Liberal Arts and Sciences
Xu Lab
Led by Siyao Xu · Physics
What we study
The Xu Lab studies how magnetic fields and turbulence affect cosmic rays, star formation, and high-energy astrophysics using theoretical models and simulations.
What working here is like
- Reading, writing & theory
- Computational
- No organisms (data only)
- Coding required
- Projects
- 2
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Turbulent reconnection acceleration
How turbulence and magnetic reconnection speed up cosmic-ray particles.
New turbulent acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays from first principles
The lab studies how cosmic rays gain energy from turbulence in space. Using particle‑in‑cell simulations, the researchers track individual particles to find a new acceleration mechanism that could explain observations of high‑energy gamma rays and neutrinos.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 498
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- TeV–PeV Gamma-Ray and Neutrino Emission in the Galactic Plane
2026 · The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Reconnection-driven Turbulent Fluctuations in the Magnetically Dominated Collisionless Regime
2026 · The Astrophysical Journal
Tests how magnetic reconnection creates turbulence in space plasmas using computer simulations.
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- Turbulence Mode Decomposition and Anisotropy in Magnetically Dominated Collisionless Plasmas
2026 · The Astrophysical Journal
Studies how different turbulence modes behave in magnetically dominated space plasmas.
- Cosmic-Ray Constraints on the Flux of Ultrahigh-energy Neutrino Event KM3-230213A
2025 · The Astrophysical Journal
Analyzes whether a high-energy neutrino came from a cosmic ray or a distant source.
- Cosmic-ray Perpendicular Superdiffusion and Parallel Mirror Diffusion in a Partially Ionized and Turbulent Medium
2025 · The Astrophysical Journal
Simulates how cosmic rays move through a mix of ionized and neutral gas.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Siyao Xu hasn't set up this page yet. You can also look them up in the UF directory (search “Siyao Xu”).