Special Physics Colloquium

Small Galaxies, Big Science: Using Cosmic Surveys to Study the Fundamental Nature of Dark Matter

The existence of non-baryonic dark matter is strong evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model. While laboratory and collider searches for dark matter have advanced rapidly over the past several decades, astrophysical observations currently provide the only robust, positive, empirical measurement of dark matter. Astrophysical observables can be directly linked to the fundamental properties of dark matter, such as particle mass, self-interaction cross section, and self-annihilation rate. In this talk, I will describe how the Dark Energy Survey and the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope have advanced our understanding of dark matter through observations of the smallest and most dark-matter-dominated galaxies. In addition, I will discuss opportunities to build a cohesive program to study the fundamental nature of dark matter with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).