Weakly interacting massive particle in the context of "Cold dark matter"

Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) are hypothetical particles that are one of the proposed candidates for dark matter.

There exists no formal definition of a WIMP, but broadly, it is an elementary particle which interacts via gravity and any other force (or forces) which is as weak as or weaker than the weak nuclear force, but also non-vanishing in strength. Many WIMP candidates are expected to have been produced thermally in the early Universe, similarly to the particles of the Standard Model according to Big Bang cosmology, and usually will constitute cold dark matter. Obtaining the correct abundance of dark matter today via thermal production requires a self-annihilation cross section of ${\displaystyle \langle \sigma v\rangle }$ ≃ 3×10 cm⋅s, which is roughly what is expected for a new particle in the 100 GeV/c mass range that interacts via the electroweak force.