Informal Pizza Seminar

Dark Matter, Gauge Mediation & CFTs

Daniel Green

Stanford University

In supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, there is a tension between the physics of flavour and the existence of dark matter. Specifically, in conventional models where masses for the sparticles are flavour blind, the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is invariably the gravitino, a poor dark matter candidate. However, this conclusion is altered when the SUSY breaking sector is strongly coupled. In many models, we can realize the full promise of supersymmetry: to create a model compatible with all of our present observations while introducing a new particle that provides a compelling candidate for the dark matter. Furthermore, crucial aspects of the strong dynamics can be described equally well by a gravitational dual and may shed light on stringy SUSY breaking.