The main focus of my research lies at the intersection between cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics. I am especially interested in the dynamics of the early Universe as observations from this era, in particular in the form of relic gravitational radiation, may give the answer to many open questions such as the origin of dark matter (DM) or the generation of the matter-antimatter symmetry.
Since next-generation gravitational wave (GW) observatories are expected to be sensitive to primordial GWs, it is crucial to study possible extensions of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and their potential to source stochastic GWs detectable in the future. In particular, I am working on cosmological first order phase transitions in beyond Standard Model (BSM) scenarios which may alter the history of the Universe during the electroweak and QCD epoch and naturally provide DM candidates.
In addition, an observation of deviations from the predictions of General Relativity in binary mergers would distinctly point towards new physics. Therefore, I am also studying the impact of modified theories of gravity or dark matter halos on the dynamics of merging objects such as black holes or neutron stars.