Observational Signatures of Dark Matter

This review includes a description of the origin and evolution of the term “dark matter” as an observationally needed element of the Universe structure. The first context of this term was in fact a “missing mass” which was discovered as a deficit of luminous matter to explain all the observed gravity governing the motion inside galaxies and between them. Generally, the missing mass can be explained by non-radiating baryons. However, later it was understood that dark matter plays a key role in cosmological models of the Universe as a whole, and it must be strictly non-baryonic in cosmology. The main role of dark matter is domination in gravitation, resulting in the large-scale structure development. Based on the role of dark matter in the evolution of the Universe, the astrophysicists–theorists have been able to formulate a list of its properties: it must be particles (bodies), without electromagnetic charge, dynamically cold (non-relativistic), and without self-interaction. However, specific particles that could make up dark matter are not found yet in laboratory experiments.