My name is Anning Gao (高安宁), an astronomy graduate student in Ohio State University.

Currently I am conducting research in astronomy, most of which are related to large structures in our universe. More specifically, my research interests can be summerized into 4 aspects:

1. Observational cosmology. Although \(\Lambda\)CDM has achieved great success, severe challenges still exist in modern cosmology. How to explain \(H_0\) and \(S_8\) tension? How to test inflation models? How to constrain the nature of dark energy & dark matter? …With the ongoing and upcoming big projects for redshift survey, weak lensing, etc., more questions are waiting to be answered.
2. Medium physics. Most of the baryons in our universe are in the diffuse form, which also occupies most of the volume. For example, the intergalactic medium (IGM) provides the direct tracer for reionization and the matter distribution at high redshift, both being important topics in cosmology, while the circumgalactic medium (CGM) plays a direct role in the galaxy evolution and is a considerable part of the galaxy’s interaction with its surrounding environment. Understanding them is then the key to progress our knowledge of structure formation.
3. Galaxy physics. The co-evolution of galaxies, the dark matter halos and the central SMBH along with various baryonic mechanisms such as AGN and SN feedbacks shapes the galaxies we see today. Understanding how galaxies form and evolve constitutes the basis of view of the universe and connects cosmology to “smaller” processes such as star and planet formation.
4. Statistics & AI in astronomy. Nowadays more advanced statistical methods and AI are needed for both massive datasets generated by large surveys and tiny datasets where traditional methods are hard to give convincing results, and are even more useful in new research paradigms like simulation-based inference, accelerating numerical simulations, and reasoning with large language models.

More details about my research projects can be found in the research page. If you want to discuss anything about my research or your research, please feel free to contact me! 😀

Contact

• Personal Email: anninggao211@gmail.com
• Institutional Email: gao.2526@osu.edu