Master thesis defense
19 June, Viktor Damsgaard Skarby succefully defended his Master thesis
Viktor’s MSc thesis defense on June 19 marked the successful completion of a project at the intersection of nanoscale light–matter interaction and high-energy physics in the context of dark matter—a particularly unusual combination requiring broad and advanced physics expertise. Bridging these fields is inherently challenging, as it requires connecting abstract particle-physics models with the detailed electromagnetic response of complex nanophotonic structures across vastly different length and energy scales.
During his project, he developed and applied a powerful simulation framework in close collaboration with his co-supervisor Dr. Eduardo Dias (MSCA postdoc), enabling the modelling of axion-induced electromagnetic sources and their interaction with a wide range of nanophotonic environments. The framework was used to evaluate and optimize potential detection schemes, with the present work focusing on graphene plasmonic structures while remaining broadly applicable to other material platforms and geometries. In this context, nanostructuring is used to strongly enhance and channel the extremely weak axion-induced signals into detectable photon emission via resonant plasmonic modes. The work was supervised by Dr. Eduardo Dias and Prof. Joel Cox at POLIMA—Center for Polariton-driven Light-Matter Interactions, and Prof. Manuel Meyer in the Experimental Dark Matter group at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy.
Viktor’s results provide a solid methodological foundation that strengthens the connection between nanophotonics theory and experimental dark matter searches, and will inform future detection concepts in Prof. Meyer’s experimental programme.
During his project, he developed and applied a powerful simulation framework in close collaboration with his co-supervisor Dr. Eduardo Dias (MSCA postdoc), enabling the modelling of axion-induced electromagnetic sources and their interaction with a wide range of nanophotonic environments. The framework was used to evaluate and optimize potential detection schemes, with the present work focusing on graphene plasmonic structures while remaining broadly applicable to other material platforms and geometries. In this context, nanostructuring is used to strongly enhance and channel the extremely weak axion-induced signals into detectable photon emission via resonant plasmonic modes. The work was supervised by Dr. Eduardo Dias and Prof. Joel Cox at POLIMA—Center for Polariton-driven Light-Matter Interactions, and Prof. Manuel Meyer in the Experimental Dark Matter group at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy.
Viktor’s results provide a solid methodological foundation that strengthens the connection between nanophotonics theory and experimental dark matter searches, and will inform future detection concepts in Prof. Meyer’s experimental programme.