New experimental tests for gravity and dark matter
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The behavior of gravity is well understood and highly constrained on length scales from millimeters to the size of the Solar System. New physics, such as extra dimensions or new forces, may modify the behavior of gravity below a millimeter. On the other end of the spectrum, observations of galaxies, galaxy clusters, supernovae, and the Cosmic Microwave Background all point to the gravitational dominance of dark matter and dark energy over the ordinary matter content of the Universe. It is therefore worth investigating, with high precision, the behavior of gravity at the longest distance scales as well. In this dissertation, I describe a recent proposal for a space-based experiment, optimized to test the inverse square law with great accuracy at scales of up to 100 AU. This is the largest length scale that can be reached with a direct probe using current technology. I also describe a new experimental strategy for testing putative signals of dark matter decay or annihilation. Merging galaxy clusters such as the Bullet Cluster provide a powerful testing ground for indirect detection of dark matter. The spatial distribution of the dark matter is both directly measurable through gravitational lensing and substantially different from the distribution of potential astrophysical backgrounds. I propose to use this spatial information to identify the origin of indirect detection signals, and show that even statistical excesses of a few sigma can be robustly tested for consistency--or inconsistency--with a dark matter source.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Wiser, Timothy D |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics. |
| Primary advisor | Graham, Peter (Peter Wickelgren) |
| Thesis advisor | Graham, Peter (Peter Wickelgren) |
| Thesis advisor | Dimopoulos, Savas, 1952- |
| Thesis advisor | Gratta, Giorgio |
| Advisor | Dimopoulos, Savas, 1952- |
| Advisor | Gratta, Giorgio |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Timothy D. Wiser. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Timothy Dale Wiser
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...