Extreme plasma astrophysics

Yuan Astrophysical Plasma Group

We study collisionless plasmas around black holes and neutron stars, where strong gravity, rapid rotation, and intense magnetic fields create extreme conditions that give rise to relativistic outflows, energetic particles, and high-energy radiation.

Explore our research Join the group
Research themes 01 / 04 0%
Electric-field simulation of a monster shock in a magnetar magnetosphere

01Magnetars / coherent emission

Fast radio bursts from magnetars

Magnetar activity launches waves into the magnetosphere, where their nonlinear evolution leads to shocks and coherent emission.

Explore this research
Split simulation of black-hole accretion showing the toroidal magnetic field on the left and plasma density on the right

02Kinetic accretion / strong gravity

Collisionless black-hole accretion

Global GRPIC simulations probe how collisionless plasma accretes onto spinning black holes and how the plasma is energized.

Explore this research
Split black-hole magnetosphere simulation showing the pair production rate on the left and parallel electric field on the right

03Pair discharge / relativistic jets

Black-hole magnetospheres and jets

We study how black-hole magnetospheres are supplied with plasma and how pair discharges regulate relativistic jet launching and dissipation.

Explore this research
Three-dimensional simulation of kink-driven magnetic dissipation and field lines

04Particle acceleration / flares

Magnetic dissipation and flares

We study how relativistic plasmas convert flow and magnetic energy into particle kinetic energy and radiation in compact-object environments.

Explore this research

Approach

Computational plasma physics across scales

Depending on the physical problem, we use kinetic particle-in-cell simulations or fluid-level approaches such as force-free electrodynamics, alongside theory. Across our research, we investigate the global plasma dynamics of accretion flows, magnetospheres, and jets, as well as the kinetic processes that energize particles and produce radiation within these systems.

Together with our collaborator Alex Chen, we have developed GPU-accelerated plasma simulation codes, including the GRPIC code Aperture and the force-free code COFFEE. These tools make computationally demanding simulations of complex plasma dynamics practical at large scales.

Openings

Join the group

We welcome students, postdocs, and collaborators interested in plasma physics, computation, and compact objects.

Contact the group Meet the team