Particle Physics and Dark Matter

Particle physics seeks the smallest constituents of matter and explains physical laws from their interactions. Among the four known fundamental forces — gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong forces — the three non-gravitational forces are described by the Standard Model, whose completion was confirmed by the Higgs boson discovery. The goal of particle physics is to explain phenomena beyond the Standard Model, such as dark matter, starting from the interactions of these fundamental constituents. This seminar introduces particle physics and dark matter and their connections, and highlights selected recent work on theory building for dark matter, baryogenesis, and cosmic inflation, along with recent approaches to high-energy theory and links to particle experiments and observations.