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Dark matter

Dark matter represents one of the principal ingredients of the standard model, and its existence is demonstrated by a great number of astronomical observations. Amongst these we recall the rotation curves of spiral galaxies and the masses of galaxy clusters, along with the already mentioned fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background and the large scale distribution of galaxies. It appears clear from these observations that besides a small fraction of "unilluminated" conventional matter, 90% of dark matter must be in the form of massive elementary particles that interact with eachother (and ordinary matter) only via the force of gravity. What these particles might be remains one of the great mysteries of the cosmological model, strictly correlated with problems of fundamental physics and so to the research of the infinitely small. Research aimed at identifying the dark matter particles are both direct and indirect in nature, depending on whether they make use of an interaction with the atoms of a detector, or rely on the secondary particles expected as the result of particle annihilation. This research is mainly the prerogative of particle physics, with complimentary information provided by astronomical observations in the X-ray, optical and millimetric bands.

Lake Como Schools on Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation

Jul 08, 2025

Lake Como Schools on Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation It has been held at Como – Villa del Grumello, 23-27 June, the 2025 edition of the “Lake Como Schools on Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation” on the theme “Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Cosmological Tensions”

The Lucchin Schools Return

Jun 01, 2025

The Lucchin Schools Return First Edition of the New INAF PhD School Series Concludes in Asiago

MISTRAL, a wind of change in the SRT observations

May 29, 2025

MISTRAL, a wind of change in the SRT observations MISTRAL is a new-generation receiver for observations at millimeter wavelengths, built as part of the recent project to upgrade the Sardinia Radio Telescope for the study of the high-frequency radio universe. The main features of this instrument are the very high number of detectors cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero and a dedicated cold optical system, which allow for extremely sharp images. MISTRAL made its “first light” by observing three different celestial objects: the Orion Nebula, the radio lobes of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87, and the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. These images represent the first scientific observations at 90 GHz ever obtained using the SRT