Our ignorance of the Universe's evolution prior to the onset of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis profoundly limits our understanding of dark matter: we cannot calculate its relic abundance without knowing when the Universe became radiation dominated. Fortunately, there is another probe of the early Universe that could break this degeneracy. I will show how an effectively matter-dominated era prior to the onset of nucleosynthesis can radically enhance the population of microhalos for both thermal and nonthermal dark matter. I will then discuss how the resulting abundance of substructure affects the dark matter annihilation rate, which opens up the possibility of using gamma-ray observations to learn about the reheating of the Universe and the origins of dark matter.
CCAPP Seminar - Adrienne Erickcek (UNC-Chapel Hill) " An Early-Universe Boost to the Dark Matter Annihilation Rate"
October 20, 2015
11:30AM
-
12:30PM
4138 Physics Research Building
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2015-10-20 10:30:00
2015-10-20 11:30:00
CCAPP Seminar - Adrienne Erickcek (UNC-Chapel Hill) " An Early-Universe Boost to the Dark Matter Annihilation Rate"
Our ignorance of the Universe's evolution prior to the onset of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis profoundly limits our understanding of dark matter: we cannot calculate its relic abundance without knowing when the Universe became radiation dominated. Fortunately, there is another probe of the early Universe that could break this degeneracy. I will show how an effectively matter-dominated era prior to the onset of nucleosynthesis can radically enhance the population of microhalos for both thermal and nonthermal dark matter. I will then discuss how the resulting abundance of substructure affects the dark matter annihilation rate, which opens up the possibility of using gamma-ray observations to learn about the reheating of the Universe and the origins of dark matter.
4138 Physics Research Building
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ascwebservices@osu.edu
America/New_York
public
Date Range
2015-10-20 11:30:00
2015-10-20 12:30:00
CCAPP Seminar - Adrienne Erickcek (UNC-Chapel Hill) " An Early-Universe Boost to the Dark Matter Annihilation Rate"
Our ignorance of the Universe's evolution prior to the onset of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis profoundly limits our understanding of dark matter: we cannot calculate its relic abundance without knowing when the Universe became radiation dominated. Fortunately, there is another probe of the early Universe that could break this degeneracy. I will show how an effectively matter-dominated era prior to the onset of nucleosynthesis can radically enhance the population of microhalos for both thermal and nonthermal dark matter. I will then discuss how the resulting abundance of substructure affects the dark matter annihilation rate, which opens up the possibility of using gamma-ray observations to learn about the reheating of the Universe and the origins of dark matter.
4138 Physics Research Building
America/New_York
public