The moment of truth for WIMP Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper discusses the significance of WIMP dark matter candidates, emphasizing that upcoming experiments at CERN and astroparticle observatories will soon confirm or refute their existence, marking a pivotal moment in dark matter research.

Contribution

It highlights the imminent experimental tests of WIMP dark matter, framing the next decade as decisive for the WIMP paradigm's viability.

Findings

Upcoming experiments will confirm or rule out WIMPs within 5-10 years.

The WIMP paradigm faces a critical test with new collider and astroparticle data.

Discovery or decline of WIMPs will significantly impact dark matter theories.

Abstract

We know that dark matter constitutes 85% of all the matter in the Universe, but we do not know of what it is made. Amongst the many Dark Matter candidates proposed, WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) occupy a special place, as they arise naturally from well motivated extensions of the standard model of particle physics. With the advent of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and a new generation of astroparticle experiments, the moment of truth has come for WIMPs: either we will discover them in the next five to ten years, or we will witness the inevitable decline of WIMP paradigm.