The History of Dark Matter Research and Where It Takes Us

What is the world around us made of? And how did it come to be? These are some of the questions that have puzzled scientists and philosophers for centuries. Quantum Mechanics has enabled scientists to construct a robust theory for such constituents of nature and their interactions by which they have formed the universe. This theory succeeded in predicting new particles, and has stood experimental tests to this day; it is celebrated as the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM). However, there are some outstanding problems that the SM cannot fully explain. One is dark matter, which makes up 80% of matter in the whole universe. Although research shows dark matter seems to play a pivotal role in the formation of the cosmic structure we observe today, scientists do not yet know its particle identity: it has not been directly observed in laboratory experiments. Dark matter search is therefore one of the most urgent work in physics. In this talk, Ricky will first present the history of dark matter research, and then discuss how the research should be positioned in the overall history of scientific research.

Ricky has a background in particle theory and is currently a PhD student researching theoretical cosmology. Prior to his current research project, Ricky studied a number of different areas including organometallic and quantum chemistry, biological and optical physics, and abstract algebra. He is also taking part in other projects related to EDI and positionality in physics.