The theoretical particle cosmology group at UNM — current members and alumni.
Prof. Cyr-Racine joined UNM in 2019. Before coming to UNM, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the High-Energy Theory Group of Harvard University, and before that, a W.M. Keck Institute for Space Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and at the California Institute of Technology.
Soumyodipta has been pursuing a PhD in Physics at UNM since Fall 2021. His interests are theoretical cosmology, astrophysics, dark matter, and cosmological simulations. He is investigating the “cold” and “collisionless” nature of dark matter with Milky Way-like satellite galaxies, working on a semi-analytic forward model to simulate MW-like satellites based on the abundance of low-mass dark matter halos and their density distribution. He is also an LSST-DA Data Science Fellow. In his leisure time he enjoys cooking, Indian classical music, volunteering, and sports.
Fernando is a graduate student at UNM, having recently completed his first year in the program. His interests lie at the intersection between particle physics and cosmology, at both a fundamental and computational level. Outside of class and research he enjoys playing guitar (electric and acoustic), reading, and photography, and shares many of his hobbies and physics/mathematics content through his website.
Birendra started at UNM in 2018 and joined the group in Fall 2019. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. His research explored dark matter microphysics using strong gravitational lensing, understanding dark matter through astrophysical observables, black holes, machine learning methods in astrophysics and cosmology, and complex adaptive systems. He obtained his PhD from UNM in May 2024 and is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Minnesota.
Kylar began his PhD in physics at UNM in 2019, delving into the Hubble tension. His research expanded to cosmological tensions, dark sector model building, Beyond Standard Model physics, and cosmic inflation. He enriched his research experience at Fermilab in Chicago on a SCGSR award, exploring primordial non-Gaussianities and potential interactions between the visible and dark sectors beyond gravity. Kylar obtained his PhD from UNM in May 2025 and is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Seoul National University.
David joined the group at UNM in 2022 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. He completed his PhD the same year at the PPGCosmo program, based at the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo in Brazil, under the supervision of Prof. Valério Marra. His research lies at the intersection of theoretical physics and data analysis, including inhomogeneous cosmologies and the Hubble tension. At UNM, he focused on non-standard neutrino interactions through the lens of cosmological data. He is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at SISSA in Trieste, Italy.
John came to UNM in 2023 to begin his graduate studies in physics under Prof. Cyr-Racine, earning his Master's degree before continuing his PhD at SISSA in Trieste, Italy. His broad interests lie in using computational methods to investigate the cosmological impact of novel ideas in particle physics, with new interactions in the neutrino sector the focus of his research. Before UNM, John earned bachelor's degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Benicio was an undergraduate student at UNM, majoring in physics. He joined the group in Spring 2024, working on differential tools for cosmological analysis. He is currently pursuing his PhD in physics at the Arizona State University.
Graham was an undergraduate student at UNM, majoring in physics. He joined the group in Summer 2024, working on cosmological initial conditions in a universe with nonstandard neutrino physics.
Ethan did a project on cosmological neutrinos and their initial conditions. He then di an honors thesis with UNM Prof. David Dunlap, working in condensed matter physics. He is now a physics master's student in Dijon, France.
Max was on exchange at UNM during the 2023–2024 academic year from the University of Heidelberg. He joined the group in Fall 2023, working on the effects of degeneracy on the gravothermal collapse of self-interacting dark matter halos. He is currently pursuing his master's degree at the University of Heidelberg.
Xiaoxuan (Shane) Li was a graduate student working primarily in Rouzbeh Allahverdi's group, but interacted frequently with our group as we shared many research interests. Shane worked on gravitational waves produced during cosmological phase transitions.