Katherine Mack

Research Interests

My research is primarily in theoretical cosmology and early universe physics, with an emphasis on the physics and astrophysics of dark matter — the mysterious substance that makes up most of the matter in the Universe. While particle experimentalists search for signs of a new fundamental particle that could be the dark matter, astrophysicists hope to find signatures of dark matter’s particle interactions in astrophysical environments. My work focuses on how dark matter’s particle interactions may have affected the first stars and galaxies to form in the Universe, and how existing and future telescopes observing distant galaxies and the intergalactic medium can be used to glean information about dark matter microphysics. I’m also interested in exotic physics in the early universe: new models of dark matter formation, extra dimensions, Big Bang relics, and the physics of the Higgs field.

Research Areas