Towards a more precise prediction of the dark matter relic density

Björn Herrmann, LAPTh (Annecy)

A powerful tool to constrain a new physics model is to predict the relic density of dark matter and compare it to the recent limits published by Planck in order to identify (dis)favoured regions of parameter space. After reviewing the standard calculation of the dark matter relic density in the freeze-out picture, I will discuss several uncertainties entering this calculation. Focusing then on the particle physics aspects, I will consider the case of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and present the project DM@NLO, which aims at improving the preciction of the neutralino relic density by including radiative corrections to the (co)annihilation cross-section of the dark matter candidate. In particular, I will show that the impact of these corrections can be numerically larger than the current experimental uncertainty on cosmological data.

(The slides are now available).