About
Katherine Mack’s research focus is in cosmology: the study of the history, evolution, composition, and future of the cosmos. Rather than pursuing either theory building or data-gathering, she works in phenomenology, which aims to make connections between a physical theory and its observational or theoretical implications. She is particularly interested in the nature of dark matter: the mysterious and invisible stuff that binds galaxies together and makes up most of the matter in the universe. While researchers have good evidence to suggest that dark matter exists, its nature (as an as-yet-uncharacterized particle or some even more mysterious phenomenon) is still a matter of speculation and debate. Mack’s approach is to study the effect dark matter interactions may have had on the first galaxies that formed, over 13 billion years ago. She also works on problems relating to black holes, the very early universe, and the ultimate fate of the cosmos.
Awards
- Goodnight Early Career Innovators Award, NC State University, 2021
- Simons Emmy Noether Fellowship, Perimeter Institute, 2020
- Women in Physics Lectureship, Australian Institute of Physics, 2012
- Excellence in Engagement - Public Value Award, University of Melbourne, 2016
- Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, Australian Research Council, 2012
Relevant Publications
- Mack, K.J., Song, N. & Vincent, A.C. (2020). Signatures of microscopic black holes and extra dimensions at future neutrino telescopes. Journal of High Energy Physics, 04, 187. DOI: 10.1007/JHEP04(2020)187
- Mack, K.J. & McNees, R. (2019). Bounds on extra dimensions from micro black holes in the context of the metastable Higgs vacuum. Physical Review D, 99(6), 063001. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.99.063001
- Schon, S., Mack, K.J. & Wyithe, S.B. (2018). Dark Matter Annihilation in the Circumgalactic Medium at High Redshifts. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 474(3), 3067-3079. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx2968