About Me

Hello! I am Hang Yu, an assistant professor of physics at Montana State University. My research interests cover a broad array of topics, including both theory and experiment. 

On the theoretical side, I am fascinated by tidal interactions. Have you ever wondered why we always see the same side of the Moon? This is because the tide locks its spin rate to its orbital frequency around the Earth. I apply similar physics to study the evolution of a variety of astrophysical systems, ranging from migrating proto-hot Jupiters to coalescing binaries of compact objects. Besides tides in binaries, I am also interested in hierarchical triple systems. Here, a binary as a whole interacts with a tertiary perturber via both Newtonian and post-Newtonian effects.

On the experimental side, I work on improving the sensitivity of the laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory, or LIGO. As a commissioner, I worked at both LIGO sites (I spent a bit more time at Hanford because the weather is nicer there). I also apply novel techniques such as machine learning on LIGO data to try to dig out a few more binary black hole mergers :-)

When I am not doing research, I enjoy watching documentaries on natural history and zoology. I am also a big anime enthusiast!