Cosmological constraints on the properties of weakly interacting massive particles

Considerations of the age and density of, as well as the evolution of structure in, the universe lead to constraints on the masses and lifetimes of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The requirement that the observed large-scale structure of the universe be permitted to develop, leads to much more restrictive bounds on the properties of WIMPs than those which follow from considerations of the age and density of the universe alone.