Chen, Ke-Jung 陳科榮

Associate Research Fellow (Tenured)

Personal Homepage

Office: ASMAB 1420

Email: kjchenasiaa.sinica.edu.tw

3980572/ke-jung-ken-chen/

0000-0002-4848-5508

My Publications from ADS

Research Interests

I am deeply passionate about computational and theoretical astrophysics, particularly the life cycles and explosive deaths of the massive stars. I lead a team of students and early-career researchers employing advanced numerical simulations to study how the massive stars formed, evolved, and ended as supernovae or black holes, and how their feedback shaped the universe across cosmic time.

World’s First 3D Simulations Reveal the Physics of Superluminous Supernovae

First galaxies

Hydrodynamical evolution of supernovae and its effect on galaxy evolution

The HII region around the first star

Hypernovae and GRB

CASTRO AMR

3D pair-instability supernova model

3D radiation hydrodynamical simulation of Colliding Shells

How a supernova affects a nearby star-forming galaxy?

An exploding supermassive star

Chemical Enrichment of the First Supernovae

Magnetar-powered Superluminous Supernovae

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Positions

• Associate Research Fellow, ASIAA (2026~present)
• Humboldt Fellow, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (2025~present)
• Assistant Research Fellow, ASIAA (2018~2026)
• EACOA Fellow, NAOJ and ASIAA (2015~2018)
• IAU-Gruber Fellow, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UC Santa Cruz, USA (2013~2015)
• Johnston Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Minnesota, USA (2012~2013)
• KITP Graduate Fellow, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, USA (2012)

Education

• Physics PhD, University of Minnesota (2013)

Honors & Awards

• Scientific Visual Impact Award, National Computing Research Center (NERSC) (2024)
• Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2024)
• Career Development Award, Academic Sinica (2021)
• Mentoring Award for College Student Research, MOST (2020)
• Outstanding Mentor Award, National Taiwan Science Education Center (2019)
• Young Scholar Innovation Award, Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship (2019)
• Recruiting Special Outstanding Talent Award, MOST (2018)
• Initial Employment Academic Research Award, Academic Sinica (2018)
• The finalist in Poster and Graphics, NSF Scientific Visualization Competition (Vizzies) (2016)
• The Best Dissertation, Honorable Mention, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2015)
• EACOA Fellowship (2015)
• The NERSC Achievement Award, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2015)
• IAU Gruber Fellowship (2013)
• APS Travel Award for Excellence in Graduate Research (2 awards) (2012~2013)
• Johnston Fellowship, University of Minnesota, USA (2012)
• UC HiPACC Travel Grant (3 awards) (2011~2014)
• APS DAP Travel Award (2 awards) (2011~2012)
• AAS International Travel Grant (5 awards) (2010~2014)
• KITP Graduate Fellowship, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (2012)
• Grants-in-Aid for Research, Sigma Xi Foundation (2012)
• APS International Travel Grant (2011)
• The Best Poster Prize, Research Exhibition of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (2011)
• The Best Paper Prize, Cefalu Meeting: Advances in Computational Astrophysics (2011)
• Thesis Research Grant, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2010)
• NSF International Travel Grant (2009)
• Edmond Franklin Fellowship, Physics Department, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2008)

Professional and Academic Societies

• Member, International Astronomical Union (IAU) (2018)
• Associate Member, Sigma Xi (2012~2015)
• Member, American Astronomical Society (AAS) (2010~2015)
• Member, American Physical Society (APS) (2010~2015)
• Member, SciDAC Computational Astrophysics Consortium (2009~2012)

Journal Papers affiliated with ASIAA(27)

1. Ho M-Y; Chen K-J; Tung P-C, "Turbulence in Primordial Dark Matter Halos and Its Impact on the First Star Formation", ApJ: 1004(2), id.246 (14pp), Jun, 2026 [SCI] ( ADS | Fulltext )
2. Tsai S-H; Chen K-J; Maeda K; Ou P-S; Röpke FK, "Interacting Binary Stars as Progenitors for Interacting Supernovae", ApJL: 1005(2), id.L36, Jun, 2026 [SCI] ( ADS | Fulltext )
3. Chen W-Y; Chen K-J; Maeda K; Ono M; Ou P-S; Röpke FK, "Multiwavelength Signatures of Supernova Shock Breakout from Red Supergiants in Two Dimensions", ApJ: 999(1), id.56 (13pp), Mar, 2026 [SCI] ( ADS | Fulltext )
4. Ou P-S; Chen K-J, "Critical Metallicity of Cool Supergiant Formation. II. Physical Origin", ApJ: 999(1), id.109 (15 pp), Mar, 2026 [SCI] ( ADS | Fulltext )
5. Chen K-J; Ho M-Y; Tung P-C, "Formation of Supersonic Turbulence in the Primordial Star-forming Cloud", ApJL: 988(2), id.L67, Aug, 2025 [SCI]
6. Matsuoka T; Maeda K; Chen K-J, "Inferring a Dense Confined Circumstellar Medium around Supernova Progenitors via Long-term Hydrodynamical Evolution", ApJL: 988(2), L53 (8pp), Aug, 2025 [SCI]
7. Chen KJ, "Origins of supermassive black holes in galactic centers", MPLA: 40 (23), id. 2530007, Jul, 2025 [SCI]
8. Tung PC; Chen K-J, "Coevolution of Dwarf Galaxies and Their Circumgalactic Medium Across Cosmic Time", ApJ: 988(1), id.127, Jul, 2025 [SCI]
9. Orlando S; Greco E; Hirai R; Matsuoka T; Miceli M; Nagataki S; Ono M; Chen KJ; Milisavljevic D; Patnaude D; Bocchino F; Elias-Rosa N, "Constraining the Circumstellar Medium Structure and Progenitor Mass-loss History of Interacting Supernovae Through 3D Hydrodynamic Modeling: The Case of SN 2014C", ApJ: 977(1), id.118 (35 pp), Dec, 2024 [SCI]
10. Chen W-Y; Chen K-J; Ono M, "Multidimensional Radiation Hydrodynamics Simulations of SN 1987A Shock Breakout", ApJ: 976(1), id.147 (22 pp), Nov, 2024 [SCI]
11. You K-A; Chen K-J; Pan Y-C; Tsai S-H; Ou P-S, "Modeling the Progenitor Stars of Observed Type IIP Supernovae", ApJ: 970(2), id.145, Aug, 2024 [SCI]
12. Chen K-J; Tang C-Y; Whalen DJ; Ho M-Y; Tsai S-H; Ou P-S; Ono M, "How Population III Supernovae Determined the Properties of the First Galaxies", ApJ: 964(1), id.91 (12pp), Mar, 2024 [SCI]
13. Ono M; Nozawa T; Nagataki S; Kozyreva A; Orlando S; Miceli M; Chen K-J, "The impact of effective matter mixing based on three-dimensional hydrodynamical models on the molecule formation in the ejecta of SN 1987A", ApJS: 271(1), id.33 (57pp), Mar, 2024 [SCI]
14. Tang C-Y; Chen K-J, "Clumpy Structures within the Turbulent Primordial Cloud", MNRAS: 529(4), 4248-4261, Mar, 2024 [SCI]
15. Chen K-J; Whalen DJ; Woosley SE; Zhang W, "Multidimensional Radiation Hydrodynamics Simulations of Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae", ApJ: 955(1), id.39 (12pp), Sep, 2023 [SCI]
16. Lin C-H; Chen K-J; Hwang C-Y, "Rapid Growth of Galactic Supermassive Black Holes through Accreting Giant Molecular Clouds during Major Mergers of their Host Galaxies", ApJ: 952(2), id.121 (13 pp), Aug, 2023 [SCI]
17. Tsai S-H; Chen K-J; Whalen D; Ou P-S; Woods TE, "The Evolution of Population III and Extremely Metal-Poor Binary Stars", ApJ: 951(2), id.84, July, 2023 [SCI]
18. Ou P-S; Chen K-J; Chu Y-H; Tsai S-H, "Critical Metallicity of Cool Supergiant Formation. I. Effects on Stellar-mass Loss and Feedback", ApJ: 944(1), id.34 (17 pp), Feb, 2023 [SCI]
19. Moriya TJ; Chen K-J; Nakajima K; Tominaga N; Blinnikov SI, "Observational properties of a general relativistic instability supernova from a primordial supermassive star", MNRAS: 503(1), 1206-1213, May, 2021 [SCI]
20. Chen K-J, "Physics of superluminous supernovae", Int J Mod Phys D: 30(4), id.2130001-164, 2021 [SCI]
21. Chen K-J; Woosley SE; Whalen DJ, "Gas Dynamics of the Nickel-56 Decay Heating in Pair-instability Supernovae", ApJ: 897(2), id.152 (14pp.), Jul, 2020 [SCI]
22. Chen K-J; Woosley SE; Whalen DJ, "Three-dimensional Simulations of Magnetar-powered Superluminous Supernovae", ApJ: 893(2), id.99 (10pp.), Apr, 2020 [SCI]
23. Woods TE; Agarwal B; Bromm V; ...; Chen K-J; et al., "Titans of the early Universe: The Prato statement on the origin of the first supermassive black holes", PASA: 36, id. e027 (38 pp.), Jan, 2019 [SCI]
24. Chen K-J; Whalen DJ; Wollenberg KMJ; et al., "How the First Stars Regulated Star Formation. II. Enrichment by Nearby Supernovae", ApJ: 844(2), 111, Aug, 2017 [SCI]
25. Chen K-J; Heger A; Whalen DJ; Moriya TJ; Bromm V; Woosley SE, "Low-energy Population III supernovae and the origin of extremely metal-poor stars", MNRAS: 467(4), 4731-4738, June, 2017 [SCI]
26. Chen K-J; Moriya TJ; Woosley S; et al., "Magnetar-powered Supernovae in Two Dimensions. II. Broad-line Supernovae Ic", ApJ: 839(2), 85, April 18, 2017 [SCI]
27. Chen K-J; Woosley SE; Sukhbold T, "Magnetar-Powered Supernovae in Two Dimensions. I. Superluminous Supernovae", ApJ: 832(1), 73, Nov 20, 2016 [SCI]