Master and PhD student topics

Typical Master and PhD student topics can be

  • Indirect detection of the annihilation or decay products of dark matter is one of the key ingredients to determine the nature of dark matter. New telescopes in space and on Earth (e.g. Fermi-LAT, Planck, AMS-02, HESS, Magic) are now studying particle spectra that can give us the answers about dark matter. A student could work on exploring the consequences for theoretical dark matter models.
  • The Cherenkov Telescope Array will be the leading gamma-ray telescope for the next decades and is schedule for construction start in 2015. On the experimental side a student will help to develop advanced simulation software and new algorithms for the study of gamma-ray signals from dark matter, based on data and simulations from CTA, Fermi-LAT and HESS.
  • ESA's Euclid mission, to be launched in 2020, will observe 15 000 square degrees of the sky to measure redshifts for several tens of millions of galaxies, and provide a billion images to be used for weak-lensing studies. This huge dataset will provide a detailed view of the large-scale distribution of matter and the history of structure formation. In order to make the most of these observations, it is crucial to understand the signatures left by various dark matter candidates in the distribution of matter. A student will help to study study the impact of the properties of dark matter particles on the distribution of matter in the Universe.
  • We will use ATLAS data to search for dark matter particels directly produced by the LHC. In 2015, LHC will take data at 13 TeV center of mass energy and a student would help develop analysis for the new LHC data and potentially play a role in any discoveries.  Thus the optimal timing for such a PhD-position will be early 2015, in order to take full advantage of the new LHC data and potentially play a role in any discoveries.
  • The discovery of the Higgs boson and further presision mesurement of its properties with LHC data at 13 TeV could also give important information about dark matter. We would like to focus on precision measurements of the Higgs boson, the search for invisible Higgs decays, and the statistical interpretation of results within the range of experiments where the Endringsmiljø participates. A student could also help to study models where the Higgs boson provides a link to a new sector of so-far undiscovered particles, naturally including the type of self-interacting dark matter mentioned above.
  • A key ingredient in the search for dark matter is to analyze the implications of experimental results on the significant number of models that exist. A student could contribute to the study of the phenomenological interface between particle physics experiment and theory and combine information from astrophysics, astroparticle physics and particle physics.
Published Apr. 7, 2015 9:58 AM - Last modified Apr. 7, 2015 9:58 AM
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