ICHEP2012

Signatures of Dark Matter Annihilation in the Cosmic Microwave Background

Jul 7, 2012, 12:15 PM

15m

Room 216 (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre)

Parallel Sessions Track 11. Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology Room 216 - Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology -TR11

Speaker

Dr Tracy Slatyer (Institute for Advanced Study (US))

Description

The annihilation or decay of dark matter (DM), or other new physics, could inject high-energy electrons and photons into the universe during the cosmic dark ages. The resulting modification to the cosmic ionization history induces a characteristic perturbation to the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. I will show how to describe an arbitrary energy injection history in terms of a few parameters that efficiently characterize the possible effects on the CMB, and how to apply the resulting constraints to assorted DM models.

Financial Support Justification for Early-Stage Researchers

I am a postdoc at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; I received my PhD in May 2010. Traveling to ICHEP from the East Coast of the US appears likely to cost ~$2000; combined with the conference registration fee of $750, this exceeds the remainder of my travel budget for the year. I expect to be able to cover the bulk of the travel costs from my own institution's funding (although of course any support would be much appreciated), but a waiver or reduction of the registration fee would be very helpful in allowing me to attend ICHEP. (Equivalently, if travel support is available but registration support is not, up to $1000 of travel support would help cover the shortfall between my financial support and the travel+registration costs.)

Presentation materials

Slides

ICHEP_Slatyer.pdf