Chris Monahan

Assistant Professor of Physics

Colorado College | he/him/his

Welcome to my home page! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Colorado College. I use supercomputers to study the strong nuclear force that binds together protons and neutrons at the heart of everything we see around us.

Some Recent Papers

Reconstructing the full kinematic dependence of GPDs from pseudo-distributions, arXiv:2604.21476

Accessing the gluon momentum fraction of nucleons through the gradient flow, arXiv:2602.14260

Window observables for benchmarking parton distribution functions, PRL 135 (2025) 191901

FLAG Review 2024, PRD 113 (2026) 014508

(More-or-less) Recent Coverage

Undergraduate research at Colorado College.

Jefferson Lab News.

The 2023 P5 report was featured in the NY Times.

About My Research

The standard model of particle physics is the mathematical theory that describes our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the Universe. This theory is spectacularly successful, perhaps the most successful scientific theory of all time, but includes only three of the four known forces of nature (it does not include gravity, which is described by general relativity) and does not explain the origin of dark matter or why neutrinos have mass (a Nobel prize-worthy discovery!). Searching for the answers to these questions requires a precise understanding of the Standard Model, so that we can search for experimental clues to new physics and, perhaps, a more unified theory of the four fundamental forces. This, in turn, requires precise theoretical predictions of the properties of quarks and gluons, which interact via the strong force to form the basic building blocks of protons, neutrons and other hadrons.

Currently, the only method we have for studying the properties of the strong force in a systematic way is lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which allows us to numerically solve the equations governing the strong force using super computers. I study how quarks and gluons come together to form protons and neutrons.

My research encompasses three main strands:

1. Nonperturbative nucleon structure

Understanding the internal structure of protons and neutrons through lattice QCD simulations.

2. Heavy quark flavor physics on the lattice

Studying heavy quarks to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

3. Casimir effects in classical fluids

Exploring quantum effects in macroscopic systems.

Awards & Recognition

Teaching

I am committed to fostering the next generation of physicists and scientists. I develop and teach courses across the physics curriculum. I am particularly passionate about helping students understand physics within its historical and cultural context.

For more details on courses and student research opportunities, please visit my Colorado College faculty page.