Education and Employment

From 2021.09, Xiamen University, associate professor

2017.09-2021.08, The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, postdoctoral research

2011.09-2017.07, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Ph.D

2007.09-2011.06, Shandong University (Weihai), B.Sc

Research Interests

The formation and evolution of galaxies and their structures, N-body+SPH simulations. Recently, I mainly focus on the suite of IllustrisTNG simulations. One movie from the IllustrisTNG group is as follows (see more at https://www.tng-project.org/media/).

Publications（movies attached)

IllustrisTNG Insights: Factors Affecting the Presence of Bars in Disk Galaxies， Lu, S., Du, M.*, & Debattista, P.V. 2025, submitted to A&A, arXiv:2412.02255

Two Channels of Metal-Rich Compact Stellar System Formation: Starbursts Under High Ram Pressure vs. Tidal Stripping, Bian, Y., Du, M.*, Debattista, V.P., et al. 2025, ApJL, 979, L33

The evolutionary pathways of disk galaxies with different sizes, Ma, H.C.; Du, M.*; Ho, L.C.; Sheng, M.J.; Liao, S.H., A&A, 689, A293

The physical origin of the mass-size relation and its scatter for disk galaxies, Du, M.; Ma, H.C.; Zhong, W.Y.; Ho, L.C.; Liao, S.H., 2024, A&A, 686, 168

The interplay between accretion, downsizing and the formation of box/peanut bulges in TNG50, Anderson, S. R.; Gough-Kelly, S.; Debattista, V. P.; Du, M., et al. 2024, MNRAS, 527， 2919

How Nested Bars Enhance, Modulate, and are Destroyed by Gas Inflows, Li, Z.; Du, M.*; Shen, J.T., et al. 2023, ApJ, 958， 77

The Origin of the Relation Between Stellar Angular Momentum and Stellar Mass in Nearby Disk-dominated galaxies, Du, M., Ho, L.C., Yu, H.-R., Debattista, V.P., 2022, ApJL, 937, 18

The Evolutionary Pathways of Disk-, Bulge-, and Halo-dominated Galaxies, Du, M., Ho, L.C., et al. 2021, ApJ, 919, 135

Barred Galaxies in IllustrisTNG, Zhao, D.Y., Du, M.*, et al. 2020, ApJ, 904, 170

Kinematic Decomposition of IllustrisTNG Disk Galaxies: Morphology and Relation with Morphological Structures, Du, M., Ho, L.C., Debattista, V.P., et al. 2020, ApJ, 895, 139

A New Channel of Bulge Formation via the Destruction of Short Bars, Guo, M., Du, M., Ho, L.C., et al. 2020, ApJ, 888, 65

Identifying Kinematic Structures in Simulated Galaxies Using Unsupervised Machine Learning, Du, M., Ho, L.C., Zhao, D., et al. 2019, ApJ, 884, 129

The Formation of Compact Elliptical Galaxies in the Vicinity of a Massive Galaxy: The Role of Ram-pressure Confinement, Du, M., Debattista, V.P., Ho, L.C., et al. 2019, ApJ, 875, 58 (The movies show the properties of gas when the cE interacts the central massive galaxy galaxy_interaction_gas_metallicity.gif, galaxy_interaction_gas_temperature.gif, galaxy_interaction_gas_density.gif.)

Black Hole Growth in Disk Galaxies Mediated by the Secular Evolution of Short Bars, Du, M., Debattista, V. P., Shen, J., & Ho, L. C. 2017, ApJL, 844, L15

Orthogonal Vertical Velocity Dispersion Distributions Produced by Bars, Du, M., Shen, J., Debattista, V. P. & de Lorenzo-Caceres, A. 2017, ApJ, 836, 181

Kinematic Properties of Double-barred Galaxies: Simulations Versus Integral-field Observations, Du, M., Debattista, V.P., Shen, J., & Cappellari, M. 2016, ApJ, 828, 14

Forming Double-barred Galaxies from Dynamically Cool Inner Disks, Du, M., Shen, J., & Debattista, V.P. 2015, ApJ, 804, 139 (The movies show the formation and 3D structures of double-barred galaxies S2B_form.gif, S2B_3D_zoomin.gif.)

Teaching

Galaxy Astronomy