The Hunt for Dark Matter Using Cosmic-Ray Anti-Deuterons

by Dr Philip von Doetinchem (Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley)

Thursday Nov 8, 2012, 3:30 PM → 4:30 PM Pacific/Honolulu

112 (Watanabe Hall)

The existence of dark matter is proven and the investigation of its nature plays a key role in understanding structure formation after the big bang. Dark matter cannot be explained with known types of matter, therefore we are at the dawn of something significantly new. This talk focuses on indirect dark matter search. Here it is assumed that dark matter is composed of a so far unknown particle type, which is able to annihilate with itself into known particles that contribute to the cosmic ray fluxes. Well-motivated theories beyond the standard model of particle physics contain candidates with exactly these properties. Indications for such type of signals might come from cosmic-ray positron, electron, and photon flux results. However the interpretation remains challenging, but cosmic-ray anti-deuterons could be a more promising way. An overview of the implications for a cosmic-ray anti-deuteron search will be given. The observational and experimental challenges for the multi-purpose cosmic-ray experiment AMS on the International Space Station and the future dedicated anti-deuteron balloon experiment GAPS will be discussed. In addition, results from the first GAPS prototype flight from June 2012 will be presented.