Cosmologist's tour through the new particle zoo (candy shop)
Recent developments in elementary particle physics have led to a renaissance in cosmology, in general, and in the study of structure formation, in particular. Already, the study of the very early (t less than or equal to 10/sup -2/ sec) history of the Universe has provided valuable hints as to the 'initial data' for the structure formation problem - the nature and origin of the primeval density inhomogeneities, the quantity and composition of matter in the Universe today, and numerous candidates for the constituents of the ubiquitious dark matter. I review the multitude of WIMP candidates for the dark matter provided by modern particle physics theories, putting them into context by briefly discussing the theories which predict them. I also review their various birth sites and birth processes in the early Universe. At present the most promising candidates seem to be a 30 or so eV neutrino, a few GeV photino, or the 'invisible axion' (weighing in at about 10/sup -5/ eV), with a planck mass monopole, quark nuggets, and shadow matter as the leading 'dark' horse candidates. I also mention some very exotic possibilities - unstable WIMPs, cosmic strings, and even the possibility of a relic cosmological term.
- Research Organization:
- Chicago Univ., IL (USA); Fermi National Accelerator Lab., Batavia, IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH03000
- OSTI ID:
- 6059955
- Report Number(s):
- FNAL/C-86/18-A; CONF-8506199-3; ON: DE86007889
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AXIONS
BOSONS
COMPOSITE MODELS
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EXTENDED PARTICLE MODEL
FIELD THEORIES
GOLDSTONE BOSONS
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
KALUZA-KLEIN THEORY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATTER
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
PARTICLE MODELS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
QUARK MATTER
QUARK MODEL
REVIEWS
STANDARD MODEL
STRING MODELS
SUPERGRAVITY
SUPERSYMMETRY
SYMMETRY
SYMMETRY BREAKING
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES