Cluster of ExcellenceQuantum Universe

For its first time, the MADMAX (Magnetized Disc and Mirror Axion eXperiment) collaboration has set limits on axion dark matter with its prototype configuration. The University of Hamburg & DESY are playing a major role in developing MADMAX to search for the sought after QCD axion particle - at once both a dark matter...

Sara Bianco comes from Gallipolli, Italy. She completed her Master's degree in Bologna in autumn 2023 with a thesis on searches for light dark matter models in neutrino experiments, in particular at ProtoDUNE. As a Quantum Universe PhD student, she is currently working in the DESY Dark Matter Group 1, researching Big Bang...

Originally from Vlorë, Albania, and raised in Athens, Greece, Rigers Aliaj completed his bachelor’s degree in physics in Athens and earned a Master’s in Theoretical Physics from Utrecht University under the Bright Minds Fellowship, studying asymptotic Hodge theory and particle physics. After a year at NKUA researching sigma...

Three researchers from the Quantum Universe Excellence Cluster have found that observing black hole binaries with a higher than expected orbital eccentricity could hint at the existence of an unknown fundamental particle. Ultra-light particles, much lower in mass than any known particle, are well-motivated dark matter...

At the end of July, up to 800 people simultaneously followed the seismic waves emanating from the Taylor Swift concert in Hamburg's Volksparkstadion via livestream. The “WAVE” research team gained important insights from the broadcasts - and the next recordings are already in the pipeline with concerts by Justin Timberlake...

MADMAX (Magnetized Disc and Mirror Axion eXperiment) at University of Hamburg & DESY is being developed to look for Galactic axion dark matter using a dielectric boosted haloscope. Recently, the MADMAX Prototype experiment at the shielded laboratory hall SHELL produced its first science result by searching for dark matter...

Wrinkles in the fabric of spacetime, known as cosmic strings, which might have formed in the early Universe, could be a dominant source of gravitational waves at ultra-high frequencies, according to new theoretical calculations by Géraldine Servant of the University of Hamburg and DESY and Peera Simakachorn of the...

An opera that takes the audience from nothing to existence: where do we come from? Where are we heading? How and why did it all begin? Questions about the beginning and the infinite nature of existence have kept humankind occupied for thousands of years. The search for answers provides comfort, expands knowledge and...

On 23 and 24 July, pop singer Taylor Swift gave 2 concerts in the Hamburg Volkspark stadium. Those who couldn't get tickets could at least watch the seismic waves created during the performance, via a live stream from the WAVE network at Science City Hamburg-Bahrenfeld.