The PhD defence and trial lecture will be streamed. The chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the audience physically present in the auditorium to ask ex auditorio questions.
→ Request for thesis copy (available until the disputation starts)
Trial lecture
Time and place: December 13, 2024; 10:15 AM, - Lille Fysiske auditorium (V232) - Fysikkbygningen
Title:
"Gravitational waves: a century-long endeavour.
From theoretical predictions to discovery to gravitational wave astronomy"
Main research findings
While constituting five times the mass budget of known matter in the universe, dark matter is still a mystery even 100 years after the first hints of its existence. Wast effort has since been made theoretically and experimentally to understand the properties of this dark matter which to this day only manifest itself through its gravitational interactions. Dark matter is hypothesised to self-annihilate to gamma rays, which could be detected on earth and is a promising method for indirectly detection.
The upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next generation of telescopes which will be able to detect the most energetic gamma rays. CTA will be an excellent tool to search for the dark matter gamma ray signature due to its enhancement in collective area and energy resolution compared to current Cherenkov telescopes.
This work aims to give a realistic estimate of CTA sensitivity to dark matter signals, tightening the bond between theory and experiment by narrowing the properties of dark matter. This is especially relevant for a class of dark matter models within Super Symmetry (SuSy), a theoretical model which extends the known Standard Model of particle physics, where CTA will be the first telescope to probe a class of dark matter candidates from SuSy.
For a telescope still under construction much of the instrument performance is estimated from simulations. Thus it is important to quantify how much variation there will be in the sensitivity to dark matter based on these assumption about CTA performance. A thorough study on when any hints of dark matter can be expected based on its properties and CTA performance is conducted which will guide future observational strategy plan.
Adjudication Committee
- Professor Nicolao Fornengo, University of Turin and INFN, Italy.
- Dr. Elina Lindfors, University of Turku, Finland.
- Professor Larissa Bravina, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
- Professor Heidi Sandaker, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
- Professor Torsten Bringmann, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
Chair of defence
Professor Anette Eleonora Gunnæs, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
Candidate contact information
Phone: 41670664
E-mail: eirik.hatlen@gmail.com
Contact information to Department: Line Trosterud Resvold