Melissa Diamond

Queen's University

Postdoctoral Fellow - Particle Astrophysics

About

I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Queen’s University Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy. I am also a member of the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute. I got my PhD in 2022 from Johns Hopkins University. There, I worked with David E. Kaplan, studying phenomenology of Beyond the Standard Model particles, primordial black holes, and the behavior of heavy composite dark matter.

My current research covers a variety of topics around phenomenology, dark matter and astroparticle physics. I think about how to use compact objects such as neutron stars and white dwarfs to better understand different dark matter models. I have considered how Standard Model loop interactions make dark matter that interacts with the Standard Model observable to a wider range of detectors. I am also interested in primordial black holes, heavy dark matter composite structures, and study dark matter which only interacts with the Standard Model through gravity.