Liang Dai

Welcome to Liang Dai's (戴亮) homepage!

I am a junior professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. My research spans a range of topics in cosmology and astrophysics, from the cosmic-scale structure and evolution of our Universe,  to the elusive Dark Matter and its observational signatures through gravitational lensing,  and to astrophysical gravitational wave signals.

In recent years, I have been particularly interested in extremely magnified extragalactic stars and star clusters in gravitationally lensed high redshift galaxies, and are eager to exploit these phenomena as exquisite dark matter probes. I am intrigued to understand the physical and chemical evolution of super star clusters in the first few million years of their lives, and utilize gravitaitonal lensing to study such rare systems in the young Universe. I am interested in the relevant radiation physics, hydrodynamics, and chemistry that shape these massive systems. To this end, my group also analyze imaging and spectroscopy data collected by space and ground-based optical/infrared telescopes.

I also work with students to develop methodologies that can be used to efficiently extract physical parameters describing gravitational wave sources. Those include mergers between neutron stars or black holes, as well as binary white dwarfs that orbit each other. Additionally, I am eager to see what new physics can be discovered with current and next-generation experiments to map Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies.

Prior to my current appointment, I worked at the Institute for Advanced Study as an NASA Einstein postdoctoral fellow and then as a John Bahcall postdoctoral fellow. I earned my Ph.D. in Physics at the Johns Hopkins University, and B.S. in Physics at Peking University in China. 

If you would like to chat with me about anything, don't hesitate to reach me at: liangdai_AT_berkeley_DOT_edu.

Mailing address:

366 Physics North MC 7300
Department of Physics
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720