Xuejian(Jacob) Shen

Theoretical and Computational Astrophysicist at MIT

About Me

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I work on theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, specifically on galaxy formation & evolution.

  • I'm now an active member of the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) and the THESAN scientific collabration.
  • In 2023, I received Ph.D. in Physics at California Institute of Technology, supervised by Prof. Philip F. Hopkins.
  • In 2018, I received Bachelor's degree in Physics from Peking University.

    • Research

    My research revolves around the formation & evolution of galaxies and the nature of dark matter. Several topics on my radar are:

  • Galaxy formation & evolution in the early Universe in light of JWST observations
  • The nature of dark matter in the context of galaxy formation
  • Seeding, evolution & demography of AGNs in the early Universe

    • Some Visualizations

    The life of a Milky Way-mass galaxy

    Copyright @Xuejian Shen

    The Milky Way-mass galaxy in the Latte simulation

    Copyright @FIRE collabration

    Cosmic structure in the THESAN EoR simulations (CDM versus WDM)

    Copyright @Xuejian Shen

    A proto-cluster in the IllustrisTNG simulation (post-processed with SKIRT)

    Copyright @Xuejian Shen

    Research Highlights

    39 publications (32 refereed)

    13 first/corresponding-author journal papers, see Publication for details.

    Over 1200 citations with h-index 17

    First/corresponding-author citation > 500