STellar Astrophysics & Relativity research cluster/Physics Department seminar
DARK MATTER IN GALAXIES
Dr. Valerio Faraoni
Physics Department
Bishop's University
Friday, November 26, 2010
1.30-2.30 pm
Nicolls 315
Dark matter comprises approximately 23% of the energy content of our universe and dominates most galaxies and galaxy clusters. In spite of the fact that we have known about its existence since 1932, its nature is still a mystery. We will briefly review the main observational evidence for dark matter at various scales, attempts to explain it away, and the most widely accepted explanation for it, i.e., weakly interacting massive particles. The latter are the subject of many particle physics experiments attempting to detect them directly on earth.
This seminar is part of Dark Matter Awareness Week (1-8 December 2010), an initiative involving 140 institutions worldwide aiming at disseminating our knowledge (better say, ignorance?) about dark matter.
