Looking for the dark side of the Universe
by
Sala de Conferências
Departamento de Física
There is unambiguous experimental evidence that dark matter (DM) accounts for most of the mass of the Universe (≃ 84%). This conclusion rests upon accurate measurements of galactic rotation curves, velocities of galaxies in clusters, cluster mass determinations via gravitational lensing, precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background fluctuations and of the abundance of light elements, and upon the mapping of large scale structures. Models suggesting that DM may be composed of previously unobserved particles (e.g. WIMPs, Axions) are being probed by a variety of experiments. The identification and characterization of DM is presently one of the greatest challenges in science, fundamental to our understanding of the Universe. In this talk we will give an overview of the evidences and results supporting the existence of DM and describe the various techniques for detection of both WIMPs and Axions, the most prominent candidates to account for the missing matter in the Universe. The recent progress in DM direct detection experiments and future directions will also be briefly presented.
Filipe Veloso e Pedro Costa
