First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)

[Alex K]

Nicely explained once again.
I have a question regarding 'dark matter' as it's called, if you have the time. If neutrinos don't interact with the strong force but do with the weak force, would I be right in thinking 'dark matter' doesn't interect with either? I believe we can detect it indirectly by the gravitational effect it has on normal matter, but if my assumption is correct...why is this so?
Or am I talking out of my bumhole?

I'm not sure what your question is. It interacts with gravity because according to general relativity, anything that has energy bends space and interacts with gravity. As far as the weak force is concerned, the only valid answer is that noone knows whether Dark Matter interacts via the weak force. It might, but it doesn't have to. There are valid theory proposals for particle Dark Matter from either category.

For those particle dark matter candidate hypotheses that do interact via the weak force - and they are usually called WIMPs for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, specialized underground searches are under way, for example XENON, CDMS, DAMA/LIBRA and several I've forgotten. They more or less consist of a ultrasensitive (and possibly ultracold) sensor shielded deep underground in a mine, waiting for "hits".

There is one important class of dark matter particle candidates which do not interact with the weak force - the AXIONs. They can be detected using a peculiar effect: axions can be converted to photons in a strong magnetic field. The ADMX experiment consists of a closed cavity with a resonator and a strong magnetic field. It systematically scans through the resonator frequencies, hoping to observe axion dark matter - to - photon conversions in its cavity.