Speaker
Description
The nature of Dark Matter is one of the most challenging problems ever tackled in physics.
Cosmology and astrophysics provide strong and compelling evidence for the existence of a “dark” form of matter in the Universe, yet it has not been directly detected or identified so far.
Two main hypotheses are currently being tested regarding the nature of Dark Matter: it may consist of particles (such as WIMPs or WIMP-like candidates) or of waves (such as Axions), with masses spanning a vast range from the TeV/c² scale down to the μeV/c² scale.
As a consequence, a large number of experiments are underway and, given the enormous mass range to be explored, a wide variety of experimental techniques is employed, from liquid scintillators to resonant cavities.
In this talk, I will review the current state of the art in this field, which has been evolving for more than 30 years in the ongoing effort to detect Dark Matter particles that have so far eluded discovery.