2021
David Curtin
Physicist expanding knowledge of Universe’s most fundamental physical laws
2021
Physicist expanding knowledge of Universe’s most fundamental physical laws
The Universe holds so many unanswered questions, including about fundamental laws that operate at the smallest scales. In this area, theoretical particle physicist David Curtin is working to unlock the answers.
“For example, gravity is a fundamental law, as is electromagnetism,” he says. “Others are not as easily apparent; things like nuclear forces and what kinds of different particles are inside a nucleus. What are forces by which they interact? Where does all this come from? And why are they the way they are?”
A Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Particle Physics at the University of Toronto, Dr. Curtin is a 2021 winner of the Sloan Fellowship. The award recognizes his important contributions in areas such as the behaviour of quantum fields during the Big Bang; the Higgs Boson; theoretical work related to the search for dark matter; and questions driving the construction of the next generation of detectors and high-energy particle accelerators.
Dr. Curtin’s quest for answers to stubborn questions is seen in his proposal to build an innovative experiment named MATHUSLA to find previously undetectable particles generated by the Large Hadron Collider. Dr. Curtin is one of the leaders of the international collaboration behind the project.
A multidisciplinary approach is key, he says, in the search for new physics.
“Sometimes you need to knock on the door of your astronomy colleagues and hope one of them talks to you and explains something about stars to you,” he says.
“You have to sort of dip your toe into some of these other fields, because the consequences of new laws of particle physics can show up everywhere.”
Dr. Curtin predicts the next 10 years will see “certain cosmological and astrophysical observations that will greatly increase our information about dark matter and the cosmic microwave background – which has to do with the Big Bang – and this could provide the first definitive measurements of some physics that is new, that is different.”
His current work connects with precision cosmology, which Dr. Curtin describes as “an incredibly exciting field that is going to get a lot of previously unheard-of data and the interface with particle physics could reveal some very fundamental information. I see this interface with cosmology astrophysics as one of the most exciting areas and I’m working on trying to take advantage of that.”
On winning the Sloan Fellowship, Dr. Curtin says, “It was incredibly delightful news. It’s rarely given to theoretical particle physicist, so I’m very honoured.”
