Dark Matter Universe: On the Threshold of Discovery
Organized by Michael S. Turner, Roger D. Blandford, Edward W. Kolb, and Maria Spiropulu
Co-sponsored by the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at Chicago
This meeting took place at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, CA October 18-20, 2012.
Overview
The dark matter problem today is central to astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics. The leading particle candidates for the dark matter are the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle or WIMP and the ultra-light axion. The WIMP is strongly motivated by supersymmetry and detectable by three separate means: production at a particle accelerator, direct detection of the WIMPs that comprise our Galactic halo, and indirect detection by the annihilation products of WIMPs.
With the ramping up of LHC operations, the increased sensitivity of direct detection experiments and new “telescopes” like Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS, IceCube, and the Payload for Antimatter-Matter Exploration and Light nuclei Astrophysics PAMELA that can detect WIMP annihilation products, the next decade is set to be the time of truth for the WIMP hypothesis. Foreshadowing this, there have been recent claims of detection by both the direct and indirect methods spurring new theoretical ideas, much discussion and productive confusion! This timely symposium will bring together the astronomers and physicists, the observers and the experimenters, the phenomenologists and the theorists to assess the present situation and plan for the future.
Thursday, October 18
Distinctive Voices Public Lecture
Dark Matter Universe, Edward Kolb, University of Chicago
Friday, October 19
Welcome remarks, Michael Turner, University of Chicago
Session I. Dark Matter in the Universe
What the Universe has Taught us About Dark Matter, Joe Silk, Oxford University
Current status of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) Scenario of Structure Formation, Simon White, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astrophysik
Panel: Current CDM Controversies (satellites, cluster baryon fraction, cusps, need for warm dark matter, velocity structure)
Moderator: David Weinberg, Ohio State University
Panelists: James Bullock, University of California, Irvine; Fabio Governato, University of Washington; Rachel Kuzio de Naray, Royal Military College of Canada; Annika Peter, University of California, Irvine
Session II. Dark Matter from the Early Universe and in Particle Physics
Dark Matter from the Early Universe and Particle Physics Candidates, Jonathan Feng, University of California, Irvine
Non-SUSY WIMP candidates (including light WIMPs), Kathryn Zurek, University of Michigan
Neutrino Dark Matter, Yvonne Wong, RWTH Aachen University
Session III. Laboratory Production of Dark Matter
Search for Dark Matter at the LHC (ATLAS), Ian Hinchliffe, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Search for Dark Matter at the LHC (CMS), Maria Spiropulu, California Institute of Technology
SUSY Dark Matter in Light of the LHC Results, Michael Peskin, Stanford University
Panel: Implications of the LHC results for Dark Matter
Moderator: Joe Lykken, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Panelists: Daniele Alves, Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics; Frank Wuerthwein, University of California, San Diego; Tim Tait, University of California, Irvine
Keynote: Thoughts on Research in the Dark, Jim Peebles, Princeton University
Bus departs Beckman Center for Newport Beach Marriott Hotel
Saturday, October 20
Session IV. Direct Detection of Halo Dark Matter
Summary of Direct Detection WIMP Experiments, Mike Witherell, University of California, Santa Barbara
Panel discussion: Current Controversies
Moderator: Michael Turner, University of Chicago
Panelists: Rafael Lang, Purdue University; Juan Collar, University of Chicago; Eric Armengaud, CEA/IRFU; Bernard Sadoulet, University of California, Berkeley
Axion Dark Matter, Leslie Rosenberg, University of Washington
Session V. Indirect Detection of Dark Matter through Annihilation Products
Overview of Indirect Detection, Stefan Funk, Stanford University
Indirect Detection by Neutrinos, Doug Cowen, Pennsylvania State University
Separating Astrophysical Sources from the Dark Matter Annihilation Signal, Jennifer Siegal-Gaskins, California Institute of Technology
Panel: Role of Indirect Detection in Identifying Dark Matter
Moderator: Steve Ritz, University of California, Santa Cruz
Panelists: James Buckley, Washington University in St. Louis; Simona Murgia, University of California, Irvine; Douglas Finkbeiner, Harvard University; Carsten Rott, Ohio State University
Session VI. Final Session
New Ideas About Dark Matter, Erik Verlinde, University of Amsterdam
New Ideas About Dark Matter, Gia Dvali, New York University
What will it take to Convince me that the Dark Matter Problem has been Solved? (Astronomer's View) Jeremiah P. Ostriker, Princeton University
What will it take to Convince me that the Dark Matter Problem has been Solved? David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara