Congratulations to undergraduate student Owen Leonard, who is receiving a Goldwater Scholarship for 2025-26! Owen is a junior studying both astronomy and physics and will work with Prof. Raymond Co in physics to study axions, subatomic particles as dark matter candidate. Leonard also serves as President of the Physics Club.
Owen explains that axions are currently one of the most popular candidates to explain dark matter. He notes specifically that the QCD axion also solves the standard model's charge/parity problem for the strong force between baryons. He is conducting the first lattice simulations on some of the more likely QCD axion models. These simulations are crucial for generating accurate dark matter predictions for these models. The nonlinear dynamics at play in particle production can lead to dark matter abundances that can significantly diverge from analytical approximations.
Goldwater Scholarships are among the oldest and most prestigious scholarships in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering in the US, awarded to students with the potential for significant future contribution to research in their fields.
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