Dark matter candidates

Abstract

An overview is given of various dark matter candidates. Among the many suggestions given in the literature, axions, inert Higgs doublet, sterile neutrinos, supersymmetric particles and Kaluza-Klein particles are discussed. The situation has recently become very interesting with new results on antimatter in the cosmic rays having dark matter as one of the leading possible explanations. Problems arising from this explanation and possible solutions are discussed, and the importance of new measurements is emphasized. If the explanation is indeed dark matter, a whole new field of physics, with unusual although not impossible mass and interaction properties, may soon open itself to discovery. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.