Luca Marin

Research area

I am particularly fascinated by the problem of finding dark matter, one of the biggest open questions in contemporary physics. In my research activity, I try to shed light on this problem by using materials science and condensed matter physics tools. I simulate the response of earth-based detectors to general dark matter-electron interactions, which might produce observable light, charge and thermal signals. My focus is on liquid xenon-based detectors, which have already set some of the most stringent limits on the interaction strength between dark matter and ordinary matter. By using my and my group’s expertise in ab-initio methods such as density functional theory, I calculate the electronic structure of the detector’s target material which in turn is crucial in determining the detector’s response to incoming dark matter.