scholarly journals The Sun and stars: Giving light to dark matter

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (37) ◽  
pp. 1440001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Casanellas ◽  
Ilídio Lopes

During the last century, with the development of modern physics in such diverse fields as thermodynamics, statistical physics, and nuclear and particle physics, the basic principles of the evolution of stars have been successfully well understood. Nowadays, a precise diagnostic of the stellar interiors is possible with the new fields of helioseismology and astroseismology. Even the measurement of solar neutrino fluxes, once a problem in particle physics, is now a powerful probe of the core of the Sun. These tools have allowed the use of stars to test new physics, in particular the properties of the hypothetical particles that constitute the dark matter (DM) of the Universe. Here we present recent results obtained using this approach.

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-313
Author(s):  
Gaia Lanfranchi ◽  
Maxim Pospelov ◽  
Philip Schuster

At the dawn of a new decade, particle physics faces the challenge of explaining the mystery of dark matter, the origin of matter over antimatter in the Universe, the apparent fine-tuning of the electroweak scale, and many other aspects of fundamental physics. Perhaps the most striking frontier to emerge in the search for answers involves New Physics at mass scales comparable to that of familiar matter—below the GeV scale but with very feeble interaction strength. New theoretical ideas to address dark matter and other fundamental questions predict such feebly interacting particles (FIPs) at these scales, and existing data may even provide hints of this possibility. Emboldened by the lessons of the LHC, a vibrant experimental program to discover such physics is underway, guided by a systematic theoretical approach that is firmly grounded in the underlying principles of the Standard Model. We give an overview of these efforts, their motivations, and the decadal goals that animate the community involved in the search for FIPs, and we focus in particular on accelerator-based experiments.


Author(s):  
DAVID G. CERDEÑO

Dark matter is an abundant component of our Universe and its detection and identification constitutes one of the most challenging goals in modern Physics. Particle Physics provides well motivated candidates for dark matter, among which a generic weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) stands out for its simplicity and the fact that WIMP candidates can be found in many theories proposing new physics at the TeV scale, such as Supersymmetry, models with Universal Extra Dimensions and Little Higgs Theories. I will review the properties of some of the main WIMP candidates and their detectability (with special emphasis on direct detection experiments). I will also address the strategies that can be used to discriminate among them in the case of a future detection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 689
Author(s):  
V. M. Gorkavenko

Despite the undeniable success of the Standard Model of particle physics (SM), there are some phenomena (neutrino oscillations, baryon asymmetry of the Universe, dark matter, etc.) that SM cannot explain. This phenomena indicate that the SM have to be modified. Most likely, there are new particles beyond the SM. There are many experiments to search for new physics that can be can divided into two types: energy and intensity frontiers. In experiments of the first type, one tries to directly produce and detect new heavy particles. In experiments of the second type, one tries to directly produce and detect new light particles that feebly interact with SM particles. The future intensity frontier SHiP experiment (Search for Hidden Particles) at the CERN SPS is discussed. Its advantages and technical characteristics are given.


2021 ◽  
pp. 53-65
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Bertone

In the second part of the book, I argue that the four biggest mysteries of modern physics and astronomy—dark matter, dark energy, black holes, and the Big Bang—sink their roots into the physics of the infinitely small. And I argue that gravitational waves may shed new light on, and possibly solve, each of these four mysteries. I start here by introducing the problem of dark matter, the mysterious substance that permeates the Universe at all scales and describe the gravitational waves observations that might soon elucidate its nature. The next time you see the Sun shining in the sky, consider this: what blinds your eyes and warms your skin is an immense nuclear furnace, which transforms millions of tons of nuclear fuel into energy every second. And when you contemplate the night sky, try to visualize it for what it essentially is: an endless expanse of colossal natural reactors, forging the atoms that we, and everything that surrounds us, are made of.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avelino Vicente

Since 2013, the LHCb collaboration has reported on the measurement of several observables associated with b→s transitions, finding various deviations from their predicted values in the Standard Model. These include a set of deviations in branching ratios and angular observables, as well as in the observables RK and RK⁎, specially built to test the possible violation of Lepton Flavor Universality. Even though these tantalizing hints are not conclusive yet, the b→s anomalies have gained considerable attention in the flavor community. Here we review new physics models that address these anomalies and explore their possible connection to the dark matter of the Universe. After discussing some of the ideas introduced in these works and classifying the proposed models, two selected examples are presented in detail in order to illustrate the potential interplay between these two areas of current particle physics.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Mee

The Cosmic Mystery Tour is a brief account of modern physics and astronomy presented in a broad historical and cultural context. The book is attractively illustrated and aimed at the general reader. Part I explores the laws of physics including general relativity, the structure of matter, quantum mechanics and the Standard Model of particle physics. It discusses recent discoveries such as gravitational waves and the project to construct LISA, a space-based gravitational wave detector, as well as unresolved issues such as the nature of dark matter. Part II begins by considering cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole and how we arrived at the theory of the Big Bang and the expanding universe. It looks at the remarkable objects within the universe such as red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes, and considers the expected discoveries from new telescopes such as the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile, and the Event Horizon Telescope, currently aiming to image the supermassive black hole at the galactic centre. Part III considers the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life, from the speculations of science fiction authors to the ongoing search for alien civilizations known as SETI. Recent developments are discussed: space probes to the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn; the discovery of planets in other star systems; the citizen science project SETI@Home; Breakthrough Starshot, the project to develop technologies to send spacecraft to the stars. It also discusses the Fermi paradox which argues that we might actually be alone in the cosmos


Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Maxim Khlopov

A.D. Sakharov’s legacy in now standard model of the Universe is not reduced to baryosynthesis but extends to the foundation of cosmoparticle physics, which studies the fundamental relationship of cosmology and particle physics. Development of cosmoparticle physics involves cross-disciplinary physical, astrophysical and cosmological studies of physics Beyond the Standard model (BSM) of elementary particles. To probe physical models for inflation, baryosynthesis and dark matter cosmoparticle physics pays special attention to model dependent messengers of the corresponding models, making their tests possible. Positive evidence for such exotic phenomena as nuclear interacting dark atoms, primordial black holes or antimatter globular cluster in our galaxy would provide the selection of viable BSM models determination of their parameters.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Calibbi ◽  
Francesco D’Eramo ◽  
Sam Junius ◽  
Laura Lopez-Honorez ◽  
Alberto Mariotti

Abstract Displaced vertices at colliders, arising from the production and decay of long-lived particles, probe dark matter candidates produced via freeze-in. If one assumes a standard cosmological history, these decays happen inside the detector only if the dark matter is very light because of the relic density constraint. Here, we argue how displaced events could very well point to freeze-in within a non-standard early universe history. Focusing on the cosmology of inflationary reheating, we explore the interplay between the reheating temperature and collider signatures for minimal freeze-in scenarios. Observing displaced events at the LHC would allow to set an upper bound on the reheating temperature and, in general, to gather indirect information on the early history of the universe.


Author(s):  
Subhaditya Bhattacharya ◽  
José Wudka

Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has achieved enormous success in describing the interactions among the known fundamental constituents of nature, yet it fails to describe phenomena for which there is very strong experimental evidence, such as the existence of dark matter, and which point to the existence of new physics not included in that model; beyond its existence, experimental data, however, have not provided clear indications as to the nature of that new physics. The effective field theory (EFT) approach, the subject of this review, is designed for this type of situations; it provides a consistent and unbiased framework within which to study new physics effects whose existence is expected but whose detailed nature is known very imperfectly. We will provide a description of this approach together with a discussion of some of its basic theoretical aspects. We then consider applications to high-energy phenomenology and conclude with a discussion of the application of EFT techniques to the study of dark matter physics and its possible interactions with the SM. In several of the applications we also briefly discuss specific models that are ultraviolet complete and may realize the effects described by the EFT.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (A) ◽  
pp. 528-533
Author(s):  
Giulio Auriemma

The most interesting cosmological open problems, baryon asymmetry, dark matter, inflation and dark energy, are not explained by the standard model of particle physics (SM). The final<br />goal of the Large Hadron Collider an experimental verification of the SM in the Higgs sector, and also a search for evidence of new physics beyond it. In this paper we will report some of the results obtained in 2010 and 2011, from the LHCb experiment dedicated to the study of CP violations and rare decays of heavy quarks.


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