Electron excitation-based direct detection experiments are at the forefront of the search for MeV-GeV mass light dark matter. My work provides precise theoretical predictions for dark matter-electron interaction rates in these experiments. Using non-relativistic effective field theories, I also explore the broader phenomenology of dark matter-electron interactions, helping to interpret current results and guide future experiments.

Selected Publications

• The Non-Relativistic Effective Field Theory Of Dark Matter-Electron Interactions
• EXCEED-DM: Extended Calculation of Electronic Excitations for Direct Detection of Dark Matter
• Extended Calculation of Dark Matter-Electron Scattering in Crystal Targets

The next generation of direct detection experiments must have lower, meV-scale, thresholds to search down to keV mass fermionic dark matter. Collective excitations, such as phonons and magnons, naturally have meV-scale excitation energies and are therefore promising target excitations. My research explores how dark matter interacts with collective excitations, and how experimental ideas from quantum sensing can be used to aid in their detection.

Selected Publications

• Determining Spin-Dependent Light Dark Matter Rates From Neturon Scattering
• Effective Field Theory of Dark Matter Direct Detection With Collective Excitations
• Multi-Channel Direct Detection of Light Dark Matter: Target Comparison

Ultralight bosons, with masses below an eV, are some of the most theoretically well-motivated DM candidates. From QCD axions and axion-like particles, to dark photons which couple to charge or baryon number, there are a wide range of compelling ultralight bosonic dark matter candidates. This wide range of candidates has a similarly vast phenomenology, requiring the development of diverse technologies to pursue detection. My research searches for axions and dark photons beyond the reach of current experiments through novel applications of current technology and the design of new detectors.

Selected Publications

• MOSAIC: Magnonic Observations of Spin-dependent Axion-like InteraCtions
• Piezoelectric Bulk Acoustic Resonators For Dark Photon Detection
• Physical Signatures of Fermion-Coupled Axion Dark Matter

Recent results from the DAMIC collaboration, using electronic excitations in silicon targets, have begun to rule out theoretically well-motivated dark matter candidates at MeV-GeV masses. While parameter space for the simplest light dark matter models is still available at sub-MeV masses, out of the reach of electron-based direct detection, now is the time to consider the next-to-simplest models that can be searched for with the next generation of experiments. My research focuses on finding cosmologically viable dark matter models with novel low-energy phenomenology.

Selected Publications

• Infrared Freeze-In of Magnetic Dipole Dark Matter
• Absorption of Vector Dark Matter Beyond Kinetic Mixing

The search for dark matter requires creating new detection technologies, and leveraging the sensitivity of experiments that are in operation today. My research seeks to understand how pulsar timing arrays can be used to search for dark matter and our expand our understanding of the universe before recombination. I am an associate member of the North American Nanohertz Gravitational Wave Observatory (NANOGrav), and use this membership to search for new physics signatures directly inside the newest datasets.

Selected Publications

• The NANOGrav 15-year Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics
• Constraining Fundamental Constant Variations from Ultralight Dark Matter with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Pulsar Timing Probes of Primordial Black Holes and Subhalos

While space-based interferometers and pulsar timing arrays are poised to revolutionize the exploration of gravitational waves at low frequencies, the search for gravitational waves above a kHz remains a relatively unexplored frontier. My research is interested in understanding how other direct detection experiments can be leveraged to search for high-frequency gravitational waves, as well as understanding if there are well-motivated beyond the Standard Model sources of these high-frequency gravitational waves.

Selected Publications

• Listening For New Physics With Quantum Acoustics
• Searching for High-Frequency Gravitational Waves with Phonons