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Peter Graham

Peter Graham
Professor of Physics
Department:
Physics
Ph.D., Stanford University, Physics (2007)
A.M., Harvard University, Physics (2002)
A.B., Harvard University, Physics (2002)
What physics lies beyond the Standard Model and how can we discover it?

Professor Graham is broadly interested in theoretical physics beyond the Standard Model which often involves cosmology, astrophysics, general relativity, and even atomic physics. The Standard Model leaves many questions unanswered including the nature of dark matter and the origins of the weak scale, the cosmological constant, and the fundamental fermion masses. These clues are a guide to building new theories beyond the Standard Model. He recently proposed a new solution to the hierarchy problem which uses dynamical relaxation in the early universe instead of new physics at the weak scale.

Professor Graham is also interested in inventing novel experiments to discover such new physics, frequently using techniques from astrophysics, condensed matter, and atomic physics. He is a proposer and co-PI of the Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr) and the DM Radio experiment. CASPEr uses nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to search for axion dark matter. DM Radio uses high precision magnetometry and electromagnetic resonators to search for hidden photon and axion dark matter. He has also proposed techniques for gravitational wave detection using atom interferometry.

Current areas of focus:

Theory beyond the Standard Model
Dark matter models and detection
Novel experimental proposals for discovering new physics such as axions and gravitational waves
Understanding results from experiments ranging from the LHC to early universe cosmology


CAREER HISTORY:

After completing his undergraduate work at Harvard, Peter Graham received his PhD from Stanford in 2007. He was a postdoctoral research associate for one year with the particle theory group at SLAC and then took a postdoctoral position with the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics in the Physics Department. Graham began his appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics in September 2010.

Honors and Awards:

Frontiers of Science Award in Theoretical Physics from the International Congress of Basic Science 2024
Simons Investigator 2021
New Horizons Prize in Physics from Breakthrough Foundation 2017
DOE Early Career Award 2014
Terman Fellowship, Stanford

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