Martin White

Professor Martin White

Professor

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

I work as a particle astrophysicist, using searches in astrophysics and particle physics experiments to find and test new theories of what the universe is made of and how it came to be. This includes:

  • Co-leading the GAMBIT collaboration, a team of approximately 70 international particle and astrophysicists who perform detailed statistical fits of new physics models. These include new models of dark matter, and will soon include cosmological models and models that explain neutrino masses.
  • Co-leading the DarkMachines initiative, that is developing new applications of machine learning techniques in dark matter research.
  • Searches for new particles at the Large Hadron Collider, a giant particle accelerator located at CERN, Geneva. As a member of the ATLAS experiment, I search for supersymmetric particles and new Higgs-like particles, and I contribute to helping the middle of the detector function smoothly.
  • Working to improve the theoretical models of the new signals that we search for at the LHC, and in dark matter experiments
  • Working in the Australian Cherenkov Telescope Array consortium, who are participating in the building of a new, giant ground-based array of Cherenkov telescopes that are used to hunt for gamma rays from space. I am designing future dark matter searches, and using machine learning to improve gamma ray reconstruction.

Outside of physics, I founded and lead the University of Adelaide Data Analytics Working Group, which exists to share data science techniques between scientific disciplines. Current projects include using machine learning to find illegal wildlife trades in global shipping containers, and developing new techniques for automated feature detection in cybersecurity applications.

I am also highly involved in science outreach programmes including:

  • Regular visits to Australian schools
  • Co-author and co-star of the BBC-sponsored RiAus show "The Science of Fiction: Dr Who" that toured Australian theatres in 2014, and returned at the BBC Australian Dr Who festival in 2016.
  • Regular print, radio and TV appearances
  • A recent book in the UK Institute of Physics "Physics World Discovery" series on "What's Next For Collider Physics?".

In the following two lectures, I cover my research work at high school level:

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2022 - ongoing Professor University of Adelaide
    2020 - 2022 Interim Deputy Dean Research (Faculty of Sciences) University of Adelaide
    2019 - ongoing Associate Professor University of Adelaide
    2015 - ongoing ARC Future Fellow University of Adelaide
    2013 - 2015 Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2010 - 2013 Research Associate University of Melbourne
    2006 - 2010 Research Associate University of Cambridge
    2002 - 2002 Research intern Smartbead Technologies