TeV gamma-ray astronomy and the dark matter

In our Universe there is evidence that most of the matter is in the form of cold, dark, nonbaryonic matter. One candidate for this dark matter is the neutralino, the lightest, neutral, supersymmetric particle. The neutralino would annihilate other neutralinos and produce light at energies ranging from MeVs to TeVs. I discuss the possibility of using the technique of Gamma-Ray Astronomy, specifically ground based Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, to observe gamma rays due to exotic particle annihilation. TeV radiation has been observed from the direction of the center of the Milky Way, and I discuss the possibility that this radiation is due to neutralino annihilation in the dark matter halo. Additionally I took data with the Whipple 10m telescope on several promising, nearby elliptical galaxies, M33, M32, and the dwarf spheriod galaxies Ursa Minor and Draco. I derive upper limits for the gamma-ray flux from these objects and discuss the implications these limits have for models of the neutralino.