EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL MATTER IN THE COSMOS IS MADE UP OF SOME INVISIBLE SUBSTANCE WHICH WE KNOW VERY LITTLE OF AND THUS REFER TO AS "DARK MATTER". THE IDENTITY OF DARK MATTER IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MYSTERIES IN THE UNIVERSE. RELATED BIG QUESTIONS ARE THE COSMOLOGICAL EPOCH AFTER INFLATION AND BEFORE BIG BANG NUCLEOSYNTHESIS (BBN) AND HOW DARK MATTER EVOLVES DURING THE PERIOD OF WHICH OUR KNOWLEDGE IS AGAIN VERY LIMITED. THE TRADITIONAL POPULAR RESPONSE TO THESE QUESTIONS IS TO TURN TO THE MINIMAL MODELS OF A SINGLE COLD COLLISIONLESS PARTICLE WITH A THERMAL HISTORY. STILL CONFRONTED WITH THE RICHNESS AND COMPLEXITY OF THE VISIBLE WORLD AROUND US IT IS TANTALIZING TO IMAGINE THAT THE DARK WORLD COULD BE SIMILARLY COMPLEX FULL OF STRUCTURES FORCES AND MATTER THAT ARE INVISIBLE TO US. IN ADDITION FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLE PHYSICS SUGGESTS THAT RICH PHENOMENA COULD ARISE IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE IN BETWEEN THE INFLATION AND BBN WITH DIFFERENT DARK MATTER EVOLUTION. THE QUESTIONS ARE THEN: WHAT COULD BE THE NON-MINIMAL DARK MATTER DYNAMICS AND COSMOLOGICAL EVOLUTION CONSISTENT WITH THE EXISTING DATA BUT NOT FULLY EXPLORED IN THE CURRENT RESEARCH? HOW COULD WE TEST THEM? THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL IS TO BROADEN THE SCOPE OF DARK MATTER SEARCHES AND DEVELOP A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE COSMOLOGICAL POST-INFLATION HISTORY PRIOR TO BBN BY CONSTRUCTING A MORE COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF PARTICLE PHYSICS MODELS AND INTERPRETING CURRENT AND NEAR-FUTURE ASTROPHYSICAL DATA IN TERMS OF THE NEW MODELS. ALL THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLE PHYSICS ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY. MORE SPECIFICALLY THE PI WILL INVESTIGATE THE CONSEQUENCES OF DARK MATTER SELF-INTERACTIONS IN TWO NON-MINIMAL DARK MATTER SCENARIOS: A) ULTRALIGHT SCALAR DARK MATTER (AXION-LIKE PARTICLES) AND B) PARTIALLY INTERACTING (DISSIPATIVE) DARK MATTER EACH REPRESENTING A DISTINCTIVE TYPE OF DARK MATTER DYNAMICS. THE PI WILL ALSO EXPLORE NONLINEAR PROCESSES IN A NON-THERMAL COSMOLOGICAL HISTORY WITH AN EARLY MATTER DOMINATION ERA ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD THERMAL ONE AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR DARK MATTER AND DARK SECTORS. NOVEL ASTROPHYSICAL PROBES OF THE NON-MINIMAL DARK MATTER SCENARIOS SUCH AS GRAVITATIONAL WAVES AND STELLAR KINEMATICS WILL BE THOROUGHLY EXAMINED. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ADDRESSES NASA'S ASTROPHYSICS OBJECTIVE TO DISCOVER HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS EXPLORE HOW IT BEGAN AND EVOLVED. IT WILL EXPLORE NEW AREAS IN THE DARK MATTER LANDSCAPE ENRICHING AND ADVANCING THE KNOWLEDGE OF DARK MATTER PHYSICS AS WELL AS FURTHERING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERLYING PARTICLE PHYSICS RELATED TO DARK MATTER. IT WILL UTILIZE RAPIDLY GROWING ASTROPHYSICAL DATA INCLUDING THOSE COLLECTED BY NASA SPONSORED MISSIONS SUCH AS FERMI PLANCK AND THE FUTURE LISA OFFER NEW ANGLES TO INSPECT AND INTERPRET DATA AND MAXIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF THEORETICAL INFORMATION THAT CAN BE EXTRACTED FROM THE OBSERVATIONAL DATA.