Andrew Long, U Michigan & Rice U. Title Making and Measuring Ultra-Light Matter
Abstract: Abstract: In this talk I will discuss a new model for producing ultra-light, dark photon dark matter and a new observational strategy for probing ultra-light, axion-like particles. In regard to dark photons, it is notoriously difficult to explain how this dark matter candidate was produced in the early universe, and I will discuss how dark photons can arise from a network of cosmic strings. In regard to axions, it is well-known that the anomalous cooling of compact stars can provide an indirect probe of these weakly-coupled particles, and I will discuss how X-ray observations of magnetic white dwarf stars provide a new test of these theories.