= Weakly interacting massive particle
{title2=WIMP}
= WIMP
{c}
{synonym}
A <weakly interacting massive particle> is a massive dark-matter candidate whose interaction strength permits thermal production and later <cosmological particle freeze-out>. Its relic abundance depends on the annihilation rate and cosmological history, not on its mass alone. At nucleosynthesis temperatures a 50 GeV example is nonrelativistic: its equilibrium density is reduced by <Boltzmann suppression>, while an already frozen relic population need not follow the equilibrium density. Its effect on nucleosynthesis depends on whether the surviving energy density is appreciable or whether it injects reaction-altering products.
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