Xiaocan Li

Theoretical Division

Los Alamos National Laboratory

I am a staff scientist in T-2 at Los Alamos National Laboratory. My research focuses on particle acceleration and transport processes in space physics, solar physics, and high-energy astrophysics. I am particularly interested in magnetic reconnection and plasma turbulence. My research primarily uses numerical simulations (particle-in-cell, MHD, and energetic-particle transport) and theoretical analysis (plasma dynamics and particle transport). I collaborate with the observation experts to explain the kinetic plasma phenomena in space plasmas and the origin of the energetic particles in solar flares and other explosive astrophysical events.

news

Sep 03, 2024	Returning to LANL as a staff scientist
Nov 30, 2023	Just updated the GPAT model and its documentation.
Nov 09, 2023	Just updated the vpic_reconnection_tutorial with a simpler reconnection deck.

selected publications

ApJ

Modeling Electron Acceleration and Transport in the Early Impulsive Phase of the 2017 September 10th Solar Flare

Xiaocan Li, Fan Guo, Bin Chen, and 2 more authors

The Astrophysical Journal, Jun 2022

DOI Bib PDF

@article{2022ApJ...932...92L,
  author = {Li, Xiaocan and {Guo}, Fan and {Chen}, Bin and {Shen}, Chengcai and {Glesener}, Lindsay},
  title = {{Modeling Electron Acceleration and Transport in the Early Impulsive Phase of the 2017 September 10th Solar Flare}},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  keywords = {Interplanetary particle acceleration, Solar magnetic reconnection, Solar flares, Solar corona, Space plasmas, 826, 1504, 1496, 1483, 1544, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Physics - Plasma Physics, Physics - Space Physics},
  year = {2022},
  month = jun,
  volume = {932},
  number = {2},
  eid = {92},
  pages = {92},
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ac6efe},
  archiveprefix = {arXiv},
  eprint = {2205.04946},
  primaryclass = {astro-ph.SR},
  adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022ApJ...932...92L},
  adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System},
  projects = {flare}
}

PhPl

The acceleration of charged particles and formation of power-law energy spectra in nonrelativistic magnetic reconnection

Xiaocan Li, Fan Guo, and Yi-Hsin Liu

Physics of Plasmas, May 2021

DOI Bib PDF

@article{2021PhPl...28e2905L,
  author = {Li, Xiaocan and {Guo}, Fan and {Liu}, Yi-Hsin},
  title = {{The acceleration of charged particles and formation of power-law energy spectra in nonrelativistic magnetic reconnection}},
  journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
  keywords = {Physics - Plasma Physics, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Physics - Space Physics},
  year = {2021},
  month = may,
  volume = {28},
  number = {5},
  eid = {052905},
  pages = {052905},
  doi = {10.1063/5.0047644},
  archiveprefix = {arXiv},
  eprint = {2104.10732},
  primaryclass = {physics.plasm-ph},
  adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021PhPl...28e2905L},
  adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System},
  projects = {reconnection:nonrel}
}

ApJ

Formation of Power-law Electron Energy Spectra in Three-dimensional Low-\ensuremathβ Magnetic Reconnection

Xiaocan Li, Fan Guo, Hui Li, and 2 more authors

The Astrophysical Journal, Oct 2019

DOI Bib PDF

@article{2019ApJ...884..118L,
  author = {Li, Xiaocan and {Guo}, Fan and {Li}, Hui and {Stanier}, Adam and {Kilian}, Patrick},
  title = {{Formation of Power-law Electron Energy Spectra in Three-dimensional Low-{\ensuremath{\beta}} Magnetic Reconnection}},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  keywords = {Interplanetary particle acceleration, Solar magnetic reconnection, Solar flares, Solar corona, Space plasmas, 826, 1504, 1496, 1483, 1261, 1544, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Physics - Plasma Physics, Physics - Space Physics},
  year = {2019},
  month = oct,
  volume = {884},
  number = {2},
  eid = {118},
  pages = {118},
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ab4268},
  archiveprefix = {arXiv},
  eprint = {1909.01911},
  primaryclass = {astro-ph.SR},
  adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019ApJ...884..118L},
  adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System},
  projects = {reconnection:nonrel,turbulence}
}

ApJ

Particle Acceleration during Magnetic Reconnection in a Low-beta Plasma

Xiaocan Li, Fan Guo, Hui Li, and 1 more author

The Astrophysical Journal, Jul 2017

DOI Bib PDF

@article{2017ApJ...843...21L,
  author = {Li, Xiaocan and {Guo}, Fan and {Li}, Hui and {Li}, Gang},
  title = {{Particle Acceleration during Magnetic Reconnection in a Low-beta Plasma}},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  keywords = {acceleration of particles, accretion, accretion disks, magnetic reconnection, Sun: corona, Sun: flares},
  year = {2017},
  month = jul,
  volume = {843},
  number = {1},
  eid = {21},
  pages = {21},
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aa745e},
  adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...843...21L},
  adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System},
  projects = {reconnection:nonrel}
}