Astrophysical Windows on Dark Matter

Dark matter makes up most of the gravitating mass in the Universe and is responsible for the growth of cosmic structure. Multiple lines of evidence, most notably the properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation, indicate that the dark matter is an elementary particle made in the early phases of the Big Bang, which is different from ordinary (or baryonic) matter. Searches for these particles have been ongoing for 35 years. They can take three forms: (i) direct detection; (ii) indirect detection of the products of dark matter particle decay or annihilation and (iii) production in particle accelerators. Although there are claims that the dark matter has been indirectly detected, there is no consensus on this so far.