By Ryan Coupland

Faculty Mentor: Desmond Villalba

Abstract

The nature of dark matter remains elusive, yet predictions suggest that it should be about six times as prevalent compared to baryonic matter throughout the universe. Finding dark matter would hence be massive for expanding our understanding of our universe. Many ultra-sensitive direct detectors have been built, but these are costly and have yet to deliver any results likely due to their short observation timeframe. We have therefore considered indirect detectors in the form of minerals found deep underground. I have worked on modelling damage tracks through minerals that could be caused by dark matter as it passes through. Relevant geological time scales to indirect detection within these minerals span several billion years, and could offer a way of finding dark matter.