Theoretical astroparticle physics

Elementary particle physics relates in many diverse ways to fundamental questions of the universe. What makes up the "dark matter" that determines the dynamics of galaxies and cosmic structures? What explanation can account for the "dark energy" that is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate? Why is there normal matter in the universe, but hardly any antimatter? What role do neutrinos play in cosmology and astrophysics? Where are the astrophysical accelerators that are responsible for high-energy cosmic rays?

The theoretical astroparticle group is engaged with some of these fundamental questions. One central topic is exploring what influence neutrinos have on supernova explosions, and what can be learned from that about the properties of neutrinos. A special area of focus is investigating the role of novel particles that interact even more weakly than neutrinos, as candidates for dark matter. Examples are the so-called axions or sterile neutrinos. Furthermore, the group ties together findings from astrophysical and cosmological observations with the results of ground-based experiments, to maximize our knowledge of particle physics.

Group "Theoretical astroparticle physics"

E-mail address: e-mail@mpp.mpg.de
Phone number: +49 89 32354-extension
name function e-mail extension office
Abbar, Sajad, Dr. Postdoc abbar 517 A.3.14
Brenner, Anja PhD Student abrenner TUM TUM
Diehl, Johannes PhD Student diehl 464 A.2.73
Raffelt, Georg, Dr. Senior Scientist raffelt 234 A.3.32
Steffen, Frank Daniel, Dr. Senior Scientist steffen 335 A.3.91
Stodolsky, Leo, Dr. Emeritus les 231 A.3.05
Sturm, Annette Secretary asturm 482 A.3.45

  • Alexandra Dobrynina (University Yaroslavl, Russia)
  • Javier Redondo (University of Zaragoza, Spain)
  • Irene Tamborra (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark)

Fast Pairwise Conversion of Supernova Neutrinos: A Dispersion-Relation Approach
I. Izaguirre, G. Raffelt, I. Tamborra
Phys.Rev.Lett. 118 (2017) 021101
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.021101

Dielectric haloscopes: A new way to detect axion dark matter
A. Caldwell, G. Dvali, B. Majorovits, A. Millar, G. Raffelt,
J. Redondo, O. Reimann, F. Simon, F. Steffen
(MADMAX Working Group).
Phys.Rev.Lett. 118 (2017) 091801
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.091801

Primordial gravitational waves, precisely: The role of thermodynamics in the Standard Model
K. Saikawa, S. Shirai
JCAP 1805 (2018) 035
DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2018/05/035