Research

My research concerns the question how the world works at the fundamental level. More specifically, I study physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. Research topics include neutrino physics, dark matter, the early universe and string phenomenology. Some of the corresponding questions are outlined in LunchTalk21, given in a graduate student lecture series at UCI  in 2021.

  • Neutrinos are the only standard model particles some of whose properties we do not know at present. Are they their own antiparticles? What is the absolute neutrino mass scale?
  • There is strong evidence for the existence of dark matter, which cannot be made of standard model particles. Popular dark matter candidates are superpartners and axions.
  • A consistent evolution of the early universe requires new degrees of freedom beyond the standard model such as the inflaton. The explanation of the observed baryon asymmetry also requires physics beyond the standard model.
  • We observe four forces in Nature, electromagnetism, the weak and strong forces, and gravity. The first three forces are described in quantum field theory and gravity by general relativity. The most promising candidate for a unified description of all four forces is string theory. String phenomenology concerns the question of how to embed particle physics into this scheme.

Some recent talks (not a complete list)