Tuan Anh Nguyen is an experimental physicist interested in leveraging the smallest physical systems to probe the biggest open questions in fundamental physics.
Atoms and molecules provide a uniquely powerful lever arm that enables tiny interactions between elementary particles, which could be unknown to current physics, to manifest near our best achievable levels of precision in the lab. Precision measurement groups like the one Tuan joined for his PhD at JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder are pushing the precision frontier to better constrain—or (hopefully!) even observe—what physics beyond the Standard Model could look like.
In his undergraduate research, Nguyen worked with Professor Leo Hollberg at Stanford to develop low-power atomic clocks for use in demanding environments like the seafloor. He also spent a summer with the Precision Photonics Synthesis Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, contributing to experiments in generating low-noise microwaves at cryogenic temperatures and falling in love with Colorado.
Nguyen spent his undergraduate education advocating for first-generation, low-income (FLI) students. As a leader of the Stanford Undergraduate Research Association (SURA), he expanded the outreach to and financial accessibility for FLI attendees of SURA’s Stanford Research Conference, a student-run national research conference. He also served as a residential assistant, an Arts Intensive teaching assistant, and a Stanford University Physics Society officer, positions he leveraged to mentor fellow FLI students.
Nguyen was born in Vietnam and grew up in Temple City, California. In his free time, he enjoys graphic design, writing an imaginary column for a lit magazine, and maintaining his Beli streak (having logged every coffee shop in Downtown Boulder as a result).
