Dark Matter — the backbone of our Universe

Oliver Hahn
oliver.hanh@oca.eu
Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur Laboratoire Lagrange Boulevard de l'Observatoire CS 34229 06304 NICE France

Our current cosmological model tells us that 80 per cent of the mass in our Universe
must be in the form of dark matter. The hunt for the particle that constitutes this dark component of our Universe is one of the biggest open quests in current physics. The dynamics of dark matter particles shape the large-scale structure of our Universe and provide the building blocks for the formation of galaxies. I will give on overview over what we know about dark matter and how we model it in big computer simulations of the formation of structure in the universe, and thus how we hope to get closer to understanding its nature.