Chao-Chin Yang

Chao-Chin Yang (楊朝欽)

Assistant Research Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Nevada, Las Vegas


About Me

Welcome to my homepage. I am an assistant research professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the United States.

My current research interests are centered around planet formation, and its implications for exoplanetary sciences and our Solar System. I mainly employ theoretical and computational astrophysics to study the research topics in order to resolve difficulties in the theory of planet formation and inform current and future observations of protoplanetary disks and explorations of the Solar System. Specifically, I am focusing on understanding processes that may affect the formation of kilometer-scale planetesimals in protoplanetary disks, one of the most difficult stages in the course of planet formation. These processes include, but are not limited to, dust-gas interactions, hydrodynamics and magneto-hydrodynamics of protoplanetary disks, and gravitational collapse of a pebble cloud. I am a developer of both the Pencil Code and Athena++, publicly available computational codes for astrophysical fluids and particles, which I use to simulate complex systems as needed.

In addition, my interests extend to other areas, such as galactic dynamics and the interstellar medium.


Biography

2020–present Assistant Research Professor University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2017–2020 Postdoctoral Scholar University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2014–2017 Senior Research Fellow Lund University
2012–2014 Postdoctoral Fellow Lund University
2010–2012 Postdoctoral Scholar University of California, Santa Cruz
2010 Ph.D. University of Illinois
2003–2004 Research Assistant Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica
2003 M.S. National Taiwan University
1998 B.S. National Taiwan University

Research Interests