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High Energy Theory Group Seminar: "A Light Dark Side" | The Racah Institute of Physics

High Energy Theory Group Seminar: "A Light Dark Side"

Date: 
Wed, 30/12/201512:00-13:00
Location: 
Kaplun building, Room No. 200
Lecturer: Dr. Yonit Hochberg
Affiliation: University of California, Berkeley
Abstract:
The exploration of dark matter beyond the
WIMP is of vital importance towards resolving
the identity of dark matter. In this talk, I will
focus on light dark matter. From the theory
side, I will present a new candidate for thermal
dark matter in the form of Strongly Interacting
Massive Particles (SIMPs). The freezeout
process is a number-changing 3-to-2
annihilation in the dark sector, and points to
sub-GeV dark matter. I will show how the
mechanism is realized in simple classes of QCD-
like theories, where the pions play the role of
dark matter, and will describe current and
future experimental signatures of the setup in
direct- and indirect-detection, colliders,
structure formation and cosmology. From the
experimental side, I will present a new class of
superconducting detectors which are sensitive
to milli-eV electron recoils from dark matter-
electron scattering. Such devices could detect
dark matter as light as the warm dark matter
limit of a keV with a moderate size exposure.