Searches for Beyond the Standard Model Phenomena with the HAWC Detector

The universe is known to be dominated by a class of matter known as dark matter. No known particles possess the necessary characteristics to make up this dark sector. Possible extensions to the Standard Model produce promising candidates, in particular Weakly Interacting Massing Particles (WIMPs). Under this hypothesis, it may be possible to probe dark matter with high-energy gamma-rays. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) detector is a contemporary experiment sensitive to multi-TeV cosmic gamma rays and able to observe approximately two thirds of the sky in any given day. With these properties, HAWC is able to search for high-mass classes of WIMPs from the dark matter halo surrounding the Milky Way galaxy and set strong constraints on dark matter annihilation and decay into gamma rays.