Particle Physics seminars

A candidate for Dark Matter from QCD

by Glennys Farrar (Physics Dept, New York University)

Europe/Stockholm
A4:1003

A4:1003

Description
Remarkably, a strong candidate for Dark Matter exists within the Standard Model. Theoretical arguments suggest that QCD forces in the flavor-singlet sector may be strong enough that the H-dibaryon is a deeply-bound, compact state which is absolutely stable with a mass < 2 m_p. This possibility has gotten recent support from lattice QCD studies, which -- although not yet at high enough resolution and sensitivity to confront the hypothesis -- show a deeper binding than other states. As I will show, reasonable assumptions about the H's mass and wave function lead to the observed dark matter density and DM-to- (3-quark) baryon ratio. I will discuss why H-DM is not excluded by the various experimental and observational limits, and discuss what its observational signatures would be.