CAREER: New Dimensions in Particle Dark Matter & Physics Pedagogy

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This CAREER award funds the research activities of Professor Philip Tanedo at the University of California, Riverside.The vast majority of the matter in our galaxy is not composed of protons, neutrons, or electrons. We call this unknown component "dark matter". While we are certain of its existence, the properties of dark matter remain a tantalizing mystery. Discovering the masses and interactions of the dark matter particles would therefore illuminate the cosmological history of the known universe. Progress towards this goal requires a robust theoretical framework within which to interpret the observational data from a range of scientific instruments, from colliders to telescopes. Professor Tanedo will lead a research program to develop new theories of dark matter that can explain why it has eluded our laboratory tests, and show how upcoming experiments may reveal its properties. This project is also envisioned to have significant broader impacts. Professor Tanedo will incorporate his research results into secondary and post-secondary education, including bilingual Spanish/English outreach materials for local public schools. Professor Tanedo's research and outreach further the national interest by advancing our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature and by promoting full participation of under-represented groups in science.More technically, Professor Tanedo will develop models where dark matter interacts through a nearly-conformal gauge sector in the large-N limit. This mediator sector is described by a dual five-dimensional theory with bulk fields that can have a continuous 4D spectrum and a small mass gap. This is a particularly compelling scenario whose experimental signatures can differ dramatically from those of conventional dark sector models. Professor Tanedo will identify benchmark models of this type that realize the observed dark matter density and motivate novel experimental searches. He will elucidate the new signatures through which one could discover dark matter in these models; these include fractional-power law self-interactions, efficient capture on compact objects, and modified distributions in fixed-target experiments. In the education and outreach component of this project, Professor Tanedo will assess how targeted science communication training can support the full participation of under-represented groups in physics. He will collaborate with UC Riverside's Hispanic Studies Program to develop and deploy student-produced bilingual educational material to local high school students. These efforts will be assessed through the science identity framework and will contribute to our understanding of methods to reduce the barriers to entry into physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.