Dark Matter Discoveries: Challenges and Innovation

Sunday, 16 February 2014: 1:30 PM-4:30 PM
Columbus IJ (Hyatt Regency Chicago)

The recent results from the Planck satellite confirm that a staggering 85 percent of matter in the universe is a new form not accounted for by the Standard Model of particle physics. Leading particle candidates for dark matter are weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with mass between 10 and 1000 times that of the proton. The WIMP is strongly motivated by supersymmetry and detectable also as a product of the highest energy proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. Several experiments attempting to directly detect dark matter particles streaming from space have already reported puzzling results with possible signals. New “telescopes” like Fermi, AMS, and IceCube can detect WIMP dark matter particles annihilating in space. Major discoveries may be imminent, as a multi-pronged experimental program moves forward rapidly, driving technological innovations for ultra-sensitive detectors. This is a timely symposium at the crossroads of particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology that will include a theoretical overview and talks on the latest results and technologies of the leading dark matter particle searches.


Organizer:
Maria Spiropulu, California Institute of Technology
Co-Organizer:
Rocky Kolb, University of Chicago
Speakers:
Joseph Lykken, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dark Matter Particles: What Could They Be? How Do We Look for Them?
Samuel C.C. Ting, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the Brink
Bernard Sadoulet, University of California
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
Elena Aprile, Columbia University
Dark Matter Detection with XENON
Juan Collar, University of Chicago
Dark Matter Out of the Box
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