Illinois Physics graduate student Akhil Chauhan has been selected for a prestigious Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Award by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. He is one of 75 award recipients in this round of funding.
The SCGSR program aims to support cutting-edge research that fits within the DOE’s strategic mission by providing outstanding U.S. graduate students the opportunity to conduct a portion of their thesis research at DOE-supported national labs or user facilities. In this vein, the supplemental award program provides support for the awardee’s living expenses and travel to and from DOE facilities.
Chauhan will perform theoretical and computational research in high-energy physics at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. His research will employ lattice field theory and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to make precision determinations of the fundamental parameters of the standard model of particle physics. His research project’s scope and methodology was developed in collaboration with his thesis advisor, Illinois Physics Professor Aida El-Khadra, and with a collaborating DOE laboratory scientist, Andreas Kronfeld of Fermilab’s Theory Division.
“This work is part of our larger quest to obtain a deeper understanding of particles and their interactions at the most fundamental level,” Chauhan said. “Determinations of these fundamental parameters typically require quantification of the effects of strong interactions, governed by the quantum field theory called quantum chromodynamics.”
Chauhan notes, this is not a simple task, because the strength of these interactions means only nonperturbative methods can be used. Using lattice QCD techniques, he will achieve a lower than one percent margin of uncertainty.
“Euclidean lattice field theory provides a rigorous ab-initio (framework for computing nonperturbative QCD effects,” he said. “In my work, I employ lattice QCD to determine Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements, quark masses, and the running of the strong coupling to one percent to sub-percent level precision.”
Chauhan will begin his SCGSR project in August 2026; the award provides six months’ support.