Astrophysical Searches for New Physics

超出标准模型的一些最令人信服的物理学证据来自天体物理学——观测结果告诉我们，宇宙95%的能量预算由暗物质和暗能量组成。天体物理学为我们提供了在实验室中不可能重现的能量和距离尺度，因此是寻找新物理学的理想场所。博士项目将使用现有和即将到来的望远镜的数据来寻找暗物质的身份和其他新的物理场景。一个很好的暗物质候选者是轴子——一种在弦理论紧化中出现的超轻粒子，作为强CP问题的解决方案。在背景磁场中，轴子和光子可以相互转换。这一过程将在天体物理磁场中产生引人注目的特征，下一代望远镜可能会观测到这些特征。该博士项目将分析恒星、星系和星系团中轴子-光子相互作用的影响，并旨在开发寻找轴子的新方法。除了研究轴子现象学外，计算机模拟和统计分析是这项工作的重要组成部分。对新物理学的另一个强有力的探索是超辐射——围绕旋转恒星或黑洞的玻色子场的指数放大。这项工作本质上更偏向于数学。博士项目将研究不同环境下的超辐射，研究可能阻止它的因素以及如何观察它

Some of our most compelling evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model comes from astrophysics - the observations which tell us that 95% of the universe's energy budget comprises Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Astrophysics gives us access to energy and distance scales that would be impossible to reproduce in a lab, and is therefore an ideal setting to search for new physics. The PhD project will use data from existing and upcoming telescopes to search for the identity of Dark Matter and for other new physics scenarios.One well motivated Dark Matter candidate is the axion - an ultralight particle that arises in string theory compactifications and as a solution to the strong CP problem. In a background magnetic field, axions and photons can interconvert. This process would produce striking signatures in astrophysical magnetic fields, which may be observed by the next generation of telescopes. The PhD project will analyse the effect of the axion-photon interaction in stars, galaxies and galaxy clusters and aim to develop novel ways of searching for axions. As well as studying axion phenomenology, computer simulation and statistical analysis are a major part of this work. Another powerful probe of new physics is superradiance - the exponential amplification of a bosonic field around a rotating star or black hole. This work is more mathematical in nature. The PhD project will study superradiance in different settings, looking at factors that may prevent it and at how it could be observed