Supervisor: Dr Hong Qi
Project description:
Dark matter has been an unsolved mystery for nearly a century. A lot of observational evidence showed its existence through its gravitational interactions with ordinary matter. However, its nature remains unknown. Is it made up of a new kind of fundamental particles or does it consist of invisible compact objects like black holes? Does it interact with ordinary matter through other forces than gravity? Numerous interesting proposals have been made to solve the mystery. However, we will only be guided to learn about the true nature of dark matter with the help of further observations. Very recently, gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO have been used to directly probe the existence of dark matter because of their high sensitivities to spacetime distortions. This project will test a specific dark matter candidate, namely, dark matter domain walls from a scalar field theory. According to the theory, dark matter domain walls could have weak interactions with the gravitational-wave detectors, which are made of ordinary matter. The PI has collaborated with two professors at Cardiff University in the search for dark matter domain walls from the observed data using the two LIGO detectors. The PhD student will extend the work to future observations using the LIGO detectors as well as the Virgo and the KAGRA detectors that use the same principles. After that, depending on the progress, the student can also extend the work to the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors.
This project will be led by the Ph.D. student and supervised by Dr. Hong Qi (PI). The student will have the opportunity to join the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and work in a global research collaboration environment. The student will also receive guidance from the PI’s dark matter work collaborators, including Prof. Patrick Sutton at Cardiff University and other LSC members.
Further information:
How to apply Entry requirements Fees and funding