[en] The book begins with the papers devoted to the experimental search of signatures of the dark matter which governs the evolution of the Universe as a whole. A series of contributions describe the presently considered experimental techniques (cryogenic detectors, supraconducting detectors...). A real dialogue concerning these techniques has been instaured between particle physicists and astrophysicists. After the progress report of the particle physicists, the book provides the reader with an updated situation concerning the research in cosmology. The second part of the book is devoted to the analysis of the backgrounds at different energies such as the possible role of the cooling flows in the constitution of massive galactic halos. Any search of dark matter implies necessarily the analysis of the spatial distributions of the large scale structures of the Universe. This report is followed by a series of statistical analyses of these distributions. These analyses concern mainly universes filled up with cold dark matter. The last paper of this third part concerns the search of clustering in the spatial distribution of QSOs. The presence of dark matter should affect the solar neighborhood and related to the existence of galactic haloes. The contributions are devoted to the search of such local dark matter. Primordial nucleosynthesis provides a very powerful tool to set up quite constraining limitations on the overall baryonic density. Even if on takes into account the inhomogeneities in density possibly induced by the Quark-Hadron transition, this baryonic density should be much lower than the overall density deduced from the dynamical models of Universe or the inflationary theories

[en] We construct realistic models for the galactic halo. We vary parameters in these models and explore the effects on the estimates of detector event rates. There is at a factor 4 uncertainty in the number of WIMPs captured by the Sun due to our ignorance of the local halo velocity distribution function and ambiguity in the local density of dark matter. The halo velocity distribution function influences both the event rate and the amplitude of the annual modulation in the event rate in direct detection experiments

[en] We present a simulation of neutrino transport in supernovae, in which the neutrino gas and the scattering medium are treated as two fluids exchanging energy and momentum. The method covers the whole range between the optically thick and thin regimes. We present some tests of the method, including energy transfer between matter and neutrinos and thermalization

[en] We have recently extended the Southern Sky Redshift Survey (SSRS) both in angular coverage and depth. In the first case we have nearly completed a survey of galaxies northwards ofδ=-17.5⁰, extending the SSRS to the southern limit of the CfA Redshift Survey atδ=-2.5⁰, for galactic latitudes south of b=-30⁰. Completion of this extension allows us to examine the large-scale distribution of galaxies in the Southern Galactic Cap over a contiguous area of 3.13 steradians, in particular, the extent of some of the structures observed in the region covered by the SSRS. In the second case we have carried out a deeper survey in the region -40⁰≤δ≤-30⁰, to probe in more detail the structures and voids previously detected in this strip. Here we present a preliminary discussion of our findings

[en] I provide an overview, from a particle physics perspective, of the candidates, and prospects for detecting dark matter

[en] Superheated superconducting granules (SSG) provide several interesting targets fot cold dark matter detection, not only through coherent scattering off nuclei, bur also for Majorana fermions through spin-spin interactions. The concept of localized micro-avalanche should introduce crucial improvements in SSG devices and, eventually, make feasible a cold dark matter detector based on nucleus recoil. Recent results on the metastability of very large granules also suggest that a SSG large area monopole detector may be feasible, if the theoretically conjectured detection principle (destruction of the superheated state by two injected flux quanta) is checked experimentally. We also consider the use of special crystal scintillators to detect Majorana fermions through inelastic scattering

[en] Speckle interferometric observations of the Population II astrometric binary star μ-Cassiopeiae have been made at four different epochs with a direct imaging CCD system. Using the available orbital data on the system, the masses of the stars have been found to be Mp = 0.728 ± 0.049 sun mass and M_s = 0.171 ± 0.008 sun mass. Application of the theoretical mass-luminosity law to the primary yields a helium abundance of 0.23 ± 0.05 by mass for an assumed system age of 14 billion years

[en] Facing with observational evidence of large voids in the galaxy distribution, a new statistical indicator is developed which allows a quantification of voids properties at each scale of work. A systematic analysis of the Center for Astrophysics redshift survey allows to compare the statistical properties versus the size and location of the sub-sample tested, the luminosity class and morphological type involved, and a confrontation with theoretical models. A scaling invariance will be evidenced in the distribution

[en] We discuss in general terms the problem of detecting and identifying weakly-interacting particles in our galactic halo via the observation of nuclei recoiling from elastic scatters. Emphasis is placed on experimental signatures and on detector requirements as to size, energy sensitivity and background. The problems are illustrated with three popular dark-matter candidates: heavy Dirac neutrinos, supersymmetric photinos, and cosmions (particles invented to solve the solar-neutrino problem). Recent progress in the construction of suitable detectors is discussed

[en] We have instrumented the FMMF fine-grained neutrino detector at Fermilab with high-resolution scintillation timing counters to search by Time-Of-Flight for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in the Tevatron neutrino beam. In a recent exposure of about 5*10¹⁷ 800 GeV protons on target, we accumulated a sample of nearly 10⁵ fiducial interactions, and recorded a comparable number of test-beam calibration interactions. We describe this search experiment here in detail, and give a preliminary review of the detector performance