Identification of Dark Matter particles with LHC and direct detection data












Dark matter is currently searched for with a variety of detection strategies. Accelerator searches are particularly promising, but even if Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are found at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), it will be difficult to prove that they constitute the bulk of the DM in the Universe. We have recently posted a new paper on the arXiv


where we show that a significantly better reconstruction of the DM properties can be obtained with a combined analysis of LHC and direct detection (DD) data, by making a simple Ansatz on the WIMP local density, i.e. by assuming that the local density scales with the cosmological relic abundance. Our results show that future ton-scale DD experiments will allow to break degeneracies in the SUSY parameter space and achieve a significantly better reconstruction of the neutralino composition and its relic density than with LHC data alone.

"Particle Dark Matter" Book is out!

The book “Particle Dark Matter: Observations, Models and Searches” (Cambridge University Press, ed. G. Bertone) is now out!


Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this book describes the theoretical and experimental aspects of the dark matter problem in particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Featuring contributions from 48 leading theorists and experimentalists, it presents many aspects, from astrophysical observations to particle physics candidates, and from the prospects for detection at colliders to direct and indirect searches. The book introduces observational evidence for dark matter along with a detailed discussion of the state-of-the-art of numerical simulations and alternative explanations in terms of modified gravity. It then moves on to the candidates arising from theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, and to the prospects for detection at accelerators. It concludes by looking at direct and indirect dark matter searches, and the prospects for detecting the particle nature of dark matter with astrophysical experiments.

For more information please visit the website of the book

Anisotropy and Energy Spectrum of the CGB

The meeting on the Anisotropy and Energy Spectrum of the CGB has been a lot of fun, and very fruitful indeed.

In this picture, a brainstorming session during a sunny afternoon in Zurich. From left to right: Tim Linden, Alessandro Cuoco, Vaso Pavlidou, Jennifer Siegal-Gaskins, Fabio Iocco, Lidia Pieri, Mattia Fornasa and Enzo Branchini.

The results of our work will appear, in the form of a series of papers from different sets of authors, on the arXiv over the next few months. Stay tuned!

ɣ in Z Workshop @ ITP Zurich, Nov 16 to 20, 2009


The workshop ɣ in Z will take place at ITP Zurich from November 16 to 20, 2009. It consists of a week long collaboration meeting in the framework of a Fermi guest investigator grant titled “Anisotropy and energy spectrum of the Gamma-ray Background as probes of Dark Matter and Astrophysical sources”, and of a one-day workshop, on Wednesday 18. More information can be found at http://www2.iap.fr/users/bertone/GinZ.