The TAP is pleased to announce that Yangyang Cai has been selected to receive the 2024 Graduate Student Research Prize. Dr Cai received his Ph.D. in Physics in 2023. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Yangyang was selected as the awardee based on his demonstration of exceptional theoretical research in his recent paper published in the American Physical Society’s Physical Review D, Dynamics of ultrarelativistic charged particles with strong radiation reaction. I. Aristotelian equilibrium state.
Sam Gralla (Associate Professor, Physics) described the basis of the research “The research is motivated by the unexpectedly bright gamma-ray emission of pulsars detected by the Fermi satellite, indicating the presence of ultrarelativistic particles moving in the strong electromagnetic fields of the magnetosphere. Based on earlier incomplete suggestions in the literature, Yangyang found a simplified description of the motion of such particles, worked out all of the analytical details, and even checked numerically that the approximation is appropriate, constructing an entirely new code to handle this challenging regime.” Dr. Gralla elaborated on Yangyang’s contribution “…Yangyang solved everything himself. In fact, I was more of a hinderance than a help…I remember vividly the day that he came to my office and told me he had ignored all my advice and found another way to solve the problem (the Frenet-Serret frame approach used in the paper). He totally nailed it, and he did so by ignoring his advisor and using his own creativity. I was so proud! It is a great paper with foundational results, and it is truly Yangyang’s: he deserves recognition.”
Yangyang will be invited to provide a TAP colloquium during the Fall 2024 schedule. Join the TAP mailing list to receive program announcements.
Image credit: NASA/ESA Hubble