Astroparticle Theory For Dark Sectors

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Theoretical research that accelerates the discovery of new fundamental physics and dark matter has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. I propose a research program to develop theoretical tools and new analyses leading to the discovery of dark matter and other novel fundamental physics. This will build on astroparticle experiments and astronomical observations already underway in Canada. The existence of dark matter has been established through its gravitational pull on stars and lensed starlight in galaxies. Its gravitational imprint has been extracted from miniscule fluctuations of photons produced in the early universe. The exact nature of dark matter remains a fundamental problem in modern physics. Many models predict that dark matter will have new, non-gravitational interactions with visible matter like electrons and protons, and methods to seek out dark matter are in high demand. Presently dark matter's interactions are sought deep underground by experiments sensitive to electrons and nuclei "bumped" by dark matter. While these experiments grow in scale and scope, additional means to seek out weakly interacting dark matter are called for, especially for dark matter beyond the reach of underground experiments. The focus of this research program will be to develop the theory and signatures of new dark matter models discoverable at existing underground dark matter experiments, along with new dark matter searches using telescope observations of neutron stars, gas clouds, and planets. Much of this work addresses dark matter at the "high mass frontier," more than a billion times heavier than a proton. As such, the cosmology of very heavy dark matter in the early universe, along with gravitational wave signatures of heavy dark sectors in the early universe will be determined. In addition, my dark sector research will extend to laboratory methods to find ultralight dark matter particles using highly coherent quantum preparations of excited atoms. The personnel trained over the course of this proposal, including two postdocs, four PhD students, six MSc students, and three undergraduates will be working at the frontier of dark matter detection in stars, gas clouds, atomic transitions, and signatures from the early universe. The technical skills they will obtain simulating, computing, and inventing astrophysical analyses and experimental methods will lead them to develop world class scientific acumen. They will be exposed to renowned theorists, techniques, and experimentalists to collaborate with, through lengthy stays at the Perimeter Institute and the eight astroparticle experimental faculty and their personnel at Queen's University. In addition, recently funded Canadian Fund for Innovation grants at Queen's include an astroparticle theory lab and astroparticle computing cluster, which will provide them with excellent computing power and rapid videoconferencing access to international collaborators.