Orateur
Description
The origin and nature of the dark matter in the Universe is one of the most pressing questions in fundamental physics. However, despite the enormous experimental effort no conclusive hint for a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) has been found, putting pressure on the widely considered WIMP dark matter explanation. In this talk we examine new avenues beyond the standard WIMP picture. We show that scrutinizing the well-known co-annihilation scenario and dropping the commonly made assumption of chemical equilibrium between co-annihilating partners offers new phenomenological possibilities. By solving the full coupled set of Boltzmann equations we find solutions that accommodate the measured dark matter density while requiring very small couplings that are in accordance with current null-results in WIMP searches. Despite the very weak coupling the dark matter abundance is largely insensitive to the cosmological history prior to freeze-out in contrast to other scenarios like freeze-in or superWIMPs. We discuss current constraints and motivate future searches at the LHC.
