Tommi Tenkanen, a doctoral alum of the University of Helsinki, has in his career studied dark matter, without which there would be no human beings. According to him, doctoral education prepares doctoral researchers effectively for the challenges of professional life.
Dark matter sounds like something conceived by a poet. In reality, the quantity of dark matter exceeds fivefold that of ordinary matter, the constituent element of humans and everything else visible on Earth.
However, the origin and precise composition of dark matter remain unknown. The mystery of dark matter fascinates Tommi Tenkanen, a doctoral alum of the University of Helsinki.
- It's known that dark matter must have been created already during the Big Bang. The gravitational effect of dark matter left a specific mark on the afterglow originating in the Big Bang, which can be measured very precisely, Tenkanen says.
It has been speculated that whoever eventually solves the mystery of dark matter will receive the Nobel Prize for their achievement. Tenkanen investigated dark matter first in his doctoral thesis completed in 2016 and then as a postdoctoral researcher at top English and American universities.
Tenkanen completed his doctoral thesis very quickly, in two and a half years.
The premise of most theories is that dark matter was initially in close contact with ordinary matter, subsequently turning into the phantom-like transparent matter it currently is. Dark matter may continuously travel through humans as well.
In his doctoral thesis, Tenkanen explored the possibility that dark matter has been ghostly since the initial stages of the Big Bang.
Is dark matter made of black holes?
As a postdoctoral researcher in England, Tenkanen ended up working with Bernard Carr, a former student of the world-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking.
Together, Tenkanen and Carr investigated the possibility that dark matter would in fact be composed of small black holes created during the Big Bang. Ultimately, their result was negative.
According to observations, the majority of dark matter cannot be composed of such black holes.
Tenkanen believes that research on the topic is important, as dark matter is undoubtedly the most common ingredient in the entire universe. Moreover, there would be no humans either without dark matter.
- Through gravity, the dark matter generated in the Big Bang affected ordinary matter so that it was able to build up and form galaxies and, consequently, planets and even us. Without dark matter, the universe would be nothing but grey sludge.
This claim, if any, sounds like poetry, but is at the core of theoretical physics. Tenkanen did actually originally consider studying philosophy. However, he found the explanatory model of the universe in physics to be a more interesting approach.
Doctoral degree prepares for professional life
After his postdoctoral positions, Tenkanen went on to work as a research funding advisor at Aalto University and then as a business management consultant in the private sector.
- The topics I've studied in my career have been genuinely interesting. But I'm also interested in other things in the world. As a researcher, you can only focus on a really narrow slice out of all interesting topics, of course with a great deal of precision.
According to Tenkanen, his doctoral degree coached him effectively for challenges in professional life.
- Once you have obtained a doctoral degree, you have proven to yourself and others that you have the ability to analyse and tackle large entities. It's a demonstration of having attempted something difficult and succeeded in it.
At the moment, Tenkanen is on a sabbatical to write his third book. To be published next year, the book explores the opportunities and challenges of quantum computing.
