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Eugene Chiang
<html> <TITLE> Eugene Chiang </TITLE> <body bgcolor="black" text="white" link="yellow" vlink="yellow"> <h1>Eugene Chiang</h1> <em><pre> <h3>Professor of <a href="http://astro.berkeley.edu">Astronomy</a> and <a href="http://eps.berkeley.edu">Earth and Planetary Science</a> at the <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California at Berkeley</a></h3> Postal: Astronomy Department, 501 Campbell Hall #3411, Berkeley CA 94720-3411 Office: 605C Phone: (510) 701-5996 Email: <a href="mailto:echiang@astro.berkeley.edu">echiang {at} astro.berkeley.edu</a></pre></em> <!-- <br><img SRC="headshot_2022.jpg"> --> <hr> <!-- <br> <h3><a href="http://astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/fomalhaut/fom.html">Fomalhaut</a><br><hr> <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1166609">Discovery paper by Kalas, Graham, Chiang, et al. 2008, Science</a><br><br> <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/0811.1985">Companion theory paper by Chiang, Kite, Kalas, Graham, & Clampin 2008, ApJ, in press</a> <hr> <br> --> <h3><a href="#research">Research</a> <a href="#teaching">Teaching</a> <a href="students/students.html">Students</a> <a href="postdocs/postdocs.html">Postdocs</a></h3> <h3><a href="ppp/ppp.html">Publications</a> <a href="cv.pdf">CV</a> <a href="talks/talks.html">Talks</a> </h3> <!-- <a href="useful/useful.html">Useful Links</a> </h3>--> <!--<h3><a href="im/im.html">Images and Movies</a> --> <h3><a href="http://astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/bp/bp.html">Order-of-Magnitude Estimation and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon ("BP") Oil Spill</a></h3> <!-- <a href="problems.ps">Cosmogony Minimum</a> --> <h3><a href="#personal">Personal</a> <!-- <a href="notes1.html">Astrometry reduction procedure at Lick 3-meter</a></h3> </center> --!> <hr> <h2><a name="research">Research</a></h2> Theoretical astrophysics, with emphasis on understanding the origin and evolution of planetary systems.<p> <!--Order-of-magnitude physics.<p>--> Interested students should talk to me or the <a href="http://astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/students/students.html">students</a> I work with.<p> Research areas include extrasolar planets, protoplanetary disks, debris disks including the Kuiper belt, planet formation, gravitational dynamics, hydrodynamics. <!-- <br> <br> (1) Protoplanetary Disks. <br> <br> Disks of gas and dust surrounding young stars provide the reservoirs from which planets ultimately coalesce. Spectra and images of these systems from ultraviolet to millimeter wavelengths are modelled to understand their thermodynamic states and accretion profiles. <br> <br> (2) Extra-solar Planetary Dynamics. <br> <br> Extra-solar planets evince surprisingly small orbits, remarkably large eccentricities, and/or strongly resonant behavior due to mutual gravitational perturbations. We seek to understand the dynamical processes that shape these orbits. <br> <br> (3) Extra-solar Debris Disks. <br> <br> A number of optically thin disks of dust have been stunningly resolved around stars 10--1000 times younger than the Sun. Debris disks offer clues regarding the endgame of planet formation. Imprinted in their structures may be signs of active gravitational sculpting by nascent planets. <br> <br> (4) The Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt. <br> <br> Pluto has only recently been discovered to be one of at least tens of thousands of asteroid-sized bodies (Kuiper Belt Objects, or KBOs) orbiting the outer Solar System. This ring contains the most pristine, unprocessed material in our planetary system and holds clues to its early evolution. <br> <br> (5) Planetary Rings. <br> <br> Rings furnish the most accessible laboratories for disk dynamics; they showcase a rich interplay of forces due to interparticle collisions, self-gravity, the gravity of shepherd moons, and electromagnetic fields. <br> <br> --> <hr> <h2><a name="teaching">Teaching</a></h2> <h3><a href="dta_statement_chiang.pdf">Teaching Statement</a></h3> <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/fluid/fluid.html">Astro 202: Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics (4 units)</a></h3> Spring 07/08/19/20/21: For graduate students and prepared undergraduates. Hydrodynamics and magneto-hydrodynamics, with emphasis on developing intuition, order-of-magnitude problem-solving skills, and the ability to interpret the astrophysical literature. Applications include stellar winds, accretion disks, and galactic sub-structure. <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/oom/oom.html">Physics/Astro C101: Order-of-Magnitude Physics (4 units)</a></h3> Spring 06/09/23, Fall 14/21: For undergraduate and graduate students. Learn the art of estimating everyday quantities to within a factor of 10. Material properties, fluid mechanics, biophysics, waves and sound, pop culture (e.g., Lady Gaga and Proposition 13). <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/planetastro/planetastro.html">Astro C162/C249: Planetary Astrophysics (4 units)</a></h3> Spring 03/04/05/22, Fall 19/20: Astrophysics of planets, both within the solar system and outside it, geared for upper division physical science majors and graduate students. Interiors, atmospheres, gravitational dynamics, planet formation. <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/Astro7B/7B.html">Astro 7B: Introduction to Astrophysics (4 units)</a></h3> Spring 13/14/15/16/17/18: For undergraduates, geared toward double majors in physics and astronomy. Continues the survey of modern astrophysics begun in 7A, applying elementary physics to the understanding of astronomical objects. Tides, accretion disks, black holes, gravitational lensing, superluminal motion, galaxies, cosmology. <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/Astro7A/7A.html">Astro 7A: Introduction to Astrophysics (4 units)</a></h3> Fall 09/10/11/12: For undergraduates, geared toward double majors in physics and astronomy. An introduction to modern astrophysics, applying elementary physics to the understanding of astronomical objects. Orbital motion; interaction of radiation with matter; stellar evolution; compact objects. Companion course to Astro 7B. <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/rad/rad.html">Astro 201: Radiative Processes (4 units)</a></h3> Fall 03/04/05/06/10: Fundamental principles underlying why we see what we see in astronomy, geared towards graduate students. <h3><a href="http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/classmech/classmech.html">Astro 250: Special Topics in Astronomy: Planetary Dynamics (3 units)</a></h3> Fall 02/11: Graduate seminar on the gravitational dynamics of planetary bodies. For a full course description, including readings and problem sets, click on the link. <!--<h3><a href="http://astro.berkeley.edu/~echiang/kobe/kobe_chiang.pdf">Order-of-Magnitude Problems in Planetary Science: 2005 Kobe Planetary School Lecture</a></h3> Summer 05: Three-hour adventure in order-of-magnitude estimation, for graduate students. Students are strongly encouraged to try the problems first before attending the lecture. Topics covered: Planet formation, planet-disk interaction, debris disks, and mass loss from hot Jupiters. --> <h3><a href="http://serpens.berkeley.edu:2500/doku.php">Astro 250: Galactic Dynamics (to access link, connect to airbears on Berkeley campus; 3 units)</a></h3> Fall 07: Wiki-based graduate reading seminar on galaxies. Orbit theory, spiral structure, bars, numerical algorithms (linear programming and tree codes), relaxation, black hole dynamics, and formation. <!-- <h3>Summer Reading Club</h3> Summer 03: Informal reading seminar to review classic, seminal papers in astrophysics, co-organized with Yoram Lithwick. Includes free food, courtesy of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center. --> <h3><a href="http://cips.berkeley.edu">Astro 250: Physics of Super-Earths (3 units)</a></h3> Fall 05: Graduate reading seminar on extra-solar super-Earths. <h3><a href="http://cips.berkeley.edu">EPS 290: Classic Papers in Earth and Planetary Science (3 units)</a></h3> Fall 03: Graduate reading seminar on seminar papers in earth science, co-taught with Raymond Jeanloz. <!-- <h3><a href="http://astro.berkeley.edu/tac/disks.html">Astro 250: Special Topics in Astronomy: Disk Dynamics (3 units)</a></h3> Spring 02: Graduate seminar on the dynamics of accretion disks, co-taught with Eliot Quataert. Mechanisms of angular momentum transport, with applications to planetary rings, protoplanetary disks, and accretion disks surrounding black holes, both stellar and supermassive. --> <hr> <h2><a name="personal">Personal</a></h2> Born in New York 1973. Our family's rescue dog <a href="mrbrown.jpg">Mr. Brown</a> is an <a href="https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/canine-good-citizen/">A.K.C.-certified Canine Good Citizen</a> with a <a href="https://my.embarkvet.com/dog/mrbrown/#family-tree">unique genealogy</a>. <p> <!--Some of my happiest memories are from <a href="http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/activity/d/dramashop/www/archive/1993-94/fob.html">this play</a> --> The Berkeley Astronomy Department has a longstanding tradition of putting together an annual play every December to celebrate the holiday season. What makes our tradition unusual is that the faculty are held responsible for putting it together every three years (responsibility rotates between the faculty, students, and postdocs in a three-year cycle). I have been involved in writing and acting, and in several years directing, since 2003. I co-wrote and acted in the 2006 play. In 2009, I wrote a scene in which the arXiv server "cron" achieved sentience ("cron" became a recurring character in later years). I wrote, directed, cast, acted, and created the special effects for the <a href="play.pdf">2003 Faculty Play</a>, the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qmPNU9AFUZuA9nbVQLEqOVgs1urk1-hLGHXhjL4seAc/edit?usp=sharing">2012 Faculty Play</a>, and the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nr05cJjQM33tSfDcNaCYe7Ri5E572g8QCgWNJKSeYIM/edit?usp=sharing">2015 Faculty Play</a> (the 2015 play was co-written with Aaron Parsons). I especially liked the <a href="holiday_play_2015_movie_only.m4v">video clip that I subtitled for the 2015 play</a>. <p> On the occasion of receiving <a href="http://teaching.berkeley.edu/programs/distinguished-teaching-award">Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award</a> with the Astro 7B class of Spring 2014:<p> <!--<a href="mvc-003a.jpg"> <IMG SRC="mvc-003a.jpg" height=350>--> <a href="DSC_0111.jpg"> <IMG SRC="DSC_0111.jpg" height=350> </a>