Raj Aryan Singh

• PhD student
• CDM
• Swinburne University of Technology
• Road-tripping Karratha to Perth (2025)

 

How would you describe your job to a 10-year-old?

A long, long time ago, the universe burst into existence—filled with stars, planets, and swirling clouds of space dust. But as scientists studied the cosmos, they noticed something strange. Galaxies were moving in odd ways, almost like something invisible was tugging on them. That invisible something- We call it Dark Matter. It doesn’t glow, shine, or show itself—but it’s there, acting like cosmic glue, holding galaxies together.

That’s where I come in. I’m a space detective, not chasing aliens or monsters—but something far more elusive: axions – particles of which dark matter could be made of. These are tiny, ghost-like particles that might be hiding everywhere around us. They’re incredibly shy—they don’t light up, they don’t crash into things, and they’re nearly impossible to catch.

But I have a plan – I’m building something really cool – like “magical ears” that can hear things no one else can! It’s called an axion haloscope (that’s just a fancy name for a super-powered listening device). I put these magical ears inside a giant magnet – way, way stronger than the magnets you play with.

Here’s the amazing part: when a sneaky axion tries to sneak past my detector, something magical happens! The powerful magnet makes the axion transform – like a magic trick – into a tiny whisper of invisible light that my “magical ears” can actually hear! And when that happens – BINGO! That’s my “Gotcha!” moment. That tiny whisper tells me: I just caught an axion red-handed!”

Finding axions could unlock one of the biggest mysteries in physics. It could reveal what most of the universe is actually made of.

How did you get to where you are today?

My journey into physics started back in Class 7, when a friend of mine bought two books from our school’s book fair—one called Our Universe and the other based on the cartoon Ben 10 Ultimate Alien. We used to read those books together in our free time and especially loved drawing all the aliens from Ben 10. Both the Ben 10 book and the universe book introduced some really cool and fascinating physics concepts, which slowly sparked my curiosity.

A major turning point came in Class 9. Frustrated by a poor score in physics, I started reading physics and maths books beyond my grade level. To my surprise, I found them genuinely interesting and engaging—so much so that I decided I wanted to study physics more seriously.

After Class 12, I cleared India’s highly competitive Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Mains and Advanced) and got into IIT Delhi, where I chose Engineering Physics as my branch. During my undergraduate studies, I also worked on a small project related to Dark Matter, which further deepened my interest in that area. Although my interest isn’t limited to dark matter alone, that project definitely gave me a focused direction to explore the mysteries of the universe more deeply.

What is something people might not know about you?

I really enjoy collecting toy cars, RC trucks, regular (non-remote-controlled) trucks, LEGO sets like rockets, and some physics-based toys like a Tesla lamp and Newton’s cradle.

What are your interests outside work/physics?

Outside of work, I’m passionate about sports—especially cricket, hockey, and badminton. In my free time, I also enjoy playing FIFA on my PC. Sometimes, I like to draw, and I also do a bit of photography, particularly nature photography.

View all road-trippers