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Description
A weakly interacting massive particle or WIMP remains one of
the chief candidates for dark matter. The most studied WIMP is the
neutralino, a possible supersymmetric partner of Standard Model
particles. However, motivated in part by experimental and observational
anomalies, theorists have proposed a whole forest of alternative WIMP
models. In this talk, after briefly reviewing the basics of WIMP
physics, I will discuss some WIMP models that I am familiar with, with
an emphasis on their possible signatures. The first model is called the
Vector-like Portal. It is utterly simple, but leads to remarkable
gamma-ray spectral signatures in the form of virtual internal
bremsstrahlung, a feature that has been much studied here, in
Stockholm. Then I will discuss a quite complex scenario, called the
Clockwork WIMP, an attempt to make a WIMP very long-lived without
resorting to very heavy degrees of freedom. On the contrary, such
scenario may lead to the production of a plethora of TeV mass particles
at the LHC. Finally, I will discuss a category of self-interacting WIMP
particles that may devour old neutron stars and transform them into
solar mass black holes. The latter may searched by the future generation
of gravitational wave detectors.
