Analysis Tools for the Dark Matter Interpretation of Recent Experiments and Cosmological Observations (ADMIRE & CO)

可见物质只占宇宙的一小部分，这一压倒性的证据同时令人感到谦卑和兴奋。物质的主要形式，称为暗物质，其性质仍然未知，但由于实验灵敏度的巨大提高，未来几年将为发现暗物质粒子并确定其基本性质提供许多机会。与此同时，还没有观测到暗物质信号的事实意味着我们需要重新审视对暗物质的假设，并扩大我们的搜索计划。这项提议旨在扩大可用于探测暗物质的分析工具的范围，并使用它们来探索新的暗物质模型类别，其中暗物质粒子的质量或耦合比通常假设的要小得多。这种暗物质粒子在实验室中很难探测到，但它们预测了早期宇宙学中一系列有趣的效应。所提出的分析工具将能够在暗物质模型的背景下详细解释宇宙学数据，从而在宇宙学和粒子物理学领域之间建立桥梁。第一个是开发一个框架，用于将暗物质模型的基本参数转换为适用于计算宇宙学观测值的有效描述。第二个是发布一个代码来计算整个宇宙学历史中暗物质粒子湮灭或衰变的能量注入约束。第三个任务是探索早期宇宙的高温如何引起相变和与暗物质有关的引力波等独特效应。一旦这些任务完成，最终目标将是通过汇集实验室实验和宇宙学的所有可用信息，对非标准暗物质模型进行全球分析，要求提供资金，用于初级研究小组组长和一名博士后研究助理的工资和差旅费，重点是相变和引力波。该项目将与粒子物理学家和宇宙学家密切合作，以最大限度地扩大对两个群体的影响。此外，所有开发的代码都将公开，以便其他人能够进行类似的分析，并为在不久的将来激发暗物质信号做好准备。通过探索各种各样的暗物质模型，以及来自物理学不同分支的互补信息，我们有一个独特的机会来解决宇宙中的一个巨大难题。

The overwhelming evidence that visible matter constitutes only a small fraction of the universe is at the same time humbling and exciting. The nature of the dominant form of matter, called dark matter, is still unknown, but thanks to huge improvements in experimental sensitivity, the coming years offer many opportunities for discovering dark matter particles and determining their fundamental properties. At the same time, the fact that no conclusive dark matter signal has yet been observed implies that we need to re-examine the assumptions made about dark matter and broaden our search programme.This proposal aims to extend the range of analysis tools available to probe dark matter and use them to explore new classes of dark matter models, in which the dark matter particles have much smaller masses or couplings than commonly assumed. Such dark matter particles are challenging to detect in the laboratory, but they predict a range of interesting effects in early universe cosmology. The proposed analysis tools will enable a detailed interpretation of cosmological data in the context of dark matter models and thereby build a bridge between the fields of cosmology and particle physics.This objective can be divided into three tasks. The first is to develop a framework for translating the fundamental parameters of dark matter models to an effective description suitable for calculating cosmological observables. The second is to publish a code to calculate constraints on the energy injection from annihilations or decays of dark matter particles across the entire cosmological history. The third task is to explore how the high temperatures in the early universe give rise to unique effects such as phase transitions and gravitational waves connected to dark matter. Once these tasks have been completed, the final goal will be to carry out global analyses of non-standard dark matter models by bringing together all available information from laboratory experiments and cosmology.Funding is requested for the salary and travel expenses of the Junior Research Group leader and of a postdoctoral research assistant focusing on the topic of phase transitions and gravitational waves. This project will be carried out in close collaboration with particle physicists and cosmologists in order to maximize the impact on both communities. Moreover, all developed code will be made publicly available in order to enable others to perform similar analyses and prepare for exciting dark matter signals in the near future. By exploring wide ranges of dark matter models with complementary information from different branches of physics, we have a unique chance to solve one of the great puzzles of the universe.