Speaker
Prof.
Alvaro Chavarria
(University of Washington)
Description
Results from cosmological observations show that 85% of the matter in the universe is cold dark matter. However, its fundamental composition remains unknown, with several theoretical proposals for beyond-the-Standard-Model dark matter particle candidates. Because dark matter is bound to the Milky Way galaxy in a "halo," there should be a measurable dark matter particle flux through Earth. I will present an overview of the field of dark matter direct detection, which aims to observe the interactions of dark matter particles in the halo with instrumented targets on Earth. I will focus on recent trends in the field, in particular the search for "low-mass" dark matter particles with the DAMIC experiment.
Primary author
Prof.
Alvaro Chavarria
(University of Washington)
