Xiaocan Li

I build predictive, multi-scale models that explain how magnetized plasmas convert stored energy into energetic particles across solar, space, and astrophysical environments.

Most projects blend large-scale particle-in-cell, hybrid, and MHD simulations with energetic-particle transport solvers. That lets us translate kinetic physics into reduced models that mission teams, heliophysics forecasting centers, and laboratory experiments can reuse.

I work closely with observers, laboratory experimentalists, and data scientists to interpret kinetic phenomena wherever they appear. Validating simulations against X-ray/radio data, mapping reconnection dynamics onto spacecraft signatures, and wiring laboratory diagnostics back into our codes keep the models honest—and ready for collaborators.

Current role: Staff Scientist (T-2), Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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what I work on now