Eagle Eye Magazine Issue 1 2023

EAGLE EYE | ISSUE 1 | 2023
Looking out across the gardens towards the Radcliffe Camera on
a clear day, sitting by the fireplaces, enjoying a dinner in the hall,
and most of all talking to people who have deep knowledge and
great passion for their areas of expertise.
Can you tell us a bit about the questions you ask in your
research and the ideas you explore?
My primary research focus is at the intersection of particle
physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. In particular, I enjoy
working on topics in which new or upcoming experiments are
focused, which gives the opportunity for new discoveries or
mysteries. Our current understanding of the universe is very deep,
we can describe the constituents of matter at the smallest scales
and give the history of the universe back to the first few minutes
with remarkable success. However, many puzzles still remain,
such as the why the elementary particles have different mass ratios
and what comprises the so-called “dark matter” — being matter
that can be inferred from gravitational interactions but has not
been identified directly through experiment.
Prof James Unwin, Assistant Professor of
Physics, University of Illinois, Chicago:
academic Distinguished Visitor, 2022-2023.
Professor Unwin undertakes research related to new physics
beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics at the intersection
of particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. He has worked
on a range of topics in theoretical particle physics, including
Supersymmetry, LHC searches for New Physics, and Grand
Unified Theories. In theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, he
is interested in exploring novel dark matter models with distinct
implications for experiments and observations.
What attracted you about coming to Queen’s as a
Distinguished Visitor?
Aside from the world-class researchers,
the quality that makes Oxford one of
my favourite universities to visit is the
college system. Being part of a college
provides an opportunity to socialise with
like-minded individuals and learn about
recent advances in fields beyond your own.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been invited as a
Distinguished Visitor and hope I will have the opportunity to
return in the future.
How have you found your time in College so far?
My enjoyment in college life has most distinctly come from things
that one can take for granted after spending several years at
Oxford, but when returning as a visitor they are fresh once more.
What’s the value of an interdisciplinary approach?
Some of the greatest advances in science have come through
interdisciplinary approaches. Indeed, communication between
mathematics, particle physics, and condensed matter physics
have led to some of the deepest insights in my own field. More
generally, I am interested in applying mathematical frameworks
to other types of problems and I have written papers in areas such
as politics, economics, and geography. I find that thinking about
research questions in other fields can be a refreshing change and
can lead you to find new applications of the tools with which you
are already familiar.
Tell us about the children’s book Reaching for the Stars that you
wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic and what inspired you
to do this?
We all needed some diversion during the pandemic, in particular
we had a newborn in 2020, so we were being especially careful
and rarely venturing outside. My wife and I had read hundreds of
books to our firstborn during this time and so we decided to try
our hand at writing our own books. My wife, Laura Schaposnik,
had a friend who was an aspiring illustrator and so we teamed
up to write this book Reaching for the Stars, while my wife wrote her
own series: Ene and the Magic…. I’m
very proud of how the book turned
“Queen’s, of course, is one of the
most beautiful colleges in the
city, and I was glad to learn it
was also extremely welcoming.
out and we even got 200 copies
printed as board books to donate
to Northwestern’s Lurie Children’s
Hospital in Chicago.
You were a graduate student at Oxford so no stranger to the
city; do you have a favourite place?
Oxford is one of my favourite cities in the world and still feels
like home. I especially love Jericho, which is always where I try
to stay when visiting. Places that I love to spend time include
Port Meadow (especially when it’s filled with horses), the rooftop
cafe of the Ashmolean, and punting along the quieter parts of
the Cherwell.
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