The axion vs the WIMP

by Dr Sacha Davidson (Université de Lyon, CNRS/IN2P3)

Tuesday 17 Dec 2013, 16:15 → 17:15 Europe/Berlin

313 (MPI fuer Physik)

The QCD axion is a micro-to-milli eV boson arising in extensions of the Standard Model which solve the "strong CP problem". It is consistent with astrophysical observations of the cooling timescale of stars. Non-thermal production mechanisms in the early Universe allow the axions, despite their neutrino-scale mass, to behave like Cold Dark Matter: their energy density redshifts like matter, and their density fluctuations grow like CDM. I aim to review the above, and explore the question of how to distinguish axions from WIMPs, in particular during non-linear stucture formation. Sadly, I have not an answer.

Slides munichSacha.pdf