Zirui Zhang

I’m broadly interested in tidal disruption events (TDEs) and how they light up when a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole.

Coronal TDEs / ECLEs: highly ionized iron lines that may appear when a bright flare shines on nearby gas.
Why some TDEs are X-ray bright (and others are not): what controls whether we see the flare directly or mostly in optical/UV light.
Spectral diversity: why some events show helium-dominated spectra, while others look more hydrogen-rich.
Partial / repeating disruptions: cases where the star may survive the first passage and the system can flare more than once.
CrL-TDE QPE links: whether a one-time disruption can evolve into recurring, quasi-periodic eruptions.
TDEs vs AGN variability: how to tell a short-lived disruption apart from “normal” black-hole activity in galactic nuclei.
Jets and extreme events: why a small fraction of TDEs launch relativistic jets and produce very high-energy emission.

I’m also fascinated by compact objects and the transients produced by neutron stars and black holes.

Black holes and neutron stars: their formation, extreme environments, and how we can learn about them through short-lived transients.
NS–BH mergers: when a neutron star is disrupted (vs swallowed) and how that changes the expected signals.
Kilonovae: the glow from neutron-star mergers and what it reveals about heavy-element production.
Jets and afterglows: how gamma-ray bursts and afterglows depend on jet structure and viewing angle.
Post-merger remnants: how long a massive neutron star survives and how that shapes the ejecta and emission.
FRBs and magnetars: what powers fast radio bursts and what environments they prefer.

I’m also interested in what host galaxies can tell us about where nuclear transients happen and why.

Preferred TDE hosts: the tendency for many TDEs to appear in compact or recently quenched galaxies.
Link to galaxy history: how star-formation history and central structure might affect the chance of a TDE.
Dust and hidden activity: how gas and dust can change what a nuclear flare looks like across wavelengths.
Impact on the surroundings: whether a short flare can leave a noticeable imprint on gas near the galaxy center.
Little Red Dots (JWST): very compact, dusty high-redshift galaxies that may host fast-growing black holes.

I’m also curious about how AI can help astronomers discover and understand rare events in the era of surveys and also case study.