Searches for Particle Dark Matter: An Introduction
  The identity of dark matter is one of the key outstanding problems in both
particle and astrophysics. In this thesis, I describe a number of complementary
searches for particle dark matter. I discuss how the impact of dark matter on
stars can constrain its interaction with nuclei, focussing on main sequence
stars close to the Galactic Centre, and on the first stars as seen through the
upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. The mass and annihilation cross-section of
dark matter particles can be probed with searches for gamma rays produced in
astronomical targets. Dwarf galaxies and ultracompact, primordially-produced
dark matter minihalos turn out to be especially promising in this respect. I
illustrate how the results of these searches can be combined with constraints
from accelerators and cosmology to produce a single global fit to all available
data. Global fits in supersymmetry turn out to be quite technically demanding,
even with the simplest predictive models and the addition of complementary data
from a bevy of astronomical and terrestrial experiments; I show how genetic
algorithms can help in overcoming these challenges.
