos.pdf
  • Presentation_sterile_neutrino_DM.pdf
• Mon   19.7.2021 14:15   Exam week - no seminar
  

Literature

• G. Bertone, D. Hooper, A History of Dark Matter
• G. Bertone, D. Hooper, J. Silk, Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints
• G. Gelmini, TASI 2014 Lectures: The Hunt For Dark Matter
• M. Lisanti, Lectures on Dark Matter Physics
• T. Slatyer, TASI Lectures on Indirect Detection of Dark Matter
• T. Lin, TASI lectures on dark matter models and direct detection
• Y. Mambrini, Histories of Particles in the Dark Universe
• M. Bauer, T. Plehn, Yet Another Introduction to Dark Matter
• G. Arcadi et al., The Waning of the WIMP? A Review of Models, Searches, and Constraints
• F. Kahlhoefer, Review of LHC Dark Matter Searches
• Bernal et al.: The dawn of FIMP dark matter: A review of models and constraints
• S. Dodelson, Modern Cosmology (textbook), Academic Press, 2003

More on dark matter:

• MIT's collection of dark matter references
• Physics for the 21st century

Participants

• Group Participants
  14 participants