These lectures are intended to provide a brief pedagogical review of dark matter for the newcomer to the subject. We begin with a discussion of the astrophysical evidence for dark matter. The standard weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) scenario—the motivation, particle models, and detection techniques—is then reviewed. We provide a brief sampling of some recent variations to the standar...

We present a new module of the micrOMEGAs package for the calculation of WIMP-nuclei elastic scattering cross sections relevant for the direct detection of dark matter through its interaction with nuclei in a large detector. With this new module, the computation of the direct detection rate is performed automatically for a generic model of new physics which contains a WIMP candidate. This model...

In regions of very high dark matter density such as the Galactic centre, the capture and annihilation of WIMP dark matter by stars has the potential to significantly alter their evolution. We describe the dark stellar evolution code DarkStars, and present a series of detailed grids of WIMP-influenced stellar models for main sequence stars. We describe the changes in stellar structure and main s...

Indirect detection of particle dark matter relies upon pair annihilation of Weakly Interaction Massive Particles (WIMPs), which is complementary to the well known techniques of direct detection (WIMP-nucleus scattering) and collider production (WIMP pair production). Pair annihilation of WIMPs results in the production of gamma-rays, neutrinos, and anti-matter. Of the various experiments sensit...

We outline the WIMP dark matter parameter space in the Constrained MSSM by performing a comprehensive statistical analysis that compares with experimental data predicted superpartner masses and other collider observables as well as a cold dark matter abundance. We include uncertainties arising from theoretical approximations as well as from residual experimental errors on relevant Standard Mode...

One IGEX Ge double-beta decay detector is currently operating in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in a search for dark matter WIMPs, through the Ge nuclear recoil produced by the WIMP elastic scattering. A new exclusion plot, σ(m), has been derived for WIMP-nucleon spin-independent interactions. To obtain this result, 40 days of data from the IGEX detector (energy threshold Ethr ∼ 4 keV), re...

The CDMS II experiment uses Z-dependent Ionization Phonon (ZIP) detectors made of Germanium and Silicon to identify nuclear recoils from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with near complete event-by-event rejection of various radioactive backgrounds. In 2004 CDMS II operated 6 Ge ZIPs and 6 Si ZIPs. The 74.5 live days of operation gave after cuts 34 kg×d exposure for the Ge ZIPs and ...

The search for cold dark-matter WIMP particles is now entering the level of supersymmetric particle sensitivity. It is considered that the most likely neutralino mass is of order 100 GeV and the expected interaction rate is from 10 10 events/kg/day. In order to carry out a successful search, we need (1) a massive (~50kg) powerful background-discriminating detector, and (2) a high-A target to ma...

Dark matter pair-production in b → s transitions. The flavour-changing neutral current transition b → s can serve as a sensitive probe of WIMP dark matter models, if the WIMP mass is under 2 GeV. In this work we extend our earlier analysis to a generic class of models where the interaction between the dark matter sector and the Standard Model matter sector is mediated by the Higgs boson(s). We ...