Descripción del proyecto
La materia oscura y la asimetría entre materia y antimateria a escala de teraelectronvoltios
La mayor parte de la materia del universo está formada por unas partículas aún desconocidas, denominadas materia oscura. Es más, de las especies de partículas conocidas, nuestro universo solo contiene partículas y ninguna antipartícula. El origen de este exceso de materia ordinaria sobre la antimateria y la naturaleza de la materia oscura son algunas de las cuestiones más fundamentales de la física. Ahora se está investigando la existencia de partículas con masas de varios teraelectronvoltios a través de experimentos. Estas partículas pesadas pueden constituir la materia oscura o haber participado en la generación de la asimetría entre materia y antimateria. Se prevé que sus interacciones impliquen importantes efectos no perturbadores, en particular la formación de estados ligados. En CosmoChart, financiado con fondos europeos, se investigarán estos efectos sobre el desacoplamiento térmico de la materia oscura y la generación de asimetría entre materia y antimateria en el universo primitivo.
Objetivo
The origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe and the nature of dark matter are among the most fundamental and challenging questions in physics. Their undeniable importance has placed them in the forefront of the experimental and theoretical research in particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics. Our experimental probes are now at the outset of exploring the multi-TeV energy scale. To fully exploit the experimental effort, to design effective search strategies and correctly interpret the experimental results, we must develop reliable theoretical understanding of the plausible dynamics at this scale.
The TeV scale is a new threshold. In this regime, the interactions hypothesised in a variety of well-motivated theories manifest as long-range. This is true for the most widely studied particle-physics scenario for dark matter, particles coupled to the Weak interactions of the Standard Model, as well as many other models. Moreover, many theories of matter-antimatter asymmetry generation invoke heavy particles that couple to lighter force mediators.
Long-range interactions imply very different dynamics than the contact-type interactions most commonly considered in the past. They give rise to non-perturbative effects, with the most prominent being the existence of bound states. Such effects can change the experimental signatures very significantly. CosmoChart will comprehensively investigate the implications of long-range interactions along two directions:
I. The dark matter thermal decoupling in the early universe and indirect detection.
II. The particle-antiparticle asymmetry generation and washout.
The results will have implications for most experimental probes. As the long-range dynamics becomes increasingly more important at higher scales, the investigations of CosmoChart will chart particle cosmology at the TeV scale and beyond.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitución de acogida
75006 Paris
Francia