Lessons for dark matter from nonstandard cosmologies

Most studies of the particle physics of the early Universe assume a simple standard thermal scenario of radiation domination between the end of cosmic inflation and the start of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. However, many well-motivated deviations from the standard scenario exist. In such nonstandard cosmologies many processes, including dark matter production, can be significantly affected. I will present a simple model of early matter domination and discuss how the properties of a dark matter axion produced through the misalignment mechanism and a dark matter WIMP produced through freeze-in change relative to the standard thermal model. Ensuing implications for discovery prospects of both dark matter candidates will also be presented.

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