The research team
Principal Investigators
Pr. Ariel Zhitnisky
University of British Columbia
Ariel Zhitnitsky is a professor of theoretical physics whose research connects QCD, particle physics, and cosmology.
One of his major contributions was the proposal, in 1980, of an invisible axion model now known as the Dine–Fischler–Srednicki–Zhitnitsky (DFSZ) model. This framework addresses the strong CP problem and remains a benchmark for experimental searches for axion dark matter. His work with Vladimir Chernyak also contributed to understanding exclusive processes in QCD and the internal quark structure of hadrons.
His current research explores how nonperturbative QCD phenomena could help explain the Universe’s dark sector.
Pr. Ludovic Van Waerbeke
University of Bristish Columbia
Ludovic Van Waerbeke is an observational cosmologist. He used gravitational lensing to investigate the distribution of matter and test cosmological models.
In 2000, he led one of the first detections of cosmic shear, the subtle distortion of distant galaxy images by intervening large-scale structure. This work helped establish weak gravitational lensing as a practical tool for cosmology. He subsequently contributed to the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey, which mapped dark matter across extensive regions of the sky. With collaborators, he also reported the first detection of a correlation between gravitational lensing and the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect, opening a way to study diffuse cosmic gas.
His current research combines cosmological observations with theoretical predictions to investigate the Univers's dark sector.
Postdoctal fellows
Dr. Xunyu Liang
University of British Columbia
Xunyu Liang is working with Ariel Zhitnitsky. His contributions include studies of how AQNs could form during the early Universe’s QCD transition, alongside calculations of their observable signatures. With collaborators, he has explored axion production, proposed networks of detectors to search for AQNs passages, and investigated whether unusual radio events observed by the ANITA and Telescope Array experiments could be explained within this framework.
His recent research examines the faint radiation that antimatter AQNs could produce through interactions with ordinary matter, including contributions to the Milky Way’s UV background and possible signatures in the CMB. He has also explored whether correlated beam-loss events at the LHC could provide an unconventional detection opportunity.
Dr. Kyle Lawson, Dr. Federico R. Urban, Dr. Igor Halperin, Dr. David H. Oakin, Alexander Mead,
Former UBC Postdoctoral fellows
Several former postdoctoral collaborators contributed to the development of Ariel Zhitnitsky’s research programme. Igor Halperin helped investigate the structure of the QCD vacuum, its dependence on the theta angle, and the associated domain walls and metastable states. David H. Oaknin explored connections between dense quark matter, the origin of the matter–antimatter asymmetry, and dark matter, including a proposed explanation for the Galactic 511 keV emission. Federico R. Urban helped develop proposals linking dark energy to the topological structure of the QCD vacuum and examined their cosmological implications. Kyle Lawson developed predictions for AQNs, investigating diffuse radiation, radio emission, and potential signals in cosmic-ray detectors.
UBC students
PhD Students
Fereshteh Majidi, Shuailiang Ge
M. Sc. students
Nayer Radza, Michael Sekatchev, Shahriar Rahim Siddiqui, Ben Scully
B. Sc. students
Egor Peshkov
International collaborations
University of Sheffield
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
University of Bochum
UNDER CONSTRUCTION