Summary of Research Interests

My research interests lie at the intersection of particle physics, cosmology, and astrophysics. I primarily work on connecting theoretical models of dark matter to their cosmological and astrophysical signatures. Some questions I like to think about are:

  1. Given well-motivated models of dark matter, what observable signatures do they yield, and how would we look for them?

  2. Conversely, if we detect strange astrophysical or cosmological phenomena, can these be attributed to dark matter?

  3. If we expect signatures of dark matter to show up in our cosmological data sets but we don’t see them, can we use these to constrain dark matter?

  4. What information can we extract from gravitational wave data to tell us about the role of dark matter in the formation and evolution of the binary mergers, as well as its role in the propagation of the gravitational waves?

Below you can find brief summaries of the various topics of research I am interested in. A full and updated list of my publications can be found on my INSPIRE.

Note: $^\dagger$standard alphabetical list of authors following HEP convention.

Dissipative Dark Sectors and (Dark) Structure Formation

If dark matter is not a single particle, but is composed of several dark particles, this dark sector could produce novel phenomena that we could look for. In particular, if dark matter is able to dissipate and lose energy through dark interactions, then this could significantly modify our picture of structure formation in the Universe. If these dark interactions are very efficient, one can form a population of dark compact objects – celestial, dark objects which are analgous to stars and planets. I study how structure formation occurs in these dark sectors, from their initial conditions to the end of their lives, along with associated observable signatures.

Searching for Dark Compact Objects

Dark compact objects can result from dissipative dark sectors or exotic cosmological scenarios (see above). This leads to new ways to go and hunt for dark matter in datasets which study (regular) compact objects, such as in microlensing data or gravitational wave data. I am interested in studying how one can use these datasets to place constraints on the population of dark compact objects, their formation mechanisms, and the fundamental properties of their constituent particles.

Using Gravitational Waves to Study Cosmology

Almost 10 years ago, LIGO reported the first observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger. Since then, gravitational waves have been used to study black holes, neutron stars, dark matter, all the complex astrophysics involved their formation and evolution, as well as the history of our Universe. I am interested in how one can use these relatively new signals to study the connection between dark matter, cosmology, and astrophysics.

Alternatives to Inflation

Although inflationary models of the very early Universe can explain the observations in the Cosmic Microwave Background, they are not the only ones. A Universe which begins in a contracting phase before “bouncing” and expanding can also produce similar observable features, at the cost of violating the null energy condition – potentially resulting in instabilties and superluminal propagation. I studied how Cuscuton gravity can source a bouncing cosmology without these instabilities or violating causality, with predictions consistent with observations.