[11] Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Arkani-Hamed's family decided to return to Iran, as the new Iranian government promised free expression and possibilities.

[11] Arkani-Hamed's father, Jafar, who at the time worked at Sharif University in Tehran, wrote a petition with his colleagues denouncing the closures.

During this time he worked with Savas Dimopoulos and Gia Dvali to develop the paradigm of large extra dimensions.

[13] Since 2013, Arkani-Hamed has been a leader in research on the amplituhedron as a geometric structure that simplifies calculations of particle interactions in certain quantum field theories.

In 2008, he won the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize given at Tel Aviv University to young scientists who have made outstanding and fundamental contributions in Physical Science.

[17] In 2012 he was an inaugural awardee of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the creation of physicist and internet entrepreneur, Yuri Milner.

[18] He was one of six physicists featured in the award-winning 2013 documentary film Particle Fever, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2017.