A survey of dark matter and related topics in cosmology

Abstract

This article presents an extensive review of the status of the search of the dark matter. The first eight sections are devoted to topics in dark matter and its experimental searches, and the rest to selected topics in astrophysics and cosmology, which are intended to supply some of the needed background for students in particle physics. Sections 9 and 13 are introductory cosmology. The three astrophysical topics, Big Bang nucleosynthesis Section 10, Boltzmann transport equation and freeze out of massive particles Section 11, and CMB anisotropy Section 12 can all be studied in analytical approaches when reasonable approximations are made. Their original analytically forms, to which this article follows very closely, were given by particle physicists. Dark matter is an evolving subject requiring timely update to stay current. Hence a review of such a subject matter would undoubtedly have something wanting when it appears in print. It is hoped that this review can form a humble basis for those graduate students who would like to pursue the subject of dark matter. The reader can use the extensive table of contents to see in some details the materials covered in the article.