Colloquium
Physics Lecture Hall
Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 4:45 pm
Tea and cookies @ 4:30 pm
Tracy Slatyer
(MIT):
The Potential Dark Matter Signal in Light from the Central Milky Way
Dark matter comprises five-sixths of the matter in the universe, and is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model. To date, dark matter has only been detected via its gravitational interactions, but its annihilation or decay could produce high-energy particles observable by Earth-based telescopes. In this talk, I will describe an unexplained glow of gamma rays observed from the inner regions of the Milky Way, and discuss its possible origins, including the exciting possibility that it might arise from dark matter annihilation.