Discovering the dark sector with astroparticle phenomenology

宇宙中85%的物质都不见了：天文观测毫无疑问地表明，某种形式的暗物质(DM)正在施加强大的引力影响，但它的性质仍然未知。天体粒子物理学将亚原子物理的研究与天体物理学和宇宙学的数据联系起来。我们的研究计划的目标是调查在寻找DM方面受到相对较少关注的三个有希望的流派。它们是：1)粒子DM在银河系恒星生死中的作用；2)DM与中微子之间的联系，2015年诺贝尔奖授予阿瑟·B·麦克唐纳(女王奖)背后的幽灵粒子；3)有趣的额外空间维度的可能性，这可能导致在早期宇宙中产生小黑洞，并可能构成宇宙失踪物质的一小部分。这些黑洞可以相当快地蒸发：这种消失的行为可以提供关于暗部门性质的进一步线索。方法：这笔赠款将培训一组学生和博士后研究人员来调查每一条河流。首先将涉及DM对恒星的影响的理论计算，然后是对太阳和其他恒星可能产生的影响的详细的超级计算机模拟。这些将与最新的数据进行测试，包括盖亚卫星调查的10亿颗恒星。流2将需要结合理论物理计算、现象学(理论与实验的联系)和最先进的统计技术来尝试和破译哪些实验，包括南极冰立方中微子天文台等中微子望远镜，以及加拿大一台名为P-One的新中微子望远镜，可以告诉我们关于黑暗部分和新的黑暗力量的信息。流三将结合分析和数值计算来确定额外维度如何影响宇宙学，包括大爆炸期间轻元素的产生，整个宇宙中星系的分布，以及与未来大型强子对撞机的后继者之间的联系。影响：我们工作的主要影响将是让我们更接近了解暗物质本身的性质。我们的工作应该会带来对恒星演化、中微子物理的新见解，并有可能找到“等级问题”的答案：为什么引力比其他基本力弱得多？除了获得粒子物理和天文学的核心知识外，还将对人员进行竞争性技能培训，包括高级研究计算、机器学习、贝叶斯数据分析、写作和演示。

85% of the matter in the Universe is missing: astronomical observations show beyond any doubt that some form of Dark Matter (DM) is exerting a strong gravitational influence, but its nature remains unknown. Astroparticle physics links the study of subatomic physics with data from astrophysics and cosmology. The objective of our research program is to investigate three promising streams which have received comparatively little attention in the search for DM. These are: 1) the effect of particle DM in the life and death of stars in our galaxy; 2) the connection between DM and neutrinos, the ghostly particles behind the 2015 Nobel Prize awarded to Arthur B. McDonald (Queen's), and 3) the intriguing possibility of extra dimensions of space, which can lead to the production of small black holes in the early Universe and may constitute a fraction of the Universe's missing matter. These black holes can evaporate rather quickly: this disappearing act can provide further clues about the nature of the dark sector. Methods: This grant will train a team of students and postdoctoral researchers to investigate each of these streams. The first will involve theoretical calculations of DM's effect in stars, followed by detailed supercomputer simulations of possible effects on the Sun and other stars. These will be tested against the latest data, including the 1 billion stars surveyed by the Gaia satellite. Stream two will require a combination of theoretical physics calculations, phenomenology (the connection of theory with experiment), and state-of-the-art statistical techniques to try and decipher what experiments, including neutrino telescopes such as the South Pole IceCube Neutrino Observatory, and a new neutrino telescope in Canada called P-ONE, could tell us about the dark sector and new dark forces. Stream three will involve a combination of analytical and numerical calculations to determine how extra dimensions affect cosmology, including the production of the light elements during the Big Bang, and the distribution of galaxies throughout the Universe, and the link with future successors to the Large Hadron Collider. Impacts: the main impact of our work will be to bring us closer to understanding the nature of dark matter itself. Our work should lead to new insights into stellar evolution, neutrino physics, and potentially find answers to the "hierarchy problem": why is gravity so much weaker than the other fundamental forces? Personnel will be trained in competitive skillsets that include advanced research computing, machine learning, Bayesian data analysis, writing and presentation, in addition to acquiring core knowledge in particle physics and astronomy.