The Role of the ILC in the Study of Cosmic Dark Matter

Abstract

Though there is strong evidence that dark matter is a major component of the universe, most aspects of dark matter are completely mysterious. We do not know what dark matter is, and we do not know how it is distributed in our galaxy. To resolve these and related questions, we will need information both from particle physics and from astrophysics. In this article, we will describe a path toward the solution of the problems of dark matter, and we will highlight the important role that the ILC has to play in this study.

14 pages, 5 figures; presented at the 2005 International Linear Collider Workshop, Stanford University, March, 2005