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Instructors: Dr. Hendrik Bekker
Event type:
Lecture
Displayed in timetable as:
08.128.7020
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
3,0
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | -
Contents:
The course will tentatively take place on Wednesdays from 16h to 18h, but this is open to discussion during the first lecture.
Since first hints of dark matter (DM) were discovered nearly 90 years ago, the search for it has grown into a blooming field of research relying on methods and ideas from diverse branches of physics and astronomy. During this proposed lecture series, we start with an overview of the astronomical evidence for DM and what properties of DM can consequently be deduced. This is then further refined in a discussion of the various DM models such as cold DM, warm DM, and massive astrophysical compact halo objects (MACHOs). The focus of the lecture series will be on experimental techniques employed to detect DM in the laboratory.
Possible interactions of various DM candidates with normal matter will be introduced, followed by a description of various experiments probing these interactions. For example, weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and searches for them at massive scintillators and particle colliders will be covered. Further examples include axions and other ultra-light DM candidates which are searched for using massive setups but are also investigated using table-top sized experiments. The latter often rely on techniques from atomic physics, such as precision laser spectroscopy and magnetometry. These can be linked together in networks to search for, for example, topological DM. Alternative theories aimed at explaining the DM phenomenon, such as modified Newtonian gravity (MOND), and observational evidence will also be briefly discussed.
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