Dark Matter, Supersymmetry and Global Fits (Pat Scott)

by Prof. Pat Scott (Cosmology, Astroparticle Physics and String Theory, Department of Physics; Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics (OKC), Stockholm University)

Friday Nov 13, 2009, 3:30 PM → 5:00 PM Pacific/Honolulu

Rm 417A (UHM - Watanabe Hall)

With the launch of the Fermi satellite and the impending startup of the LHC, interest in dark matter and supersymmetric phenomenology has exploded in recent years. I will describe some complementary approaches to the problem of identifying dark matter, and show how they can be integrated into a global fit to available astronomical and collider data. The discussion will take place in the framework of minimal supersymmetry. The impact of dark matter on stars can constrain its interactions with nuclei, whilst its mass and self-annihilation cross-section can be probed with searches for gamma rays produced by annihilation in astronomical targets. Ultracompact minihalos produced in primordial phase transitions might prove especially promising in this respect. Global fits turn out to be quite technically challenging, even with the simplest supersymmetric models and the addition of data from LEP, B-factories, the muon anomalous magnetic moment and the dark matter relic density; I will show how genetic algorithms can help in this respect.