Statistical Physics Researcher (PhD) at Mercor

Statistical Physics Researcher (PhD) | $80-110/hr | Remote

About the work

CritPt is a public benchmark of research-level physics challenges, testing whether frontier AI models can do genuine physics research reasoning rather than textbook problem solving. The benchmark paper is arXiv:2509.26574, and the hiring team recommends reading it before applying.

Physicists are engaged to work on research-level problems in their own subfield: creating problems, solving them, reviewing completed work, or auditing it. The specific assignment is agreed once you are matched to an area. This is research-grade work: everything you produce must be complete enough for another specialist to independently verify, so written reasoning is part of every assignment.

Research areas

You must have published on the specific phenomenon in one of these areas, not statistical physics broadly:

• Disordered spin models and the Nishimori line, QEC thresholds, mixed-state topological order
• Entanglement entropy via the replica trick, Goldstone modes and tower of states
• Range expansions with long-range dispersal, front propagation, heavy-tailed jumps
• Lattice path enumeration and entanglement domain-wall statistical mechanics
• Two-dimensional CFT: Ising minimal model, BPZ equations, conformal blocks, Coulomb gas

Each area requires specific methods (e.g. Kramers-Wannier duality, replica trick and analytic continuation, transfer-matrix partition functions, Virasoro algebra and BPZ null-vector equations, generating function methods). Your own publications must demonstrate at least one of these method families.

Who we are looking for

• PhD in statistical physics, mathematical physics or a closely related field — 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 the specific phenomenon, not the adjacent one. This is the most common reason otherwise excellent physicists are declined.
• Verifiable publication record: 3-5 representative papers with arXiv IDs or DOIs, ideally from the last five years. First author strongly preferred. Every paper is checked against the public record.
• Working proficiency with LaTeX, Python, SymPy 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.

How to apply

• Apply and complete the attached form: basic information, education, research experience, method self-attestation, and up to five areas you fit best — each with an arXiv ID or DOI of your own paper as proof. A selection without proof is not scored.
• Your papers and authorship are verified against the public record.
• You are either onboarded directly or invited to a short live alignment call to agree the area and assignment.
• A brief 30-45 minute assessment may be added, but only where needed; most applicants will not see one.

Pay and schedule

$80-110/hr, set by depth of subdomain match. Roughly 10 hours per week, sustained across an 8-10 week window, starting immediately. Remote and asynchronous with no fixed hours.