Reevaluating the Cosmological Origin of Dark Matter

Understand

The origin of dark matter as a thermal relic offers a compelling way in which the early universe was initially populated by dark matter.

• Alternative explanations typically appear exotic compared to the simplicity of thermal production.
• However, recent observations and progress from theory suggest that it may be necessary to be more critical.
• This is important because ongoing searches probing the microscopic properties of dark matter typically rely on the assumption of dark matter as a single, unique, thermal relic.