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Yong Zhao

Physicist

I work on solving the internal structure of protons and neutrons with the underlying theory of quantum chromodynamics.

Biography

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), encoded in the Standard Model of particle physics, is the theory that describes the strong force which binds quarks and gluons into protons and neutrons, alias almost all the visible matter in our universe. Being asymptotically free, QCD becomes a weak-coupling theory at high-energy scales, thus enabling perturbative predictions which have withstood rigorous tests by collider experiments such as Tevatron at Fermilab and LHC at CERN. However, at low energy-scales relevant for the internal structure of protons and neutrons, or color confinement in strong interaction phenomena, QCD becomes non-perturbative and admits no analytical solution. As of today, solving QCD in the non-perturbative regime remains one of the frontiers of Standard Model physics.

My current research focuses on one of the non-perturbative problems in QCD: determining the internal structure of hadrons, including the proton and neutron, as well as mesons such as the pion and kaon, from the first-principles method of lattice gauge theory which simulates QCD in a discretized 4D Euclidean spacetime. My research involves both large-scale supercomputing for lattice simulation and analytical methods such as perturbation theory, which work jointly to provide precision-controlled predictions for experiments such as RHIC, JLab, and the future Electron-Ion Collider.

Employment:

  • Assistant Physicist, 2021 - present,
    Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Postdoctoral Associate, 2019 - 2021,
    Physics Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • Postdoctoral Associate, 2016 - 2019,
    Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Research Affiliate, 2015 - 2016,
    Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Education:

  • PhD, University of Maryland, College Park, 2015
  • BS in Physics, Wuhan University, 2010

Awards:

Research Group:

Current members:

  • Joshua Lin, postdoctoral associate, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Artur Avkhadiev, Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellow, Argonne National Laboratory
  • Jinchen He, graduate student, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Justin Dean, undergraduate student, Virginia Tech

Former members:

  • Xiang Gao, postdoctoral associate, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • Rui Zhang, postdoctoral associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Ethan Baker, graduate student, Boston University
  • William Good, graduate student, Michigan State University

Highlighted Publications: