Naomi Gendler
Member, School of Natural Sciences
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
I am a theoretical physicist working on string theory and what it means for the physics we can observe.
My research asks how the geometry of the extra dimensions shapes low-energy physics. I compute the masses, couplings and cosmological consequences of axions across large ensembles of explicit Calabi–Yau compactifications; I test proposed quantum-gravity constraints on effective field theories; and I develop new mathematical and computational methods for studying Calabi–Yau geometry.
Before joining the IAS, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. I received my Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2023, advised by Liam McAllister, after an M.Sc. in applied mathematics at the University of Auckland and a B.A. in physics at Reed College.
Research
The string axiverse
Axion masses, couplings and dark-matter signatures, computed across hundreds of thousands of Calabi–Yau compactifications.
Read more →Quantum gravity constraints
Explicit tests of the Weak Gravity and Distance Conjectures using BPS states and enumerative invariants.
Read more →Calabi–Yau geometry
Effective cones, singular divisors, moduli spaces and the enumeration of Calabi–Yau threefolds.
Read more →Recent and upcoming
- 2027Lecturer, Axions in String Theory, CERN Winter School.
- Oct 2026Seminar at the City College of New York: Universality in the Axiverse.
- Sep 2026New paper: Calculating Axion–Matter Couplings in String Theory, with J. Benabou, T. Harvey and J. Moritz.
- Sep 2026Plenary talk at the DESY Theory Workshop, Hamburg: Universality in the Axiverse.
- Aug 2026New paper: Catastrophic Inflation in the Axiverse, with O. Janssen, M. Kleban and C. Norton.
- Summer 2026Co-organized String Theory and the Observable Universe, a three-week workshop at the Aspen Center for Physics.
- Jun 2026Plenary talk at Strings 2026, Shanghai: The Geometric Axiverse.
- May 2026Plenary talk at SUSY 2026, University of Oklahoma: PQ Axiverse.
- Mar 2026New paper: Holes in Calabi–Yau Effective Cones, with E. Sheridan, M. Stillman and D. Wu.