Phantom Fluid Cosmology -or- Ghosts for Gordon

Abstract

The quanta of phantom dark energy models are negative energy particles, whose maximum magnitude of energy $|E|$ must be less than a cutoff $\Lambda \lesssim 20$MeV. They are produced by spontaneous decay of the vacuum into phantoms plus normal particles. I review general cosmological constraints that have been derived from the effects of such phantom fluid production, and a possible application: the generation of boosted dark matter or radiation that could be directly detected. Recent excess events from the DAMIC experiment can be well-fit by such processes.

Comments: 10 dinky proceedings pages, 7 figures; presented at "Gravity, Strings and Fields: A Conference in Honour of Gordon Semenoff"; includes entertaining anecdotes and history