Faculty Advisor

Latimer, David

Area of Study

Science and Mathematics

Publication Date

Summer 2020

Abstract

A Majorana fermion is a particle which is its own antiparticle. As a consequence, their electromagnetic interactions are minimal. Because of this, they are a good candidate for dark matter with their sole static electromagnetic property being their anapole moment. The annihilation rate of Majorana fermions depends on whether their anapole moments are aligned (polarized) or anti-aligned (unpolarized). It is therefore important to understand how Majorana fermions polarize to better understand their annihilation rates. This can help us further understand and detect dark matter. Using Feynman diagrams, we calculate the cross section for the interaction between a Majorana fermion and a background current in which the Majorana fermion flips spin.

Award

Agricola

Publisher

University of Puget Sound

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