OUTLINE OF COURSE ON DARK MATTER AS OF FEBRUARY 21, 2010 WINTER QUARTER 2010 - JUAN COLLAR AND JONATHAN ROSNER There appears to be a form of ``dark'' matter about five times as abundant as ordinary matter in the Universe. So far this matter has only revealed itself through gravitational interactions, but numerous searches are under way employing direct detection and high energy collisions. This course will review the observational evidence for dark matter, some of the many theoretical proposals for it, and some of the detection strategies that have been employed or are being proposed. A brief outline: January 5, 7 (Jon) Observational evidence: galactic and cluster dynamics. Comparison with ``ordinary matter.'' January 12, 14 (Jon): Cosmological evidence: fits to baryonic and dark matter with a cosmological constant; freeze-out January 19, 21 (Juan): Direct detection: Things that go bump in the night January 26 (D. Hooper): Indirect detection January 28 (Juan): Low-background room-temperature techniques February 2, 4 (Jon): Halo distributions; supersymmetry with R-parity February 9, 11 (Jon): Details of supersymmetric predictions; collider searches February 16, 18 (Juan): Cryogenic techniques. Indirect detection. February 23 (Jon): Axions (theoretical) February 25 (Juan): Axions (experimental searches) March 2, 4 (Jon): Alternative theories of dark matter: Extra dimensions, ``hidden'' sectors, modified gravity March 9, 11 (Juan): What will it take to call it ``dark matter''? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Proposed required work: 50% for problem sets due every two weeks: Jan. 19, Feb. 16, Mar. 9; 50% for a final project due on last day of class. For the final project, up to two students may collaborate; the paper should be 5-10 pages in length. We will ask you to write a short "white paper" on a dark matter detection technique of your choice. We will guide you on its structure (advantages, implementation, type of particle sought, predictable backgrounds and sensitivity, etc.). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The course is being taught in KPTC 103, TuTh, 1:30 - 2:50 PM. The first meeting was on Tuesday, January 5. It would be good to look at some of the reviews posted on the course web page as soon as possible. See: http://hep.uchicago.edu/~rosner/p472/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The textbook, "Particle Dark Matter," Cambridge, 2010, edited by G. Bertone, has become available as of mid-February. It looks like a definitive reference. If you are interested in having a copy, we ask that you place your order directly with the Bookstore.