Bienvenue sur le site du laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange

Postdoctoral Researcher

Theory and Observations in Planetology (TOP) group - Laboratoire Lagrange

office : Pavillon Henri Chrétien (PHC-N 3) 
address : Boulevard de l'Observatoire, CS 34229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4

  phone :  +33 7 66 51 30 29
  email : yun.zhang (at) oca.eu
  web : https://www.oca.eu/en/yun-zhang
ORCID : http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4045-9046

About me

      Hi there! I am Yun, a postdoctoral researcher at Lagrange Laboratory of CNRS. I am working on an assortment of problems in the context of planetary system formation and evolution.
      In particular, I use state-of-the-art computational tools (such as the high-efficiency parallel tree code pkdgrav) to investigate the evolution of small bodies and support on-going and upcoming small-body space missions and data interpretations. You can find a list of my publications on NASA/ADS or Google Scholar.

Education

• Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University, 2018
• One-year visiting Ph.D. in Astronomy, University of Maryland (College Park), 2016
• B.Eng. in Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, 2012

Latest Research

      Based on numerical modeling and integration of information from both observations and in-situ detections, my research aims at deciphering the physical properties and evolutionary history of different kinds of small bodies and eventually revealing some aspects on the Solar System evolution. Here are the research topics I am recently or currently dedicated to:

1. Origin, physical properties, and dynamical evolutions of several small bodies in and beyond the Solar System
   • Formation and ejection mechanism of the first interstellar object 1I/2017 ‘Oumuamua: Zhang and Lin (2020) Nature Astronomy 4, 852-860
   • Material strength and binary formation scenario of asteroid 65803 Didymos: Zhang, Michel, Richardson et al (2021) Icarus 362, 114433 ; Zhang, Richardson, Barnouin et al (2017) Icarus 294, 99-123
   • Disruptive collisions as the origin of 67P/C-G and small bilobate comets: Schwartz, ..., Zhang et al (2018) Nature Astronomy 2, 379-382
2. Granular dynamics applied to the surface and interior processes of small bodies
   • Tidal distortion and disruption of rubble-pile bodies: Zhang and Michel (2020) A&A 640, A102
   • Rotational reshaping and disruption of rubble-pile bodies: Zhang, Richardson, Barnouin et al (2018) ApJ 857, 15
3. Planetesimal evolution at different stages of stellar evolution
   • Orbital migration and circularization of tidal debris by Alfvén-wave drag around white dwarfs: Zhang, Liu, Lin (2021) ApJ 915, 91