Chasing the Dark Matter Wind

​The nature of dark matter is one of the fundamental questions in physics today. A number of experiments have recently claimed to detect dark matter interactions, via both direct and indirect experimental methods, although none are yet independently confirmed. A world-wide race is on to directly observe dark matter particles interacting in terrestrial detectors; this search requires the most sensitive detectors and cleanest environments in the history of particle physics. The motion of our solar system around the galactic center should produce an apparent dark matter wind, which may enable the definitive observation of dark matter particles. The DMTPC collaboration is developing a novel approach to dark matter detection, based on the reconstructing the dark matter wind direction using CCD images of dark matter particle scatters. I will describe the evidence for dark matter, the status of current experimental searches, and the hunt for the dark matter wind.​​