Kyle G. Leach
Exploring the fundamental symmetries of nature,
one rare isotope at a time.
Professor of Physics · Queen’s University
McDonald Institute
Fundamental questions, one rare isotope at a time
I’m an experimental nuclear physicist and quantum engineer. I develop ways to use nuclear decay to investigate neutrinos and the weak interaction.
Our team brings together radioactive isotopes, superconducting detectors and precision measurement. We work across university laboratories and major research facilities, connecting the development of a sensor to the physics it can reveal.
What a recoiling atom can tell us
I’m an experimental nuclear physicist and quantum engineer at Queen’s University. My group studies the weak interaction by measuring what a radioactive atom leaves behind when it emits a neutrino.
The neutrino escapes, but the daughter atom recoils. By measuring the energy deposited in a superconducting sensor across many decays, we can look for the signature of a heavier neutrino.
SALER at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The cryostat cools the detectors we are developing for measurements of nuclear recoil.
Research
View all research →BeEST
Neutrinos from beryllium-7
We measure the energy left by beryllium-7 decay to search for heavy neutrinos and study how a neutrino is produced.
SALER
Testing the weak interaction at FRIB
We have tested a superconducting detector with a stable beam at FRIB. Next we want to measure the recoil of short-lived nuclei after beta decay.
Levitated optomechanics
Measuring momentum with light
Daniel Carney, David Moore and I proposed looking for heavy neutrinos through the kick a decay gives a particle held in a laser trap.
Explore the measurements in The Basics →
News & writing
OCTOBER 2026 · STRASBOURG
BeEST collaboration meeting
In Strasbourg, we compared models of how beryllium-7 decay and the detector shape the peaks in our spectrum. Understanding those peaks is central to our search for heavy neutrinos.
CONTACT
Philomena Abakah
Senior Program Officer – Research and Lab Operations
p.abakah@queensu.ca