Rebecca K. Leane
MIT Center for Theoretical Physics

Many of the fundamental processes powering our Universe can be explained to high precision by the Standard Model (SM) of Particle Physics. However, the SM cannot be a complete description of nature, as it completely fails to offer any explanation for several striking phenomena. Solutions to such problems usually require the introduction of new particles, including unknown matter or unknown force carriers, labelled as Beyond the SM (BSM) physics. In fact, as much as 95 percent of the energy-matter content of the Universe is expected to be BSM. I specialize in the ubiquitous yet mysterious matter contribution to the Universe, dark matter (DM), and its interplay with other BSM physics. DM leaves fingerprints throughout space and time, but has still not revealed its fundamental particle nature. My work to expose its identity spans a large fraction of DM research arenas, including proposed searches for BSM physics at particle colliders, theoretical model building, and searches for BSM particles in astrophysical and cosmological settings, including the early Universe, the Milky Way and other galaxies, neutron stars, kilonovae, and the Sun. My breadth of experience in DM allows me to make connections among these unique environments, and identify the important interplay with many areas of BSM physics.

You can find me on inSPIRE, arXiv, and Google Scholar.