This article presents an extensive review of the status of the search of the dark matter. The first eight
sections are devoted to topics in dark matter and its experimental searches, and the rest to selected
topics in astrophysics and cosmology, which are intended to supply some of the needed background for
students in particle physics. Sections 9 and 13 are introductory cosmology. The three astrophysical
topics, Big Bang nucleosynthesis Section 10, Boltzmann transport equation and freeze out of massive
particles Section 11, and CMB anisotropy Section 12 can all be studied in analytical approaches when
reasonable approximations are made. Their original analytically forms, to which this article follows
very closely, were given by particle physicists. Dark matter is an evolving subject requiring timely
update to stay current. Hence a review of such a subject matter would undoubtedly have something
wanting when it appears in print. It is hoped that this review can form a humble basis for those
graduate students who would like to pursue the subject of dark matter. The reader can use the
extensive table of contents to see in some details the materials covered in the article.
Rights:
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
