Christopher Cappiello

Christopher Cappiello is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Particle Astrophysics at Queen's University, affiliated with the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy, and the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute. He holds a PhD from The Ohio State University (2021), where he collaborated with John Beacom on dark matter phenomenology.

Education:

• PhD in Physics (2021), The Ohio State University

Research Interests: Cappiello’s work seeks novel methods to probe dark matter’s particle nature, focusing on alternatives to the standard WIMP model. He explores scenarios where dark matter is light (e.g., requiring supernova or cosmic ray interactions for detection) or heavy (e.g., propagation within Earth and astrophysical constraints). His research also involves composite dark matter model-building and gravitationally bound structures. These efforts bridge theoretical physics, cosmology, and experimental collaborations.

Advising & Grants: Currently co-supervised by Prof. A. Vincent and Prof. Joe Bramante. His research is supported by interdisciplinary collaborations with both theoretical and experimental groups in astroparticle physics.

Labs & Teams: Member of the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy at Queen’s University.