"Rethinking the Dark Matter Paradigm", Radcliffe Inst. for Advanced Study and Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Hongsheng Zhao (Invited speaker)

School of Physics and Astronomy

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk

Description

Organised by Priyamvada Natarajan, Yale University, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Douglas Finkbeiner, Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Period	20 Apr 2016 → 22 Apr 2016
Event title	Rethinking the Dark Matter Paradigm
Event type	Other
Sponsor
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

April 2016 Current cosmological observations suggest that we live in a universe dominated by dark matter and dark energy while their nature remains elusive. Compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter derives from the gravitational influence exerted on the motions of stars and galaxies as well as the bending of light. Meanwhile, finding the dark matter particle has been challenging due to its inertness. Despite this, we have a successful dark matter-based theory of structure formation in the universe. Although the theory has been validated from many independent lines of compelling evidence, there are a few gaps—a few observations that challenge the paradigm. At this juncture a comprehensive exploration of all possibilities is warranted, including those that radically question the current picture to help frame and refine alternatives. Alternatives to the dark matter model include modifications to Newtonian gravity; generalizations of Einstein’s theory of general relativity; and extensions to the standard model of particle physics that open up an entirely new window—the dark sector—for the putative dark matter particle. Seminar participants consider the status of the current cold dark matter picture; devising and assessing alternative models, particles, and theories; and debating whether and where a radical rethinking is likely to take us and how we might be able to test and verify such alternatives.