I received my PhD degree in Astronomy from Nanjing University in 2008, and visited Université Paris XI during 2006-2007 as a jointly educated PhD student. From 2008 to 2011, I worked as a post-doc researcher in University College London. My research interests focus on the transient phenomena of solar and space physics, including solar energetic particles (SEPs), self-organized criticality (SOC) in astrophysics, and the development of solar space instruments. I am now the chief designer of the science and application system of the Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE) that is scheduled to launch in 2021.

An introduction to space weather (for Junior and graduate students)

Research on solar-terrestrial space environment (online course)

Project 1：Solar energetic particles (SEPs)

SEPs, with energies from a few keV to several GeV, are produced by the release of magnetic energy on the Sun, notably flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). What I am interested is to clarify where and how SEPs are accelerated and to understand the processes of propagation for different species of SEPs.

Selected publications:

Li, C., Miroshnichenko, L. I., Fang, C., Proton activity of the Sun in current solar cycle 24, RAA, 15, 1036, 2015

Li, C., Firoz, K. A., Sun, L. P., Miroshnichenko, L. I., Electron and proton acceleration during the first ground level enhancement event of solar cycle 24, ApJ, 770, 34, 2013

Li, C., Sun, L. P., Wang, X. Y., Dai, Y., Coronal magnetic topology and the production of solar impulsive energetic electrons, A&A, 556, L2, 2013

Li, C., Owen, S. J., Matthews, S. A., Dai, Y., Tang, Y. H., Major electron events and coronal magnetic configurations of the related solar active regions, ApJ Letters, 720, 36, 2010

Li, C., Dai, Y., Vial J.-C., et al., Solar source of energetic particles in interplanetary space during the 2006 December 13 event, A&A, 503, 1013, 2009

Li, C., Tang, Y. H., Dai, Y., Zong, W. G., Fang, C., The acceleration characteristics of solar energetic particles in the 2000 July 14 event, A&A, 461, 1115, 2007

Project 2: SOC processes in astrophysics

The power-law frequency distributions are ubiquitous in the Universe. Self-organized criticality (SOC) and turbulence are the two intrinsic physical processes during the energy release in a nonlinear dynamical system. Both of them can produce eruptive events with power laws. What I am interested is to understand the roles of SOC and turbulence in astrophysical eruptions. 

Selected publications:

Lei, W. H., Li, C., Chen, F., Zhong, S. J., Xu, Z. G., Chen, P. F., Do the solar flares originating from an individual active region follow a random process or a memory-dependent correlation? MNRAS, 494, 975, 2020

Li, C., Zhong, S. J., Xu, Z. G., et al., Waiting time distributions of solar and stellar flares: Poisson process or with memory?, MNRAS, 479, L139, 2018

Li, C. Z., Yang, J. H., Li, C., et al., Self-organized criticality of the solar eruptions during solar cycle 23 (in Chinese). Sci Sin-Phys Mech Astron, 2016, 46: 029501

Li, C., Zhong, S. J., Wang, L., Su, W., Fang, C., Waiting time distributions of solar energetic particle events modeled with a non-stationary Poisson process, ApJ Letters, 792, L26, 2014

Project 3: Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE)

The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE) is designed to test a newly developed satellite platform and conduct solar observations. The scientific payload of the satellite is an Hα imaging spectrograph (HIS), which can, for the first time, acquire full-disk spectroscopic solar observations in the Hα waveband. The CHASE mission is developed by Nanjing University and Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and is scheduled to launch in 2021.

Publications:

Li, C., Fang, C., Li, Z., et al., Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE) -- a complementary space mission to the ASO-S, Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 19 (11), 165, 2019

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chuan-Li-18

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7693-4908