Dark geometry

Abstract

Extra-dimensional theories contain additional degrees of freedom related to the geometry of the extra space which can be interpreted as new particles. Such theories allow to reformulate most of the fundamental problems of physics from a completely different point of view. In this essay, we concentrate on the brane fluctuations which are present in brane-worlds, and how such oscillations of the own space-time geometry along curved extra dimensions can help to resolve the Universe missing mass problem. The energy scales involved in these models are low compared to the Planck scale, and this means that some of the brane fluctuations distinctive signals could be detected in future colliders and in direct or indirect dark matter searches.