Physics Program Presents
Searching for Signatures of Dark Matter with the GAPS Antarctic Balloon Experiment
Friday, October 22, 2021
Hegeman 107
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Field Rogers, MIT
Dark matter is a mysterious substance that composes ~85% of the total mass of the Universe and is responsible for the formation of galaxies in the early Universe and for the motion of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy today. Evidence for the existence of dark matter comes from astrophysical observations of its gravitational effects across a range of time and distance scales. However, despite its ubiquity and abundance, dark matter is difficult to detect because it barely interacts with other particles. Understanding the particle nature of dark matter remains one of the largest open questions in particle and astrophysics. In this seminar, I will present diverse pieces of evidence for the existence of dark matter and discuss the current knowledge of its properties. I will then introduce the General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) Experiment, an upcoming NASA Antarctic balloon mission to detect cosmic particles as possible signatures of dark matter interactions in our Galaxy. I will highlight some of the detector development work at the heart of the GAPS mission, including contributions from undergraduate researchers. I will conclude by looking forward to the scientific results you can expect from GAPS over the next few years.
For more information, call 845-758-4391, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Hegeman 107