Wenxi Wu

Brooklyn, NY & College Park, MD

Hi there! I recently graduated with a dual degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Maryand, College Park. I am interested in theoretical and computational astrophysics, specifically working with cosmological simulations to understand the behavior of dark matter. I am also broadly interested in the theoretical physics of the early stages of the universe, including inflation mechanisms, the formation of large-scale structures, and quantum gravity that unifies the theories of the Standard Model and General Relativity, as well as nuclear physics in astrophysical events. I am currently looking for post-bacc research opportunities in preparation for gradutate school.

Research & Projects

I am passionate about research in astrophyiscs. I have done projects in plasma physics, high-energy particle physics, cosmology, galaxies, and machine learning. Here are some of the projects and links to the paper that I conducted in undergrad!

Topic	Keywords	Tools
Dark Matter	Cosmology, $\Lambda \mathrm{CDM}$, Large Scale Structures	N-body Simulations, Supercomputing
Higgs Inflation	Cosmic Inflation, Hign Energy Physics, GUT	Literature Review
Baryon Abundance	Cosmology, IGM	Observation Proposal
HII Galaxies	Galaxies, Dark Matter	Literature Review
Variable Stars	Cataclysmic Variables, Light Curve Analysis	Data Analysis, ZTF
Grokking	Machine Learning, Optimization, Neural Network	Multi-layer Perceptron

Teaching

I am also passionate about communicating science through teaching. I have served as a teaching assistant for multiple phyisics and astronomy courses at UMD, as well as for an astrophysic summer camp at the University of Colorado Boulder. Here are some of the courses I taught:

The Summer Science Program (2025)

Help students learn about asteroid orbits, observe asteroids with a ground-based telescope, and conduct a project on determining asteroid orbits.
Help students with assignments, lead social events, and act as scientific mentors and role models.

Courses at UMD

PHYS413: Electricity and Magnetism II (Spring 2025)
PHYS273: Introductory Physics: Oscillations and Waves (Fall 2024)
ASTR220: Collisions in Space - The Threat of Asteroid Impacts (Spring 2024)
ASTR100: Introduction to Astronomy (Fall 2023)

Wenxi Wu

Brooklyn, NY & College Park, MD

Research & Projects

Teaching

Cosmology Calculator

Calculate the Age of the Universe