From T to Axions to Dark Matter

by Frank Wilczek (MIT)

Tuesday 3 Feb 2009, 16:45 → 18:15 Europe/Berlin

Hoersaal (MPI fuer Physik)

The Kobayashi-Maskawa model of T violation is clever and very successful, as their recent Nobel Prize attests. Within the context of this model, however, the observed T invariance of the strong interaction seem unnatural. That theoretical problem can be solved by expanding the standard model in a very specific way. It leads us to predict the existence of a remarkable new particle: the axion. Axions are produced very abundantly in the big bang, and provide a compelling candidate for the astronomers' dark matter.