Supersymmetric Dark Matter or Not

The lack of evidence for low energy supersymmetry at the LHC implies a supersymmetry scale in excess a TeV. While this is consistent (and even helpful) with a Higgs boson mass at $\approx$ 125 GeV, simple supersymmetric models with scalar and gaugino mass universality are being pushed into strips of parameter space. These often require coannihilations to obtain an acceptable relic density and the extent of these coannihilation strips will be discussed. In contrast, non-supersymmetric grand unified theories such as SO(10) may also provide a dark matter candidate. Because of the presence of an intermediate scale, these theories may unify gauge couplings, provide for neutrino masses and a suitably long lived proton.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, Summary of talk given at the 11th International Workshop Dark Side of the Universe 2015, Dec 2015, Kyoto, Japa

Dark Energy and Dark Matter

A brief overview of our current understanding of abundance and properties of dark energy and dark matter is presented. A more focused discussion of supersymmetric dark matter follows. Included is a frequentist approach to the supersymmetric parameter space and consequences for the direct detection of dark matter.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, Summary of talk given at the XXIV International Symposium on Lepton Photon Interactions at High Energies, Hamburg Germany, August 200

The violent Universe: the Big Bang

Four lectures on Big Bang cosmology, including microwave background radiation, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, dark matter, inflation, and baryogenesis.Comment: 47 pages, 19 figures, Set of four lectures given at the 2009 European School of High-Energy Physics, Bautzen, Germany, June 200