Research in the field is at an exciting juncture, he said, with new advances in technology — such as quantum computers, which can perform computations exponentially faster than today’s computers — on the cusp of solving equations that have long been written off as “too hard.”

Cavanagh himself has been involved in quantum chemistry research since his first year at Brown, when he joined the lab of Professor of Chemistry Lai-Sheng Wang, where he contributes to a project characterizing nanoclusters, microscopic clusters of atoms that can serve as catalysts, medicines and the building blocks for new materials.

As a first-year student approaching Wang in his office, Cavanagh said, he didn’t know what to expect.

“I thought it was going to be really hard to get started with research, but it turned out not to be,” he said. “I think the culture at Brown has a lot to do with that — it’s a culture where, when we knock on a door, we’re encouraged to come right on in.” Nearly three years later, he said, “I’ve been able to do things that I never realized were possible.”

Cavanagh’s research was nationally recognized in Spring 2021, when he earned a Goldwater Scholarship, an award that supports promising sophomores and juniors who plan to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Cavanagh learned about the scholarship from another of his mentors at Brown — Brenda Rubenstein, an assistant professor of chemistry and Goldwater alumna whom he first met when visiting campus as a prospective student. The scholarship, he says, will enable him to continue pursuing quantum mechanics research as he prepares to apply to graduate programs next year.

“At the end of the day, I just want to understand the world around myself,” he said. “That's really what science is all about.”