Convection Stability Physicist (PhD) at Mercor

Convection Stability Physicist (PhD) | $80-110/hr | Remote, contractor

About the work

Contribute research-level physics problems to a benchmark testing whether frontier AI models can perform genuine physics research reasoning. Physicists create problems, solve them, review completed work or audit it, depending on publication record. The specific assignment is agreed once matched to an area. This is research-grade work: everything you produce must be complete enough for another specialist in your subfield to independently verify, so written reasoning is part of every assignment.

Research areas

• Rayleigh-Benard convection: linear stability with mixed boundary conditions - Boussinesq approximation, normal-mode perturbation expansion, mixed mechanical and thermal boundary conditions, fixed-flux thermal forcing, marginal stability analysis, spectral eigenvalue methods.
• Porous-medium (Rayleigh-Darcy) convection: linear stability - Darcy's law, Rayleigh-Darcy convection, constant-flux and open boundary conditions, normal-mode perturbation expansion, marginal stability analysis, buoyancy-driven transport in saturated porous layers.

You must have published on convection stability specifically, not on fluid dynamics broadly. Publications should demonstrate at least one of: Boussinesq approximation and buoyancy-driven flow; linear stability analysis and normal-mode perturbation expansion; marginal stability analysis and critical Rayleigh number determination; spectral eigenvalue methods; or Darcy's law and porous-medium flow.

Who it's for

• PhD in fluid mechanics, applied mathematics, mechanical engineering or a closely related field. This is a hard requirement. Postdocs, research scientists and junior faculty are the strongest fit; senior PhD students with a strong first-author record are welcome.
• Published work on convection stability specifically. Command of the methods is not enough without publications on the phenomenon itself.
• Verifiable publication record: three to five representative papers with DOIs or arXiv IDs, ideally from the last five years, first author strongly preferred. A journal DOI is expected. Papers are checked against the public record.
• Working proficiency with LaTeX, Python and Jupyter. Familiarity with an agentic coding extension in VS Code is useful; gaps are acceptable if declared honestly.
• English at B2 or above, including written reasoning.

Pay and schedule

$80-110 per hour, set by depth of subdomain match. 10 hours per week over an 8 to 10 week window, starting immediately. Fully remote and asynchronous, with no fixed hours.

Application process

Complete the application form, including your education, research experience, and for each area you select, a DOI or arXiv ID of your own paper as proof with your author position and the methods it demonstrates. Papers and authorship are verified against the public record. You are then either onboarded directly or invited to a short live alignment call. A 30-45 minute assessment may be added only where needed; most applicants will not see one.