Quantum field theories of the dark universe group

Based primarily in the Particle Theory Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, UK

Welcome to our group website.

Our aim is to understand the fundamental natures of dark matter and dark energy . Together, these ingredients make up 95% of the energy density of our universe, and yet we do not know the origins of this dark universe in terms of elementary particles or forces.

We are not doing this on our own though. We are playing our part in global efforts to uncover the mysteries of the dark universe, one of the most challenging outstanding problems in modern physics.

Our focus is the applications of powerful mathematical frameworks, including  quantum field theory , which allow us to describe how subatomic particles move and interact with one another at the microscopic level.  This allows us to make predictions of what theories of dark matter and dark energy mean for astrophysics, cosmology, gravitation and particle physics.

Take a look at our blog to see what we are up to, or watch our videos (coming soon).  If you are a scientist (or a budding one), please take a look at our papers.  And if you have questions, please get in touch.

Thank you for visiting.

Our News

Our Team

Maxim Chernodub

Visitor

Maxim is a CNRS Senior Scientist (Directeur de recherche) at the Institut Denis Poisson, Université de Tours, France, working on quantum chromodynamics, the Casimir effect, lattice gauge theory and anomalous transport effects.

Yannick Kluth

Research Associate

Yannick is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester, specialising in the exact renormalisation group.

Andrei Lazanu

Research Associate

Andrei is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester, specialising in early Universe probes of scalar-tensor theories of gravity.

Peter Millington

Group Leader

Pete is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, specialising in applications of quantum field theory to particle physics and cosmology.​

Esra Sablevice

PhD Student

Esra is a third-year PhD student at the University of Manchester, working on non-Hermitian quantum field theories.

Michael Udemba

PhD Student

Michael is a second-year PhD student at the University of Manchester, working on semi-classical approaches in quantum field theory.

Our Papers

Our Codes

FeynMG
Sergio Sevillano Muñoz, Edmund J. Copeland, Peter Millington and Michael Spannowsky

FeynMG is a Mathematica package to manipulate scalar tensor theories of gravity into a form that can be processed within the FeynRules framework.

Our Engagements

Our Outreach

Our Connections

The affiliations of our collaborators, past and present.

Accessibility

We are committed to equality, diversity, inclusivity and accessibility.  If you think we are falling short, and the accessibility of this website or its content can be improved, please get in touch so that we can do better.

Sustainability

We are committed to improving the environmental sustainability of our research.

Where possible, external collaborations are maintained virtually. When it is essential to meet collaborators in person, e.g., to address particularly tricky aspects of a problem, we are in favour of “slow travel”.  This means that we take the train instead of the plane when we can, or make longer trips when feasible.

Our Funders

Opportunities

For details of current postgraduate study opportunities, see the University of Manchester Particle Physics Group webpage.

Get in Touch

Contact details for University of Manchester members can be found via the Particle Physics Group contacts page.

Privacy and GDPR
This page is maintained by Peter Millington. Copyright © 2023 QFT in the Dark.

dark matter

Dark matter makes up around 25% of our universe.  Its gravitational pull helped galaxies to form more quickly in the early universe. Today, that same gravitational pull determines how a galaxy’s stars and gas move, and how galaxies themselves move in galactic clusters.

dark energy

Dark energy makes up around 70% of our universe.  Our universe is expanding at an increasing rate – distant galaxies are accelerating away from us as the space between us expands – and dark energy is the driving force.

quantum field theory

Quantum field theory (QFT) is a mathematical framework that combines quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of space and time, his special theory of relativity.  It allows us to describe how subatomic particles move and interact with one another.