Alladi Ramakrishnan Hall

The quest for the nature of dark matter: Astrophysical and cosmological probes of weakly interacting particles

Raghuveer Garani

INFN Firenze (Florence divison)

At the intersection of particle physics and cosmology lies the important question of the nature of dark matter. In this presentation, I will comprehensively delve into three crucial aspects that underpin the quest for understanding the particle properties of dark matter.

Starting from the largest scales, I will present an overview of cosmological methods that hold promise for testing dark matter that exclusively interacts through gravitation. By harnessing the power of cosmological observations and theoretical frameworks, we can probe the behavior of dark matter on the largest scales of the universe.

Moving forward, I will discuss theoretical aspects of dark matter particles. Particularly, by noting that much like visible matter dark matter also exists at finite density, a unique perspective of dark matter self-interactions will be presented by consistently bringing together ideas that are often encountered in condensed matter theory and applying it to the problem of dark matter at galactic scales.

Finally, I will explore astrophysical approaches, highlighting how celestial bodies such as old and cold neutron stars can serve as invaluable tools for detecting weakly interacting massive particles. By leveraging the unique properties of these celestial bodies, we can gain insights into the elusive nature of dark matter.