Goals of the Talk

 History of dark matter

 Signatures
 Nature
 Candidates
 Detection of dark matter
 Alternative theories
 Conclusion

28 Nov 2012 2
 History & Background

In 1922 Jacobus Kapteyn proposed the existence of dark matter.

Oort (1932): Velocity scatter of stars in Galactic Plane greater

than expected from gravitational potential from the stars: more
mass needed!
In 1933, Fritz Zwicky checked out the Coma Cluster. The galaxies
were flying around too fast (as measured by the Doppler effect)
for their visible mass to keep them together, so he proposed dark
matter was present.

28 Nov 2012 3
 Zwicky's Discovery

In 1933, Bulgarian-born Swiss

physicist Fritz Zwicky, while
investigating the Coma cluster of
galaxies, stumbled upon a major
discrepancy between theory and
observation.

28 Nov 2012 4
Beginning of a revolution …

 Babcock (1939) used optical spectroscopy to measure the

rotation of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and found the
rotational velocity at large distances from the center to be
too large to be easily attributed to the luminous components.

 From the velocities of the Milky Way and M31 towards each other, Kahn &
Woltjer (1959) estimated the mass of the Local Group of galaxies

 Then came Vera Rubin , Kent Ford …

28 Nov 2012 5
 “Missing Mass?”

 By studying the rotation of a galaxies within

the Coma Cluster, Zwicky estimated that the
visible mass of those galaxies was 400
times less than the mass needed to explain
their rotational motion.

 But Zwicky, while ahead of his time, was a

pugnacious character, disliked by many of
his colleagues, so his ideas were often not
taken seriously.

28 Nov 2012 6
 The Mother of Dark Matter

A few decades later, Vera Rubin started to

notice FLAT rotation curves in spiral
galaxies.

28 Nov 2012 7
 Vera Rubin's Discovery

 In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Vera Rubin

measured the velocities at which galaxies
rotate, using a telescope at the Kitt Peak
Observatory in Arizona,
 She used a sensitive spectrometer to determine
the spectrum of light coming from the stars in
different parts of spiral galaxies.

She discovered something unexpected:

The stars far from the centers of galaxies, in the
sparsely populated outer regions, were moving
just as fast as those closer to the galaxy's center.

28 Nov 2012 8
 Explanation: “Dark Matter”

 Rubin's observations and calculations showed that

most galaxies must contain about ten times as much
“dark” mass as can be accounted for by the visible
stars.

 Eventually other astronomers began to corroborate

her work and it soon became well-established that
most galaxies were in fact dominated by "dark
matter":

28 Nov 2012 9
 Why is it called “Dark” Matter?

Dark matter cannot be seen

directly with telescopes;
evidently it neither emits nor
absorbs light or other
electromagnetic radiation at
any significant level.
Hence “dark” (as opposed
to luminous) matter.

28 Nov 2012 10
 Dark Matter Signatures

There are several evidences of dark matter.

Some of which are listed below :

 Galactic Rotation Curves

 Gravitational Lensing

 Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

 Large Scale Structures Of The Universe

 Others

28 Nov 2012 11
 Galactic Rotation Curves

 Stars on the outside of the disk move with

the same velocity as that inside.

 A flat rotation curve is observed which

could means that there is more matter
outside the disk than that is observed.

28 Nov 2012 12
 Galactic Rotation

View
28 Nov 2012 13
 Gravitational Lensing

 A gravitational lens is formed when

the light from a very distant, bright
source (such as a quasar) is "bent"
around a massive object (such as a
cluster of galaxies) between the source
object and the observer.

28 Nov 2012 14
Gravitational Lensing in the Bullet
Cluster

 In the Bullet Cluster, a

collision between two
galaxy clusters appears to
have caused a separation of
dark matter and baryonic
matter.

28 Nov 2012 15
 The Bullet Cluster

The most direct observational

evidence to date for dark matter is in a
system known as the Bullet Cluster, a
collision between two galaxy clusters.
» X-ray observations show that much of the
baryonic matter (in the form of gas, or
plasma) in the system is concentrated in
The Bullet Cluster: Hubble Space the center of the system.
Telescope image with overlays.
The total projected mass distribution
» However, weak gravitational lensing
reconstructed from strong and weak observations of the same system show that
gravitational lensing is shown in much of the mass resides outside of the
blue, while the X-ray emitting hot
gas observed with the Chandra X- central region of baryonic gas.
ray Observatory is shown in red.

28 Nov 2012 16
 Cosmic Microwave Background
Radiation
 Angular fluctuations in the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) spectrum
provide evidence for dark matter.

 In 1992, COBE detected fluctuations

(anisotropies) in the CMB spectrum, at a
level of about one part in 105.

 COBE's successor, the WMAP has provided

the most detailed measurements of (large-
scale) anisotropies in the CMB as of 2009.

 The third anisotropy is due to change in

baryon acoustic oscillations due to the
presence of dark matter

28 Nov 2012 17
 Large Scale Structure Of The
Universe
 Observations suggest that structure formation in the
universe proceeds in order, with the smallest
structures collapsing first and followed by galaxies
and then clusters of galaxies.

 Ordinary baryonic matter had too high a

temperature, and too much pressure left over from
the Big Bang to collapse and form smaller structures.
Dark matter acts as a compactor of structure.

 This model not only corresponds with statistical

surveying of the visible structure in the universe but
also corresponds precisely to the dark matter
predictions of the cosmic microwave background.

28 Nov 2012 18
 Summary of Evidence

 Observations of the rotational speed of spiral galaxies

 The confinement of hot gas in galaxies and clusters
of galaxies .The random motions of galaxies in
clusters
 The gravitational lensing of background objects.
 The observed fluctuations in the cosmic
microwave background radiation
Apart from that high energy gamma rays and positrons are
observed without any source due to dark matter decay.

28 Nov 2012 19
 Nature

By nature, any DM particle must be cold, dissipation less, baryonic/non- baryonic

and stable on cosmological timescale, otherwise they would have decayed and
hence get detected. It must be have gravitational interaction and very weak
interaction with the baryons and but no detectable electromagnetic or strong
interaction.

It is therefore natural to ask what is it made of ?

28 Nov 2012 20
 Dark Matter Candidates

Dark matter candidates are usually categorized as:

 Baryonic
Composed of baryons, i.e. protons and
neutrons and combinations thereof.

 Non-Baryonic
Cosmological simulations with
Cold Dark Matter and Warm
Composed mainly of hypothetical particles
Dark Matter. Halos selected at outside standard model that fits the dark
environments which could
represent the Milky Way, the matter model.
Andromeda nebula M31 and
M33.

28 Nov 2012 21
 Baryonic Candidates

In the standard Big Bang scenario, no more than 1/6 of the cosmic
matter density can be attributed to baryons. The different baryonic
candidates are :

 MACHOs.

 Faint stars and Steller remnants like Brown Dwarf.

 Cold Gas Clouds.

 Warm/Hot Intergalactic Medium.

 Rydberg Matter

28 Nov 2012 22
 MACHOs?

One potential baryonic form of dark matter is

MACHOs (MAssive Compact Halo Objects):
A MACHO is a small chunk of normal baryonic
matter, far smaller than a star, which drifts through
interstellar space unassociated with any solar
system.
Recent work has suggested that MACHOs are not
likely to account for the large amounts of dark
matter now known to be present in the universe
RAMBOs (Robust Association
of Massive Baryonic Objects)
have also been postulated.
These are dark clusters of brown
dwarfs or white dwarfs.

28 Nov 2012 23
 Brown Dwarfs?

Stars with below 8% of the Sun's mass are

called brown dwarfs. They are not hot
enough to ignite the nuclear burning that
keeps ordinary stars shining.
Other candidates for dark matter include:
 Cold "planets" moving through
interstellar space, unattached to any
star, could exist in vast numbers
without being detected
 So could comet-like lumps of
frozen hydrogen
 So could black holes.

28 Nov 2012 24
 Others

 Cold Gas Clouds : Pfenniger et al. (1994) and Pfenniger & Combes (1994) have
suggested that the baryonic dark matter could be in the form of cold planetary-
mass clouds (or clumpuscules) of H2 distributed in a fractal, self-shielding way in
the outer regions of galactic disks.

 Warm/Hot intergalactic gas : Hydro-dynamical simulations suggests that the

baryons in these structures should be in the form of diffuse gas, which is heated
and ionized by shocks to such a degree that it becomes transparent in the optical
and near-IR . This is called Warm/Hot (105–107 K) Intergalactic Medium

 Rydberg matter : Rydberg matter is the name given to a condensed phase of low
density matter, which can form long chains of planar clusters consisting of atoms
or molecules.

28 Nov 2012 25
 Non Baryonic Candidates

There are several non-baryonic candidates most of which are hypothetical

particles such as:

 WIMP’s

 Axions

 Sterile Neutrinos

 Supersymmetric particles etc.

Some of which are discussed below…

28 Nov 2012 26
 WIMPs?

One potential non-baryonic form of dark

matter is WIMPs (Weakly Interacting
Massive Particles)
The main theoretical characteristics of a
WIMP are:
Interaction only through the weak
nuclear force and gravity
Large mass compared to standard
particles

28 Nov 2012 27
 Axions?

There are strong reasons for suspecting that dark

matter isn't made of ordinary atoms at all. This
argument is based on an isotope of hydrogen,
deuterium (1 proton + 1 neutron). It turns out that if
dark matter were made from ordinary atoms, then
theory predicts that there should be much less
deuterium in the Universe than we actually observe.
So, dark matter could consist of some form of 'exotic'
particle.
One possibility is the Axion, a hypothetical particle
whose existence would explain what is otherwise a
puzzling feature of quantum chromodynamics (QCD),
the leading theory of strong interactions.

28 Nov 2012 28
 Sterile Neutrinos?
The best evidence for neutrino
masses comes from the Super-
Kamiokande experiment in Japan,
which used a huge tank in a former
zinc mine.
28 Nov 2012
Another particle has been regarded as a
candidate for dark matter: the sterile neutrino.
 Neutrinos represent the only kind of non-
baryonic matter which contributes non-
negligibly to the cosmic energy density and is
actually known to exist.
 A fourth, so-called sterile neutrino has been
postulated from time to time to solve various
problems in neutrino physics, but does not
seem to be favored by the most recent
experiments.
29
 Supersymmetric particles?

Supersymmetry is the unique symmetry that

relates the two fundamental kinds of
particles:
 Bosons, which act as the
carriers of forces

 Fermions, which act as the

constituents of matter
Three main Supersymmetric candidates are :
If Supersymmetry is realized in nature,
every fermion in the SM must have a
bosonic partner particle and vice versa.  Neutralinos
No such “superpartner particle” has been
observed so far, and recent LHC  Sneutrinos
experiments have cast doubt on the
theory.
 Axinos

28 Nov 2012 30
 Others

Other non baryonic candidates are :

• Mirror matter
• Primordial black holes
• Preon stars
• Quark nuggets
• WIMPzillas
• Matter in parallel branes
• Dark energy as dark matter
• DM from Little Higgs Models

28 Nov 2012 31
 Detection Experiments

There are so many candidates that are viable such as neutralinos

, WIMPs etc. that the only way to know what its made of is to
detect it. There are two types of detection :

 Direct Detection

 Indirect Detection

Now Let us see what they are…

28 Nov 2012 32
 Direct Detection

A solution to the dark matter problem would be the detection of

WIMPs from our Galactic halo as they move past and through the
Earth. This would also allow measurement of the local density of
dark matter and establish beyond doubt that the dark matter is non-
baryonic cold dark matter.

Some popular experiments are …

28 Nov 2012 33
Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
(CDMS)

 CDMS uses cryogenic germanium and silicon

detectors, which are capable of detecting
weakly interactive dark matter (WIMPs).

 When a nucleus is hit, it recoils, causing the

whole germanium crystal to vibrate. These
vibrations, or phonons, propagate to the surface
of the crystal where heat sensors pick them up.

 In April 2013, physicists from the CDMS

reported having detected three events with the Fig. – The silicon-
characteristics expected of dark matter germanium detector
particles.

28 Nov 2012 34
 XENON Dark Matter Search
Experiment
 The XENON Dark Matter Search
Experiment aims to detect dark matter by
looking for rare interactions via nuclear
recoils in a liquid xenon target.

 In 2012, scientists from the XENON

collaboration announced a new result from
their search for dark matter.

 The analysis of data taken with the

XENON100 detector during 13 months of
operation at the Gran Sasso Laboratory
provided no evidence for the existence of
WIMPs.

28 Nov 2012 35
 DAMA/LIBRA

The DAMA/LIBRA experiment is designed to detect dark matter using the direct
detection approach, by using a scintillation detector to search for
WIMPs in the galactic halo.

The experiment aims to find an annual variation of the number of detection

events, caused by the variation of the velocity of the detector relative to the
dark matter halo as the Earth orbits the Sun.

28 Nov 2012 36
 Indirect Detection

A great deal of theoretical and experimental effort has gone into another
potential technique for WIMP detection.

 If WIMPs start settling in the Sun’s core due to gravitational capture the
they would accumulate and gradually decay into neutrinos. Hence we will
observe a bunch of them.

 Also WIMP annihilation can result in gamma rays, antiprotons or

positrons.

So by detecting them we detect dark matter…

28 Nov 2012 37
 Fermi Gamma Ray Space
Telescope (FGST)

The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space

Telescope, launched June 11, 2008,
is searching for gamma rays from
dark matter annihilation and decay.
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on
board the Fermi satellite has been
searching for this so-called
annihilation signature since it was
launched; so far, no dice.

28 Nov 2012 38
 PAMELA

PAMELA was launched on 15 June 2006 and

was the first satellite-based experiment
dedicated to the detection of cosmic rays, with
a particular focus on their antimatter
component, in the form of positrons and
antiprotons.

The positron excess was confirmed and found

to persist up to 90 GeV. Surprisingly, no excess
of antiprotons was found. This is inconsistent
with predictions from most models of dark
matter sources, in which the positron and
antiproton excesses are correlated.

28 Nov 2012 39
 High Energy Neutrino
Telescopes and Detectors

The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector

Array (AMANDA) is a neutrino telescope
located beneath the Amundsen–Scott South
Pole Station. AMANDA detects very high energy
neutrinos

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply

IceCube) is a neutrino observatory constructed at
the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in
Antarctica. It is the successor of AMANDA.

28 Nov 2012 40
 Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, also designated

AMS-02, is mounted on the International Space
Station (ISS). It is a detector that measures antimatter
in cosmic rays; this information is needed to
understand the formation of the Universe and search
for evidence of dark matter.

Any peaks in the background positron, antiproton, or

gamma ray flux could signal the presence of
neutralinos or other dark matter candidates, but
would need to be distinguished from poorly known
confounding astrophysical signals.

28 Nov 2012 41
 Collider Searches

 WIMPs will not directly be observed

if they are created at colliders–given
that they are neutral and weakly
interacting.

 Those other particles may eventually

decay to WIMPs inside the detector,
the signature of which is missing
energy when one tries to
reconstruct the chain of events.

28 Nov 2012 42
 So What is Dark Matter?

So, dark matter could be composed of any

number of particles, both known and
exotic:
MACHOs
WIMPs
Sterile neutrinos
Axions
Neutralinos
Photinos
Etc.

Or who knows what else?

28 Nov 2012 43
 Alternative theories : MOND?

 In 1983, Mordehai Milgrom, a physicist (another

Bulgarian-born!) at the Weizmann Institute in Israel,
proposed Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND),
a modification of Newton's law of gravity, to explain
the galaxy rotation problem.

 While MOND provides an explanation for the

observed galactic rotations, and has been
extensively examined by many others, it does
not appear to be consistent with other
observations.

28 Nov 2012 44
 Conclusion

Dark matter plays a role in the fate of the Universe. The Universe is expanding, but will it
expand forever? Gravity will ultimately determine the fate of the expansion, and gravity
is dependent upon the mass of the universe which again depends on dark matter.

Hopefully, in the next decade, we will know if the stable CDM WIMP dark matter theory
is true or untrue. Just because WIMPs are beautiful dark-matter candidates does not
mean that dark matter must consist of WIMPs. We all hope that we will soon be in an era
of abundant data when all the unsolved puzzles will be answered. The key will be to see
how all these different searches fit together to present a unified picture of the nature of
Universe.

28 Nov 2012 45
 References

• Trimble, V. 1987 , Existence and nature of dark matter in the universe , Annual Review of
Astronomy and Astrophysics. 25: 425–472 .

• Choi, C., 2013 , Gravitational lensing , Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 110(29): 11665.

• Jungman, G., Kamionkowski., M and Griest, K., 1996 , Supersymmetric dark

matter, Physics Reports. 267 (5–6): 195–373.

• NASA/WMAP Science Team , 2014, Universe 101: What is the Universe Made Of? ,NASA.

• Liddle, A., David, L., 2000, Cosmological Inflation and Large-Scale Structure,
Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-57598-0.

28 Nov 2012 46