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We propose a novel thermal production mechanism for dark matter based on the idea that dark matter particles $chi$ can transform (`infect) heat bath particles $psi$: $chi psi rightarrow chi chi$. For a small initial abundance of $chi$ this induces an exponential growth in the dark matter number density, closely resembling the epidemic curves of a spreading pathogen after an initial outbreak. To quantify this relation we present a sharp duality between the Boltzmann equation for the dark matter number density and epidemiological models for the spread of infectious diseases. Finally we demonstrate that the exponential growth naturally stops before $chi$ thermalizes with the heat bath, corresponding to a triumphant `flattening of the curve that matches the observed dark matter abundance.
We review sterile neutrinos as possible Dark Matter candidates. After a short summary on the role of neutrinos in cosmology and particle physics, we give a comprehensive overview of the current status of the research on sterile neutrino Dark Matter.
We present models of resonant self-interacting dark matter in a dark sector with QCD, based on analogies to the meson spectra in Standard Model QCD. For dark mesons made of two light quarks, we present a simple model that realizes resonant self-inter
We have recently examined a large number of points in the parameter space of the phenomenological MSSM, the 19-dimensional parameter space of the CP-conserving MSSM with Minimal Flavor Violation. We determined whether each of these points satisfied e
We present a first calculation of the rate for plasmon production in semiconductors from nuclei recoiling against dark matter. The process is analogous to bremsstrahlung of transverse photon modes, but with a longitudinal plasmon mode emitted instead
We consider the prospects for multiple dark matter direct detection experiments to determine if the interactions of a dark matter candidate are isospin-violating. We focus on theoretically well-motivated examples of isospin-violating dark matter (IVD