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.