Country of origin: Malaysia
Subject: Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
Matriculation year: 2015
I find it inspiring how much humanity has been able to learn about the Universe through the mere act of looking up at the sky. We know, for instance, by watching distant galaxies recede from us that our Universe began 13.8 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since. We know, furthermore, that this expansion is accelerating and will inevitably reach such speeds that every star outside our Galactic local group will fade from view. We also know, from the pattern of scattered light left over from the Big Bang, that there are vast amounts of matter that we cannot see, but whose gravitational attraction we can feel. Of course, all of this knowledge raises many more questions we have yet to answer: What caused the Big Bang? What is forcing our Universe to accelerate? What makes up the “dark matter” that we cannot see?
Many of the leading theories today suggest that new fundamental particles are responsible—particles we have yet to detect. My research involves predicting how these particles behave in different situations in the hopes of finding ways to detect them indirectly. For example, I have contributed to the development of new mathematical techniques for efficiently calculating how these particles evolve around black hole binaries and how they would impact the signal of gravitational waves being emitted. I have also calculated the unique signal certain hypothetical particles would leave in high-precision laboratory experiments. In studying the properties of these particles, my work helps refine our understanding of what can and cannot explain some of our Universe’s deepest mysteries.
I obtained my undergraduate degree at University of Oxford (Master of Physics, 2011–2015, first class honours; member of Mansfield College)