profile pic

Nicholas R

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Stanford University

Expertise

Dark Matter Physics, Cosmology, Quantum Devices, Particle Physics, RF devices

Bio

I'm a third year physics PhD student at Stanford University. Most of what I do and think about has to do with dark matter physics, cosmology, and quantum devices. In particular, I am working in the DMRadio group, which is a new experiment looking for dark matter particles, namely axions and hidden photons. In the past, I worked on the theoretical side, looking at how dark matter particles can clump together and be detected by looking at stars (specifically, by considering axion oscillon interactions with neutron stars). I was also a member of the HAYSTAC experiment as an undergrad where we, again, were running a different type of axion dark matter detector. Apart from focusing on dark matter and particle physics, cosmology, and quantum devices, I have had a bit of experience in the broader field of quantum information as well as astrophysics. When I’m not thinking about physics, I particularly enjoy immersing myself in classical music. I began playing music from an early age and in my middle school years I became enamored with the operas of Richard Wagner. From that point on, most of my interests can be somehow be traced to Richard Wagner’s works. I enjoy studying how German Romantic era artists were influenced by works of the Middle Ages and, as such, I have also taken language courses in German, Middle-high German, and Danish.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Setting up your own universe

Depending on how much matter there is in the universe (as well as what types of matter there are) you can end up getting the universe to implode on itself or grow eternally such that in the end a single particle will never see another particle again. In this project you can consider the outcomes that initial conditions have on the fate of your universe. You can also explore plenty of the unintuitive aspects of modern cosmology.

The dark matter halo

We know that dark matter must exist in our galaxies in order to explain how stars and gases rotate. However, we are not entirely sure as to how the dark matter is distributed in the galaxy. In this project you can study different hypotheses for distribution profiles and figure out how stars and gases would rotate with such profiles.

A guided introduction to particle physics and dark matter

In this project we can go through the discoveries and theories that have led to our current understanding of physics. We will make sense of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and see how that plays in with cosmology and the evolution of the universe. We will see why dark matter must exist, what it might be made of, how we are looking for it, and how devices that rely on the quantum nature of the world help us look for it.

Coding skills

Mathematica, Python

Languages I know

Greek, German

Teaching experience

As a grad student, I have been a teaching assistant for a total of four discussion & lab sections in introductory physics courses. Those courses covered electricity and magnetism, statistical and thermal physics, and optics. In my last year of undergrad, I was also the mentor of a freshman who had joined our research group.

Credentials

Education

University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
BA Bachelor of Arts (2019)
Physics
Stanford University
MS Master of Science
Physics
Stanford University
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Physics

Interested in working with expert mentors like Nicholas?

Apply now