Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Dark matter is one of the central open problems in fundamental physics. Many well-motivated candidates interact with the Standard Model through portals beyond gravity, yet to date the most robust evidence for dark matter remains purely gravitational. In this talk I will discuss motivated examples of dark matter that are effectively accessible only via gravitational probes, and show how dwarf galaxies and ultra-faint dwarf galaxies can be used to test them. More broadly, even beyond dark matter, new light particles could exist in the Universe while remaining completely secluded from the Standard Model. I will highlight how gravitational-wave and precision-interferometry observations, such as LIGO/Virgo and GRAVITY, can provide discovery opportunities for such (very) hidden particles.