The desire to understand how things work at the most fundamental level has propelled leading physicist Professor Anthony Williams (PhD (PhysSc) ’85) to pursue the deepest questions of what constitutes dark matter – and answers may soon be within reach.
Professor Williams is at the forefront of bold experiments that aim to directly measure dark matter for the first time, which he says reflects his yearning to understand things at the deepest level possible – a curiosity that sparked during his student years.
Having initially studied electrical engineering at the University of Adelaide, Professor Williams felt a desire to push further with physics, and earned a scholarship to study his PhD in the renowned Physics Department at Flinders University. “I thought I needed something practical behind me, so I started in engineering, but it wasn’t as fundamental as I wanted,” he says. “I was the kid who loved pulling things apart, because I had to figure out how things work. I also need to know the why rather than just the how.”
His research and academic career took flight soon after he graduated, initially working under Professor Tony Thomas (also a Flinders University PhD graduate) at the University of Adelaide and then moving to the USA for seven years. After appointments at the University of Washington and Florida State University, Professor Williams had expected to see out his academic career in the United States, but an offer to return to the University of Adelaide proved enticing for his family. It even strengthened family ties to Flinders University, where his wife Jan Robison had previously worked, when their daughter Ellen then completed a degree in speech pathology there.
After returning to Adelaide in 1993 he became Deputy Director of the Centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter (CSSM) in 1997, a role he held for nine years. “You enter into this life of research and enquiry because you enjoy this work, not necessarily to make a career out of academia – although I’ve been able to keep pursuing my key interests with a bit of luck, some skill and a fair amount of hard work.”
Professor Williams’ achievements have seen him elected a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics in 1992 and a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2002. In 2001 he was awarded the Boas Medal from the Australian Institute of Physics for original research, making the most important contribution to physics in the field of the strong interactions and quantum chromodynamics.
Professor Williams is now Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics (CDMPP). “The mission of the Centre is to deliver breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe through pursuing the discovery of dark matter particles, which comprise 80% of the mass of the universe – and this is one of the biggest physics questions remaining,” says Professor Williams.
“The Holy Grail is understanding what the particle makeup of dark matter is, because we haven’t yet directly observed it – yet we know it exists because of the way we observe how stars move and galaxies rotate.”
To remedy this, CDMPP has led the construction of an underground laboratory – located 1km below the surface in a gold mine at Stawell, Victoria – and is now constructing a large experiment there that will attempt to directly detect dark matter (a project called SABRE). It is essential to place the SABRE experiment deep underground to avoid being overwhelmed by radiation form cosmic rays that constantly bombard the surface of the Earth.
“We started thinking about this project about nine years ago, and now it looks as though the experiment will be up and running by the end of 2025, which is so incredibly exciting – to be hosting a bold experiment of international interest that could have results that will resonate around the world.”
Professor Anthony Williams was awarded a 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award for his distinguished research leadership in subatomic physics.