Towards understanding thermal history of the Universe through direct and
  indirect detection of dark matter
  We examine the question to what extent prospective detection of dark matter
by direct and indirect- detection experiments could shed light on what fraction
of dark matter was generated thermally via the freeze-out process in the early
Universe. By simulating putative signals that could be seen in the near future
and using them to reconstruct WIMP dark matter properties, we show that, in a
model- independent approach this could only be achieved in a thin sliver of the
parameter space. However, with additional theoretical input the hypothesis
about the thermal freeze-out as the dominant mechanism for generating dark
matter can potentially be verified. We illustrate this with two examples: an
effective field theory of dark matter with a vector messenger and a higgsino or
wino dark matter within the MSSM.
