The physics of dark matter and hidden particles

The Universe is indescribably vast, with at least 100 billion galaxies composed of around 100 billion stars each. However, all of the light we see from these stars is only a small fraction of the total mass in the Universe: more than 80% of the matter is instead made up of "dark matter", and we don't know what it is or what it's made of. Our group does research in particle physics, and by studying the tiniest components of nature we seek to understand the composition and forces that make up dark matter.

The particle physics group at HMC is making progress on this question in two main ways. For the first, we study how new elementary particles and the interactions between them and known particles influence the evolution of the universe shortly after the Big Bang. This includes calculating particle interaction rates, and solving differential equations modeling the evolution of various particle abundances both analytically and numerically. For the second, we derivethe experimental implications of models with new particles: what would they look like in high-energy particle colliders and other experiments? This includes doing simulations and analyzing simulated data to propose new search strategies using existing or future experiments, as well as in some instances directly analyzing experimental data to look for unexpected signals of hidden particles. HMC is a member of the BaBar Experiment, which was an electron-positron collider experiment based at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, and our local BaBar group has helped establish several world-leading constraints on certain dark matter models; we also use data and simulations to study the signals of hidden particles at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. 

Short Paragraph "Essay": tell me a bit about why you are interested in doing research, what appeals to you about research in particle physics, and if you have particular skills that could contribute to research in our group (including tackling open-ended problems or projects, computational skills, math/physics training, communication, etc).  Optional: if there are any aspects of your personal or educational circumstances that you would like me to take into account in evaluating your responses or academic record, or anything else you would like me to know, feel free to comment on these. I will keep your answers confidential.

Please be sure to include an unofficial transcript and contact information of a reference in your application.