Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physicist (PhD)

What you'll do

The AMO panel leans towards experimentally grounded theory: several of its areas come straight out of trapped-particle and cavity labs, so theorists who work closely with experiment have a natural fit.

The work is for CritPt, a public benchmark of research-level physics problems built to test whether frontier AI models can reason like a working physicist rather than solve textbook exercises. The benchmark paper is arXiv:2509.26574, and Mercor suggests reading it before you apply. Depending on where your publications fit, you create problems, solve them, review finished work or audit it; Mercor agrees the exact assignment once you are matched to an area. Everything you hand in has to be complete enough for another specialist to follow and verify independently, so written reasoning is part of every task.

Who qualifies

Seven research areas, matched narrowly. You need papers on one of these phenomena rather than AMO in general:

• Strong-field physics and high-harmonic generation, structured light and optical angular momentum
• Levitated optomechanics, in two separate areas: optical binding between particles, and torsional and librational modes of anisotropic nanoparticles
• Precision measurement: the Penning-trap quantum cyclotron and cavity QED radiative shifts
• Ultracold atoms in optical lattices: tight-binding and Wannier parametrization
• Cavity QED: Jaynes-Cummings physics, dark states and open-system steady states
• Few-body physics: the Efimov effect, hyperspherical methods and zero-range universality

A PhD in atomic, molecular or optical physics or a closely related field is a hard requirement. Postdocs, research scientists and junior faculty are the strongest fit, and senior PhD students with a strong first-author record may apply. Mercor asks for three to five representative papers with arXiv IDs or DOIs, ideally from the last five years and first-authored, and checks every one against the public record. You work in LaTeX, Python, SymPy and Jupyter, and need English at B2 or above.

What it pays

$80–110 per hour, Mercor's published figure and the same band across its CritPt physics panels. The listing does not state weekly hours or payment terms.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Areas close to experiment, a good fit for lab-adjacent theorists
• Two separate levitated optomechanics areas widen the match there
• No country restriction published

Less good:

• Narrow matching within a broad field
• Every listed paper is checked
• Hours and payment schedule not on the listing

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as a remote hourly contract, confirmed open on 27 September 2026 and flagged as a new opportunity. Another CritPt panel: Condensed Matter Physicist (PhD). See Mercor.