Black Holes, and Nuggets, and Blobs. Oh my! 

Speaker: 
Andrew Long
Institution: 
University of Michigan
Date: 
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Time: 
11:00 am
Location: 
NS2 1201
Abstract:
Although the evidence for a dark form of matter in the Universe is overwhelming, we still know next to nothing about its properties and interactions.  It is simple to assume that the dark matter (as a substance) is made up of individual, weakly-interacting dark matter particles, but composite (and possibly macroscopic!) dark matter candidates are also consistent with observations.  Then, the challenge for models of “macro” dark matter is finding a well-motivated production mechanism.  In this talk, I will argue that dark quark nuggets are a generic prediction of confining, hidden-sector gauge theories.  I will discuss the phenomenology of these theories, the cosmological production of dark quark nuggets, and their observational probes. 
Host: 
Felix Kling