Statistical Physics Researcher (PhD) · Mercor Mercor · $80-110/hr · remote · 1w ago $80-110/hr 1w ago

Benture; Deutschland; Remote; EUR 98,000 - 135,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Job summary

CritPt is seeking a Statistical Physics Researcher (PhD) to work on research-level problems under remote conditions. The role emphasizes producing verifiable results with written reasoning and engaging with frontier physics questions in specialized subfields.

Applicants should have a PhD in statistical or mathematical physics, a recent publication record, and strong LaTeX, Python, SymPy, and Jupyter skills. English proficiency at B2 or higher is required.

Qualifications

• PhD in statistical physics, mathematical physics or closely related field is required.
• Publication record with 3–5 representative papers from last five years is expected.
• Verifiable publication record will be checked against public record.
• Proficiency with LaTeX, Python, SymPy and Jupyter is required; familiarity with VS Code extension is helpful.
• English proficiency at B2 or above, including written reasoning.

Responsibilities

• Work on research-level problems in subfields; create problems, solve them, review work, or audit results.
• Produce complete work suitable for independent verification, with written reasoning included.
• Assignments are matched to areas; adapt methods like replica trick, BPZ equations, or transfer-matrix methods as needed.

Skills

LaTeX

Python

SymPy

Jupyter

VS Code

English B2

Education

PhD in statistical physics

Tools

VS Code

Jupyter Notebook

Job description

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.

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.