Aaron Vincent
Assistant Professor, Queen’s University
Aaron is a member of the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute (McDonald Institute) whose research topics cover many areas in theoretical astroparticle physics and cosmology. These include high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, cosmic rays, gamma rays and. A central theme in his research is the search for the particle nature of dark matter (DM), and the many non-gravitational effects DM models can produce in astrophysics and cosmology, as well as in the lab here on Earth.
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About Aaron
Aaron holds a PhD from McGill, where he worked with Jim Cline on positron signatures of dark matter in the Milky Way. Since then, he has worked at the Instituto de Física Corpuscular (Institute for Particle Physics) at the Unviersity of Valencia on neutrinos and cosmology, the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) at Durham University on various aspects of dark matter phenomenology and most recently was a Junior Research Fellow in the astrophysics group at Imperial College London. Prof. Vincent was appointed to Assistant Professor at Queen’s University in 2018 where he continues research on many aspects of astroparticle phenomenology and cosmology with emphasis on the particle nature of dark matter, and the search for novel ways to identify it.
About the research
Aaron is particularly interested in the effects of dark matter on stars like the Sun, along with its interactions with other messengers including neutrinos and the cosmic microwave background. Another active research area is the interpretation and possible scientific uses of the high-energy astrophysical neutrinos recently seen by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole.
Students in astroparticle theory get to tackle questions about the fundamental nature of the Universe through the lenses of particle and astrophysics and the surprising interconnections between these fields. Most students arrive with a strong background in physics; some knowledge of astronomy is useful but not necessary. At Queen’s they may take courses in quantum field theory, particle physics, cosmology, and aspects of astrophysics that relate to their research themes.
Working in the group
The Queen’s High Energy and Astroparticle Theory (QHEAT) group currently consists of two Principle Investigators (Vincent & Bramante), four postdoctoral researchers and a dozen or so students at PhD, masters and undergraduate levels. Students often work on projects with each other or with postdocs, and have the chance to meet and collaborate with astroparticle scientists from around the World. The group gets together every week to discuss the latest papers in the field, and (in normal times) meet for lunch every day, in addition to regular project meetings. Because QHEAT works between worlds, members attend particle physics and astronomy group meetings and seminars, which gives them the chance to be immersed in both disciplines.
For Aaron, the goal of graduate studies is to begin the transition from student to investigator: being comfortable with the unknown, and developing the skills required to pick out interesting science questions and determine what tools are needed to solve them.
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