William D
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Stanford University
Expertise
Theoretical physics, astrophysics, cosmology, cybersecurity
Bio
Hello! I'm Will, and I'm a theoretical physicist who got my Ph.D. at Stanford University. During my undergraduate at Yale, I spent time working on experimental physics at CERN and Fermilab before transitioning towards theory in grad school at Stanford. I got my Ph.D. in 2021 and am now a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Cruz. I mainly spend my time trying to come up with clever ways to figure out what dark matter and dark energy (mysterious components of the Universe that account for ~95% of its total energy density) are! When I'm not thinking about physics, I'm usually working on something related to cybersecurity, which is a hobby of mine. The cybersecurity team I'm on has placed in the top three nationally in both defensive and offensive competitions over the last two years! I also like running, cooking, and mentoring the next generation of intrepid young scientists! (P.S. That's you.)Project ideas
What's the matter?
A literature review of the most motivated models of dark matter, along with current constraints on these models. What's a WIMP? An axion? A primordial black hole? Which of these seem most motivated by current observational data?
The Life and Death of a Star
Using existing simulation code to model the life cycle of a star. How do stars evolve? What kinds of stars end up turning into black holes, or neutron stars, or brown dwarfs? How does varying parameters influence the lifetime and ultimate fate of a star?
Catching Crooks with Honeypots
Characterizing the different kinds of malicious actors on the Internet by setting up a honeypot server. How often does someone try to break in? What kinds of attacks are they using? How can we make life hard for them?