Simons Center for Geometry and Physics
(June 2023)
I hold the endowed Carl T. Bush Professorship of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oklahoma, where I am also a (tenured) Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
April 2023 - Present
Dr. Hajkarim's expertise lies in early Universe cosmology, matter dominated eras, and gravitational waves.
Dr. Hajkarim's research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1590834?ui-citation-summary=true
September 2025 - Present
Dr. Lyu's research covers a wide range of topics, including collider physics, quantum field theory, axion physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.
Dr. Lyu's research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1815973?ui-citation-summary=true
2025 - Present
Aditi is interested in string phenomenology and early Universe cosmology.
Her research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/2467439?ui-citation-summary=true
2024 - Present
Rahul’s research interests include the formal and phenomenological aspects of quantum information science in particle physics. His research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/3082684?ui-citation-summary=true
Rahul received the Dr. George Randolph Kalbfleisch Scholarship in 2026 from the Graduate College.
Postdoctoral Researcher
2022 - 2025
Dr. Xu's expertise lies in primordial black holes, astroparticle searches for dark matter, and direct detection of light dark matter using condensed matter systems.
Tao moved on to a position at Hong Kong University, as an Institute for Advanced Study Postdoctoral Fellow in 2025.
Dr. Xu's research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1322333?ui-citation-summary=true
Postdoctoral Researcher
2018 - 2021
Dr. Guo's expertise lies in gravitational waves from phase transitions in the early Universe. Dr. Guo subsequently joined the University of Utah in August 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher, followed by a faculty position at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences from 2023.
Dr. Guo's publications with the Sinha group are available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1074602?ui-citation-summary=true
Graduate Student
2021 - 2026
Badal is mostly interested in astroparticle physics pertaining to axions and primordial black holes. Badal's recent research on primordial black holes was featured in New Scientist.
Badal was awarded the Nielsen Prize, “given to students who are exceptional among those who have been awarded doctoral degrees from the Department of Physics and Astronomy over the years." Badal defended his thesis in July 2026 and went on to a postdoctoral position at the University of Utah.
His research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/2654026?ui-citation-summary=true
2023 - 2025
Teddy is an astronomer who is interested in searches for dark matter. He worked with the Sinha group from 2023 - 2025, co-authoring a paper on using Cepheid variables to constrain axions (https://inspirehep.net/literature/2856242). Teddy subsequently moved on to the group of Prof. Sean Matt with a focus on stellar astrophysics.
Graduate Student
2021 - 2025
TJ is mostly interested in astroparticle searches for dark matter. He graduated with a Ph.D. in December 2025.
His research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/2182778?ui-citation-summary=true
Graduate Student
2017 - 2021
Daniel successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis in December 2021 and moved on to a position in industry.
Daniel's publication profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1722660?ui-citation-summary=true
Undergraduate REU Student
2024
Kaleb went on to the Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins.
Kaleb's publications with the Sinha group are available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/2856245?ui-citation-summary=true
Undergraduate REU Student
2023
Nathan went on to the Ph.D. program at SUNY Stony Brook.
Undergraduate REU Student
2021
Samantha's work centered on direct detection of dark matter.
Undergraduate REU Student
2020
Elijah went on to the Ph.D. program at Cornell.
Elijah's research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1987436?ui-citation-summary=true
Undergraduate REU Student
2019
Joshua went on to join the Ph.D. program at the University of Connecticut.
Joshua's research profile is available here:
https://inspirehep.net/authors/1945378?ui-citation-summary=true
Senior Capstone Student
2020 - 2021
Katherine worked on light dark matter and gravitational waves from exotic compact objects. She went on to the physics Ph.D. program at Ohio State.
Senior Capstone Student
2019
Oskar worked on string theory and holography. His first position after leaving my group was the physics Ph.D. program at Dartmouth. Oskar subsequently went on to the University of Arizona, working on quantum computing and error correction.
His research profile is available here:
https://arxiv.org/search/quant-ph?searchtype=author&query=Novak,+O
Senior Capstone Student
2018 - 2019
Jeremiah worked on gauge theories. He went on to the Ph.D. program in the mathematics department at the University of Kansas.
