US-France Cooperative Research: Theoretical Implicatons of Dark Matter

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This three-year award supports U.S.-France cooperative research in astrophysics between the NSF Science and Technology (STC) for Particle Astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the French Center for Astrophysics Research, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Lyon, France. The U.S. and French research teams are led by Joseph Silk, Professor of Physics and member of the STC at Berkeley, and Gilles Chabrier, leader of the French center. Specifically, support will be provided to advanced U.S. graduate students and postdoctoral researchers affiliated with the Berkeley STC for their travel to France. The U.S. and French teams will focus on the fundamental problem of dark matter, a topic identified as the highest priority in astrophysics research. Evidence indicates that 90% or more of the Universe is made of dark matter, and that this matter may be in the form of particles dating back to the beginning of the Universe. The study of the dark matter problem has important implications for understanding the origin of the Universe and the fundamental nature of matter. In this project, the U.S. and French teams will perform theoretical investigations of the astrophysical constraints on particle dark matter, the characteristics of candidate dark matter particles, and stellar evolution in the Universe, in which dark matter may play a central role.