Stian Hartman and his quest for dark matter

"I expect to learn a lot every day, and I hope that my work will contribute to the quest for dark matter."

portrait photo of a young man with glasses

Stian Hartman, PhD students at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, UiO. Photo: UiO

Stian Thomas Heimdal Hartman is Norwegian and did bachelor and master in Physics at NTNU.

– My master thesis was on multicomponent superfluid Bose-Einstein Condensates. This is similar to my current project which is about superfluid dark matter.

Stian started working at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA) in September 2018 as a doctoral fellow in the cosmology group supervised by prof. David Mota and assoc. prof. Hans Winther.

Could dark matter be superfluid?

What is the aim of your research?

– I am studying structure formation using models for superfluid dark matter, and try to find probes for these models. The main question can therefore be formulated as "could dark matter be a superfluid?".

- What is your approach?

– My approach in answering the main question will be simulations on structure formation in the universe using superfluid models for dark matter.

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In superfluids we find very special vortices, and while they may not look like this artist's interpretation, they could provide a way to test if dark matter behaves as a superfluid. Credits: Markos Kay for Quanta Magazine

Amazing cosmology at ITA

Stian wanted to study cosmology at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA).

– I had heard they do amazing work there, and I always wanted to do a PhD in cosmology.

– What is your experience at ITA so far?

– My experience at ITA has been very positive so far due to the many great colleagues here working on interesting projects, and exciting trips abroad.

Stian looks forward to continuing working at ITA and living near Oslo.

– Your expectations?

I expect to learn a lot every day, and I hope that my work will contribute to the quest for dark matter.

By Martina D´Angelo
Published Mar. 5, 2020 12:32 PM - Last modified Jan. 5, 2024 10:09 AM