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WIMPs, weakly-interacting massive particles, have been leading candidates for particle dark matter for decades, and they remain a viable and highly motivated possibility. In these lectures, I describe the basic motivations for WIMPs, beginning with the WIMP miracle and its under-appreciated cousin, the discrete WIMP miracle. I then give an overview of some of the basic features of WIMPs and how to find them. These lectures conclude with some variations on the WIMP theme that have by now become significant topics in their own right and illustrate the richness of the WIMP paradigm. 

Abstract The workshop “Shedding light on X17” brings together scientists looking for the existence of a possible new light particle, often referred to as X17. This hypothetical particle can explain the resonant structure observed at $$\sim $$ ∼  17 MeV in the invariant mass of electron-positron pairs, produced after excitation of nuclei such as $$^8\hbox {Be}$$ 8 Be and $$^4\hbox {He}$$ 4 He by means of proton beams at the Atomki Laboratory in Debrecen. The purpose of the workshop is to discuss implications of this anomaly, in particular theoretical interpretations as well as present and future experiments aiming at confirming the result and/or at providing experimental evidence for its interpretation.