Baryonic and Non-Baryonic Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper reviews the evidence and observational constraints for both baryonic and non-baryonic dark matter, discussing candidates like neutrinos, WIMPs, and MACHOs, and their implications for cosmology.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of dark matter candidates and the observational methods used to constrain or exclude them, integrating recent data and theoretical considerations.

Findings

Evidence suggests presence of hot and cold dark matter components.

Observations constrain the types and properties of potential dark matter candidates.

Many candidate objects like MACHOs are considered but remain unconfirmed.

Abstract

Cosmological nucleosynthesis calculations imply that there should be both non-baryonic and baryonic dark matter. Recent data suggest that some of the non-baryonic dark matter must be "hot" (i.e. massive neutrinos) and there may also be evidence for "cold" dark matter (i.e. WIMPs). If the baryonic dark matter resides in galactic halos, it is likely to be in the form of compact objects (i.e. MACHOs) and these would probably be the remnants of a first generation of pregalactic or protogalactic Population III stars. Many candidates have been proposed - brown dwarfs, red dwarfs, white dwarfs or black holes - and at various times each of these has been in vogue. We review the many types of observations which can be used to constrain or exclude both baryonic and non-baryonic dark matter candidates.