Giorgio Busoni

— Giorgio Busoni

ARC Grant-Funded Researcher (B)

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

My research interests are in the theory and phenomenology of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) Physics, with a particular focus on dark matter searches, astroparticle physics, and cosmology. I explore how dark matter interacts with ordinary matter, how it might be detected in experiments or through astrophysical observations, and how new theoretical frameworks can help explain the unknown components of our universe.


Theoretical Model Building

Underlying all these search strategies is the question: what could dark matter actually be?
I work on constructing and testing theoretical models of dark matter that are consistent with fundamental physics and make testable predictions. For example, I showed that some widely used simplified models had internal inconsistencies, and I developed frameworks that resolve these issues.

This ensures that experiments — whether deep underground, in the cosmos, or at colliders — interpret their results using models that truly reflect the laws of nature. Model building thus acts as the “bridge” between theory and experiment, guiding searches toward the most promising directions.

Direct Detection of Dark Matter

One of the most promising strategies to uncover the nature of dark matter is direct detection. In these experiments, ultra-sensitive underground detectors look for the faint signals that dark matter particles might leave when colliding with atoms.

A major frontier in direct detection is the so-called “neutrino floor”. Neutrinos — ghost-like particles produced abundantly in the Sun, the atmosphere, and even supernovae — can also interact with detectors in ways that look very similar to dark matter. As detectors become more sensitive, they will eventually reach a point where neutrino signals become an irreducible background, creating a “fog” that makes dark matter extremely difficult to distinguish. This boundary is called the neutrino floor.

My research examines strategies to probe below the neutrino floor. One key direction is directional detection: while neutrinos mostly arrive from known sources (like the Sun), dark matter should flow through the Earth in a preferred direction set by our motion through the galaxy. By developing models and analysis methods that exploit this distinction, we can help future detectors tell apart dark matter signals from neutrinos, pushing the boundaries of discovery.
 


Capture of Dark Matter in Stars

Stars, and especially compact objects such as neutron stars and white dwarfs, provide natural laboratories for exploring dark matter. As dark matter particles pass through a star, they can lose energy and become gravitationally bound, gradually accumulating inside.

I have developed new methods to calculate how dark matter is captured in such extreme environments. These works go well beyond earlier approaches by consistently accounting for a wide range of physical effects, including:

  • General relativity (the curvature of spacetime in compact stars),
  • Realistic stellar structure (using advanced equations of state),
  • Relativistic kinematics and generalised dark matter interactions,
  • Degenerate matter effects, where quantum mechanics governs how densely packed particles behave,
  • The internal structure of hadrons and their modifications under extreme densities,
  • Pauli blocking, stellar opacity, and multiple scattering effects.

This comprehensive framework has revealed new signatures of dark matter in stars and provided one of the most precise methods to estimate capture rates. Importantly, this line of research offers a possible way to probe dark matter below the neutrino floor, since stellar environments are sensitive to particle interactions that terrestrial detectors may never be able to isolate.
 


Collider Searches for Dark Matter and Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Another approach to discovering dark matter is to attempt to create it in the laboratory, using the world’s most powerful particle accelerator: the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Dark matter particles cannot be seen directly in the detectors, but they would reveal themselves through missing energy, as if something invisible carried momentum away.

My early research played a key role in reshaping how collider collaborations interpret their results. I showed that the then-standard theoretical framework had serious consistency problems, and I proposed alternatives that are now widely used by the ATLAS and CMS experiments. These collaborations, which together involve over 9,000 scientists, have since adopted these methods in their dark matter searches.

Beyond dark matter, my collider research also investigates broader BSM physics, seeking evidence of new particles and forces that could extend or replace the Standard Model of particle physics.

 

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2024 Arcadi, G., Busoni, G., Cabo-Almeida, D., & Krishnan, N. (2024). Is there a scalar or pseudoscalar at 95 GeV. Physical Review D, 110(11), 115028-1-115028-28.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS2
    2024 Anzuini, F., Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Motta, T. F., Robles, S., Thomas, A. W., & Virgato, M. (2024). Improved treatment of dark Matter capture in neutron stars III: nucleon and exotic targets (vol 2021, 056, 2021). JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS, 2024(4), 12 pages.
    DOI WoS3
    2024 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2024). Heavy dark matter in white dwarfs: multiple-scattering capture and thermalization. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2024(7), 051-1-051-34.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2
    2024 Abdel Khaleq, R., Busoni, G., Simenel, C., & Stuchbery, A. E. (2024). Impact of shell model interactions on nuclear responses to WIMP elastic scattering. Physical Review D, 109(7), 075036-1-075036-21.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2
    2024 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2024). Thermalization and annihilation of dark matter in neutron stars. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2024(4), 006-1-006-36.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS11
    2022 Busoni, G. (2022). Capture of Dark Matter in Neutron Stars. Moscow University Physics Bulletin, 77(2), 301-305.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS6
    2021 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Ramirez-Quezada, M. E., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2021). Improved treatment of dark matter capture in white dwarfs. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2021(10), 38 pages.
    DOI Scopus42 WoS40
    2021 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2021). Improved treatment of dark matter capture in neutron stars II: Leptonic targets. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2021(3), 31 pages.
    DOI Scopus48 WoS52
    2021 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Motta, T. F., Robles, S., Thomas, A. W., & Virgato, M. (2021). Nucleon structure and strong interactions in dark matter capture in neutron stars. Physical Review Letters, 127(11), 111803-1-111803-6.
    DOI Scopus53 WoS56
    2021 Anzuini, F., Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Motta, T. F., Robles, S., Thomas, A. W., & Virgato, M. (2021). Improved treatment of dark matter capture in neutron stars III: Nucleon and exotic targets. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2021(11), 056-1-056-43.
    DOI Scopus35 WoS35
    2020 Zurowski, M. J., Barberio, E., & Busoni, G. (2020). Inelastic Dark Matter and the SABRE experiment. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2020(12), 20 pages.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS5
    2020 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2020). Improved treatment of dark matter capture in neutron stars. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2020(9), 52 pages.
    DOI Scopus90 WoS91
    2020 Arcadi, G., Busoni, G., Hugle, T., & Tenorth, V. T. (2020). Comparing 2HDM + scalar and pseudoscalar simplified models at LHC. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2020(6), 37 pages.
    DOI Scopus22 WoS21
    2020 Boveia, A., Buchmueller, O., Busoni, G., D'Eramo, F., De Roeck, A., De Simone, A., . . . Zurek, K. (2020). Recommendations on presenting LHC searches for missing transverse energy signals using simplified s-channel models of dark matter. Physics of the Dark Universe, 27, 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus56 WoS52
    2020 Abercrombie, D., Akchurin, N., Akilli, E., Maestre, J. A., Allen, B., Gonzalez, B. A., . . . Penning, B. (2020). Dark Matter benchmark models for early LHC Run-2 Searches: Report of the ATLAS/CMS Dark Matter Forum. Physics of the Dark Universe, 27, 64 pages.
    DOI Scopus141 WoS148
    2020 Abe, T., Afik, Y., Albert, A., Anelli, C. R., Barak, L., Bauer, M., . . . Zhou, C. (2020). LHC Dark Matter Working Group: Next-generation spin-0 dark matter models. Physics of the Dark Universe, 27, 29 pages.
    DOI Scopus62 WoS68
    2019 Albert, A., Backović, M., Boveia, A., Buchmueller, O., Busoni, G., De Roeck, A., . . . Zinser, M. (2019). Recommendations of the LHC Dark Matter Working Group: Comparing LHC searches for dark matter mediators in visible and invisible decay channels and calculations of the thermal relic density. Physics of the Dark Universe, 26, 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus49 WoS47
    2019 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Robles, S. (2019). Capture of leptophilic dark matter in neutron stars. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2019(6), 25 pages.
    DOI Scopus83 WoS91
    2019 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2019). Erratum: Loop effects in direct detection (Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (2018) (017) DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2018/08/017). Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2019(1), 2 pages.
    DOI Scopus11 WoS11
    2018 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Robles, S. (2018). Heating up neutron stars with inelastic dark matter. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2018(9), 19 pages.
    DOI Scopus87 WoS93
    2018 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2018). Loop effects in direct detection. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2018(8), 21 pages.
    DOI Scopus46 WoS44
    2018 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2018). Two Higgs doublet dark matter portal. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2018(1), 32 pages.
    DOI Scopus28 WoS24
    2017 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Scott, P., & Vincent, A. C. (2017). Evaporation and scattering of momentum- and velocity-dependent dark matter in the Sun. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2017(10), 33 pages.
    DOI Scopus40 WoS45
    2017 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2017). Self-consistent Dark Matter simplified models with an s-channel scalar mediator. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2017(3), 34 pages.
    DOI Scopus50 WoS36
    2016 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Kobakhidze, A., Long, D. M., & Schmidt, M. A. (2016). Unitarisation of EFT amplitudes for dark matter searches at the LHC. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2016(8), 23 pages.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS14
    2015 Abdallah, J., Araujo, H., Arbey, A., Ashkenazi, A., Belyaev, A., Berger, J., . . . Zurek, K. (2015). Simplified models for dark matter searches at the LHC. Physics of the Dark Universe, 9-10, 8-23.
    DOI Scopus325 WoS312
    2015 Busoni, G., De Simone, A., Jacques, T., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2015). Making the most othe relic density for dark matter searches at the LHC 14TeV Run. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2015(3), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus28 WoS27
    2014 Pettorino, V., Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Morgante, E., Riotto, A., & Xue, W. (2014). Can AMS-02 discriminate the origin of an anti-proton signal?. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014(10), 15 pages.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS13
    2014 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Jacques, T., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2014). On the validity of the effective field theory for dark matter searches at the LHC part III: Analysis for the t-channel. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014(9), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus94 WoS101
    2014 Busoni, G., De Simone, A., Gramling, J., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2014). On the validity of the effective field theory for dark matter searches at the LHC, part II: Complete analysis for the s-channel. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014(6), 25 pages.
    DOI Scopus128 WoS136
    2014 Busoni, G., de Simone, A., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2014). On the validity of the effective field theory for dark matter searches at the LHC. Physics Letters Section B Nuclear Elementary Particle and High Energy Physics, 728, 412-421.
    DOI Scopus204 WoS207
    2013 Busoni, G., De Simone, A., & Huang, W. C. (2013). On the minimum dark matter mass testable by neutrinos from the Sun. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2013(7), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus48 WoS58
    - Busoni, G., Gargalionis, J., Wallace, E. N. V., & White, M. J. (2025). Emergent symmetry in a two-Higgs-doublet model from quantum information and nonstabilizerness. Physical Review D, 112(3).
    DOI

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2022 Busoni, G. (2022). Capture of Dark Matter in Compact Stars. In A. Lindote, A. S. Nunes, & H. Santos (Eds.), Proceedings of Science Vol. 380 (pp. 6 pages). ELECTR NETWORK, Lab Instrumentat & Expt Particle Phys: PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENCE.
    2022 Busoni, G. (2022). Capture of DM in Compact Stars. In Proceedings of Particles and Nuclei International Conference 2021 — PoS(PANIC2021) (pp. 046). Sissa Medialab.
    DOI
    2022 Busoni, G. (2022). Capture of DM in Compact Stars. In Proceedings of 41st International Conference on High Energy physics — PoS(ICHEP2022) (pp. 275). Bologna, Italy: Sissa Medialab.
    DOI
    2021 Arcadi, G., & Busoni, G. (2021). 2HDM + scalar and pseudoscalar-simplified models at LHC. In Proceedings of the 55th Rencontres de Moriond - 2021 Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, EW 2021 (pp. 61-66).
    2014 Busoni, G., De Simone, A., Gramling, J., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. W. (2014). Limitation of EFT for DM interactions at the LHC. In Proceedings of XXII. International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects — PoS(DIS2014) (pp. 134). Sissa Medialab.
    DOI

  • Preprint
    Year Citation
    2025 Busoni, G., Gargalionis, J., Wallace, E. N. V., & White, M. J. (2025). Emergent symmetry in a two-Higgs-doublet model from quantum information
    and magic.
    2024 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2024). Heavy Dark Matter in White Dwarfs: Multiple-Scattering Capture and
    Thermalization.
    2023 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2023). Thermalization and Annihilation of Dark Matter in Neutron Stars.
    2023 Khaleq, R. A., Busoni, G., Simenel, C., & Stuchbery, A. E. (2023). Impact of shell model interactions on nuclear responses to WIMP elastic
    scattering.
    2023 Arcadi, G., Busoni, G., Cabo-Almeida, D., & Krishnan, N. (2023). Is there a (Pseudo)Scalar at 95 GeV?.
    2022 Busoni, G. (2022). Capture of Dark Matter in Neutron Stars.
    2021 Anzuini, F., Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Motta, T. F., Robles, S., Thomas, A. W., & Virgato, M. (2021). Improved Treatment of Dark Matter Capture in Neutron Stars III: Nucleon
    and Exotic Targets.
    2021 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Ramirez-Quezada, M. E., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2021). Improved Treatment of Dark Matter Capture in White Dwarfs.
    2020 Zurowski, M. J., Barberio, E., & Busoni, G. (2020). Inelastic Dark Matter and the SABRE Experiment.
    2020 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2020). Improved Treatment of Dark Matter Capture in Neutron Stars II: Leptonic
    Targets.
    2020 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Robles, S., & Virgato, M. (2020). Improved Treatment of Dark Matter Capture in Neutron Stars.
    2020 Arcadi, G., Busoni, G., Hugle, T., & Tenorth, V. T. (2020). Comparing 2HDM $+$ Scalar and Pseudoscalar Simplified Models at LHC.
    2019 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Robles, S. (2019). Capture of Leptophilic Dark Matter in Neutron Stars.
    2018 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Robles, S. (2018). Heating up Neutron Stars with Inelastic Dark Matter.
    2018 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2018). Loop Effects in Direct Detection.
    2018 Abe, T., Afik, Y., Albert, A., Anelli, C. R., Barak, L., Bauer, M., . . . Zhou, C. (2018). LHC Dark Matter Working Group: Next-generation spin-0 dark matter models.
    2017 Albert, A., Backovic, M., Boveia, A., Buchmueller, O., Busoni, G., Roeck, A. D., . . . Zinser, M. (2017). Recommendations of the LHC Dark Matter Working Group: Comparing LHC
    searches for heavy mediators of dark matter production in visible and
    invisible decay channels.
    2017 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2017). Two Higgs Doublet Dark Matter Portal.
    2017 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Scott, P., & Vincent, A. C. (2017). Evaporation and scattering of momentum- and velocity-dependent dark
    matter in the Sun.
    2016 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., & Sanderson, I. W. (2016). Self-consistent Dark Matter Simplified Models with an s-channel scalar
    mediator.
    2016 Bell, N. F., Busoni, G., Kobakhidze, A., Long, D. M., & Schmidt, M. A. (2016). Unitarisation of EFT Amplitudes for Dark Matter Searches at the LHC.
    2016 Boveia, A., Buchmueller, O., Busoni, G., D'Eramo, F., Roeck, A. D., Simone, A. D., . . . Zurek, K. (2016). Recommendations on presenting LHC searches for missing transverse energy
    signals using simplified $s$-channel models of dark matter.
    2016 Busoni, G. (2016). Large Extra Dimensions at LHC Run 2.
    2015 Abdallah, J., Araujo, H., Arbey, A., Ashkenazi, A., Belyaev, A., Berger, J., . . . Zurek, K. (2015). Simplified Models for Dark Matter Searches at the LHC.
    2015 Abercrombie, D., Akchurin, N., Akilli, E., Maestre, J. A., Allen, B., Gonzalez, B. A., . . . Zucchetta, A. (2015). Dark Matter Benchmark Models for Early LHC Run-2 Searches: Report of the
    ATLAS/CMS Dark Matter Forum.
    2014 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Jacques, T., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2014). Making the Most of the Relic Density for Dark Matter Searches at the LHC
    14 TeV Run.
    2014 Pettorino, V., Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Morgante, E., Riotto, A., & Xue, W. (2014). Can AMS-02 discriminate the origin of an anti-proton signal?.
    2014 Busoni, G. (2014). Limitation of EFT for DM interactions at the LHC.
    2014 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Jacques, T., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2014). On the Validity of the Effective Field Theory for Dark Matter Searches
    at the LHC Part III: Analysis for the $t$-channel.
    2014 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Gramling, J., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2014). On the Validity of the Effective Field Theory for Dark Matter Searches
    at the LHC, Part II: Complete Analysis for the s-channel.
    2014 Abdallah, J., Ashkenazi, A., Boveia, A., Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Doglioni, C., . . . Zurek, K. (2014). Simplified Models for Dark Matter and Missing Energy Searches at the LHC.
    2013 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., Morgante, E., & Riotto, A. (2013). On the Validity of the Effective Field Theory for Dark Matter Searches
    at the LHC.
    2013 Busoni, G., Simone, A. D., & Huang, W. -C. (2013). On the Minimum Dark Matter Mass Testable by Neutrinos from the Sun.

Graduate teaching

  • Lecturer at ARC CoEPP (Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Terascale) graduate school (2017)
  • Lecturer of ``Quantum Field theory II" in the Master of Theoretical Physics at ANU (2022)
  • Convener of ``Quantum Field theory II" in the Master of Theoretical Physics at ANU (2023-2024)
  • Lecturer at ARC CoE DMPP (Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics) ECR Workshop  (2022)
  • Lecturer at the `Canberra International Physics Summer School 2023 ``Fields and Particles"' (6 lectures on the Standard Model of Particle Physics)

Undergraduate teaching

  • Undergraduate and master student project supervision (ANU, 2022-2024)

     

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Dark Matter Theory and Physics Beyond the Standard Model Adelaide University - Master Full Time Ewan Neil Verschuer Wallace
    2024 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Theoretical High Energy Physics Adelaide University - Doctorate Full Time Kenn Shern Goh
    2022 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Impact of nuclear structure on elastic scattering of weakly interacting particles with nuclei Australian National University - Doctorate Full Time Raghda Abdel Khaleq
    2021 - ongoing Principal Supervisor Two-Higgs Simplified Models for Dark Matter Detection Australian National University - Doctorate Full Time Navneet Krishnan
  • Position: ARC Grant-Funded Researcher (B)
  • Phone: 83131589
  • Email: giorgio.busoni@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Physics, floor First Floor
  • Room: 114C
  • Org Unit: Physics
Connect With Me
External Profiles