3 research outputs found
The moment of truth for WIMP Dark Matter
We know that dark matter constitutes 85% of all the matter in the Universe,
but we do not know of what it is made. Amongst the many Dark Matter candidates
proposed, WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) occupy a special place,
as they arise naturally from well motivated extensions of the standard model of
particle physics. With the advent of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and a
new generation of astroparticle experiments, the moment of truth has come for
WIMPs: either we will discover them in the next five to ten years, or we will
witness the inevitable decline of WIMP paradigm.Comment: To appear in Nature (Nov 18, 2010
Dark Matter Annihilation around Intermediate Mass Black Holes: an update
The formation and evolution of Black Holes inevitably affects the
distribution of dark and baryonic matter in the neighborhood of the Black Hole.
These effects may be particularly relevant around Supermassive and Intermediate
Mass Black Holes (IMBHs), the formation of which can lead to large Dark Matter
overdensities, called {\em spikes} and {\em mini-spikes} respectively. Despite
being larger and more dense, spikes evolve at the very centers of galactic
halos, in regions where numerous dynamical effects tend to destroy them.
Mini-spikes may be more likely to survive, and they have been proposed as
worthwhile targets for indirect Dark Matter searches. We review here the
formation scenarios and the prospects for detection of mini-spikes, and we
present new estimates for the abundances of mini-spikes to illustrate the
sensitivity of such predictions to cosmological parameters and uncertainties
regarding the astrophysics of Black Hole formation at high redshift. We also
connect the IMBHs scenario to the recent measurements of cosmic-ray electron
and positron spectra by the PAMELA, ATIC, H.E.S.S., and Fermi collaborations.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Invited contribution to NJP Focus Issue on "Dark
Matter and Particle Physics