Prof. Kimberly Boddy, Johns Hopkins University

"Searching for Dark Matter Interactions in Cosmology"

Abstract: There is a substantial effort in the physics community to search for dark matter interactions with the Standard Model of particle physics. Collisions between dark matter particles and baryons exchange heat and momentum in the early Universe, enabling a search for dark matter interactions using cosmological observations in a parameter space that is complementary to that of direct detection. In this talk, I will describe the effects of scattering in cosmology and show constraints using Planck 2015 data and SDSS-identified satellites. I will also discuss the implications of late-time scattering during the era of Cosmic Dawn.