Dong Lai

Professor of Astronomy
Dong Lai
Specialty Areas

Theoretical Astrophysics

Research Projects

Astrophysics of compact objects (neutron stars, black holes and whitedwarfs), exoplanets, astrophysical fluid dynamics.

Biography

After undergraduate study at the University of Science and Technologyof China, Dong Lai came to the US for graduate study, receivingPh.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell in 1994. He joined theAstronomy faculty in the Fall of 1997 after three years as apostdoctoral fellow at Caltech.  He has held visiting positions atthe Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Institute for Advanced Study,Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, National AstronomicalObservatory of China, etc.  His research lies in theoreticalastrophysics. Current research interests include:

1. Compact Objects: Neutron stars (pulsars and magnetars), black holeaccretion disks, white dwarfs (binary WDs), supernovae, gravitationalwaves.

2. Astrophysics of Exoplanets: Hot Jupiters, protoplanetary disks, etc.

3. Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics (hydrodynamics and MHD) in general:   disks, waves, instabilities, tides, etc.

Selected Publications
  • A.K. Harding and D. Lai 2006,``Physics of Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars'',Rep. Prog. Phys., 69, 2631

  • Wen Fu and D. Lai 2009,``Effects of Magnetic Fields on the Diskoseismic Modes of Accreting Black Holes'', Astrophysical Journal, 690, 1386

  • D. Lai and D. Tsang 2009,``Corotational Instability of Inertial-Acoustic Modes in Black Hole Accretion Discs and Quasi-Periodic Oscillations'',MNRAS, 393, 979

  • Z. Medin and D. Lai 2010,``Pair cascades in the magnetospheres of strongly-magnetized neutron stars'',MNRAS, 406, 1379

  • D. Lai, Ch. Helling and E. van den Huevel 2010, ``Mass Transfer, Transiting Stream and Magnetopause in Close-in Exoplanetary Systems with Applications to WASP-12'',ApJ, 721, 923

  • J. Fuller and D. Lai 2011,``Tidal Excitation of Oscillation Modes in Compact White Dwarf Binaries: I. Linear Theory'', MNRAS, 412, 1331

  • D. Lai, F. Foucart and D.N.C. Lin 2011,``Evolution of Spin Direction of Accreting Magnetic Protostars and Spin-Orbit Misalignment in Exoplanetary Systems'', MNRAS, 412, 2790