Name: Inar Timiryasov
Current position: Postdoc
Affiliation: Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
Field of research: Cosmology and particle physics
What is your career trajectory to date?
I have received my Ph.D. from MSU in 2016 and spent the next five years as a postdoc at EPFL. Since October 2021 I am a postdoc at Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen.
What are the most exciting open questions in your research area?
To my taste, the most exciting open questions are the nature of dark matter and the origin of the asymmetry between matter and antimatter.
What do you like and dislike about being a scientist?
My work as a scientist is driven by a curiosity about how things work on the largest and smallest scales. At the same time, on daily basis, I enjoy translating complicated mathematical constructions into computer language and observing how the codes capture physics.
The price for the meaningful job is the need to apply for funding. This requires a set of skills that are different from those needed for research. The future career perspectives are also far from being certain.
Which of your skills are you most proud of, or find most useful?
I am proud of my hands-on skills. I can translate elaborated theoretical constructions into computer code.
What advances or new results are you excited about or looking forward to?
In the nearest future, I am looking forward to the results of XRISM, which will finally clarify the origin of 3.5 keV line. This line can be a signal of sterile neutrino dark matter.
What role do you think a community network like EuCAPT can play in developing theoretical astroparticle physics and cosmology in Europe?
Well, facilitating network.
What’s your favorite food?
Pizza.
Have you lived in a different European country than you do now? If so, would you like to tell us something about it, e.g. a fond memory or something you found surprising?
I spent 5 years in Switzerland. I think the most exciting memories are related to mountaineering.
How do you like to relax after a hard day of work?
I sleep :)
Do you have any non-physics interests that you would like to share?
I enjoy endurance sports, like running, cycling, and mountaineering.
If you were not a scientist, what do you think you would be doing?
Working on artificial intelligence. Also, In my opinion, the odds that the next breakthrough in fundamental physics will be made by artificial intelligence are high.
What do you hope to see accomplished scientifically in the next 50 years?
If we will ever understand the nature of gravity, dark matter, dark energy, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, and the neutrino masses, I bet it will happen in the next 50 years.
What question would you have liked us to ask you, and what would you have responded?
What is the most reasonable explanation of neutrino masses and what are its consequences? I would respond that type I seesaw is the minimalistic and elegant explanation, which predicts the existence of heavy neutral leptons, and accommodates leptogenesis.