Theoretical physics · UCLA

Samuel Degen

I study how effective field theory, quantum many-body methods, and scattering amplitudes connect fundamental theory with experimentally relevant systems, from gravitational waves to ultracold atoms.

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National scholarship 2026 Goldwater Scholar Selected for outstanding potential for a research career in science.
Research award APS Steven Chu Award, 1st Best undergraduate research at the APS Far West Section meeting.
International research FUTI Global Leadership Award Fully funded research at the University of Tokyo.
Samuel Degen headshot

Department of Physics, UCLALos Angeles, CA 90024, USA

About

I am a senior physics major and 2026 Goldwater Scholar at UCLA pursuing theoretical research at the intersection of quantum field theory, gravity, and nuclear physics. My work at UCLA and the University of Tokyo uses powerful effective methods to connect fundamental theory with experimentally relevant problems, including next-generation gravitational wave and ultracold atom experiments. I have presented my research internationally and received multiple competitive fellowships recognizing my independent contributions. Alongside research, I am deeply committed to mentorship and accessibility in science, and I aim to carry these values forward as I pursue a career as an academic researcher and educator.

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Education

Publications

Honors & Awards

2026

2025

2024

Research Experience

University of Tokyo — H. Liang Nuclear Theory Group 2025 –
present
  • Applying functional renormalization group-aided density functional theory (FRG-DFT) to exactly solvable quantum many-body systems, with the goal of benchmarking nonperturbative first-principles approaches to nuclear density functionals.
  • Deriving and truncating flow-equation hierarchies for ground-state energies and correlation functions, enabling controlled comparisons between FRG-DFT, perturbation theory, and exact thermodynamics.
  • Developing numerical implementations to solve coupled flow equations and test the accuracy of approximate truncations across interaction strengths and densities.
  • Co-authoring a manuscript on benchmarking FRG-DFT against exact thermodynamics for the single-site Bose-Hubbard model, with broader applications to strongly correlated fermions and nuclear many-body theory.
  • Presented related work at the University of Tokyo, APS Far West Section Meeting, and APS Global Physics Summit 2026; awarded 1st prize of the APS Steven Chu Award for Best Undergraduate Research for this project.

Supported by UTRIP 2025 and FUTI Global Leadership Award. Associated publication: 2605.31112

UCLA — Z. Bern & M. Solon Scattering Amplitudes Group 2025 –
present
  • Developing a field-theoretic framework for environmental effects in gravitational-wave systems, with the goal of computing how surrounding media such as gas or dark matter modify compact-object dynamics.
  • Formulating gravitational dynamical friction in hydrodynamic effective field theory as radiation into on-shell phonon modes, connecting classical drag forces to scattering-amplitude methods.
  • Computing higher-order corrections to the leading dynamical-friction force using perturbative QFT techniques, with attention to graviton-phonon interactions, gauge invariance, and Ward identities in a medium that breaks Lorentz symmetry.
  • Drawing conceptual and technical connections between gravitational environmental effects and jet-quenching physics in QCD, where real-time propagation through a medium produces analogous dissipative phenomena.
  • Youngest member and only undergraduate in the European Research Council's GWSky collaboration, contributing to a new international effort on precision theory for next-generation gravitational-wave astronomy.
  • Presenting this work at the GWSky Workshop, California Amplitudes Meeting, and UCLA Amplitudes Journal Club.

Supported by Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics Summer 2025 Research Fellowship and 2025 - 2026 UCLA URSP.

UCLA — E.P. Alves Plasma Theory Group 2024 –
2025
  • Developed analytic and machine-learning methods to study time-dependent nonthermal particle acceleration in relativistic astrophysical jets.
  • Formulated an inverse-modeling approach to distinguish physical acceleration histories from degenerate solutions that reproduce the same observed particle spectrum.
  • Demonstrated limitations of simple energy-dependent acceleration models and identified more flexible time-dependent descriptions consistent with simulated jet dynamics.
  • Presented results in an oral contribution at the 66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics.

Supported by UCLA Physics Summer 2024 Research Fellowship.

UCLA — B.C. Regan Condensed Matter Group 2024
  • Developed an undergraduate-level pedagogical treatment of the Feynman checkerboard model, emphasizing its connection to propagators and relativistic quantum mechanics.

Selected Talks & Presentations

Meetings Attended

Service & Outreach

Interviews & Press

Activities

© 2026 Samuel Degen