Lilianna Hariasz

Physics doctoral student in the Faculty of Science

Tell us a little about yourself, including what inspires you to learn and continue in your chosen field

I have always been driven to discover how the physical world around us functions at very fundamental levels. This curiosity led me to the study of Particle Physics, which describes all of the objects we see around us as being made up of the same handful of fundamental, subatomic building blocks (such as the electron). I am fascinated by this description of the matter which exists all around us, and equally so by remaining physical mysteries, such as the nature of dark matter.

Why did you choose to come to SFU?

I was very interested in the work of Prof. Gopolang Mohlabeng surrounding a variety of promising candidates for dark matter with feasible detection prospects. The proximity to TRIUMF with its world-class experiments and researchers is a plus!

How would you describe your research or your program to a family member?

There is an overwhelming supply of evidence that the majority of mass in the Universe is "dark", meaning different from the ordinary matter which we can see with our eyes or traditional telescopes. The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy is an example of a "dark" object. However, it seems very likely that most of the dark matter in the Universe behaves like a particle, or some group of particles, which interact with ordinary matter extremely infrequently. We believe that there is a cloud of these dark particles surrounding the Milky Way, and therefore they are constantly passing through the Earth! And yet, we know very little about the properties of dark matter due to the difficulties of detecting it in a laboratory. My research focuses on exploring various models for particle dark matter which could be coaxed into interacting with ordinary matter in terrestrial detectors. I strive to connect the most promising theoretical scenarios to current and upcoming experiments in order to answer a major question about the makeup of our Universe.

What three (3) keywords would you use to describe your research?

dark-matter, particle-physics, phenomenology

Have you been the recipient of any major or donor-funded awards? If so, please tell us which ones and a little about how the awards have impacted your studies and/or research

I am grateful to have received the Bert Henry Memorial Graduate Entrance Scholarship, which has allowed me to focus on research from the start of my studies at SFU.

Contact Lilianna:lilianna_hariasz@sfu.ca