Philippe Yao

Philippe Yao is a THEA Fellow at Columbia University. He received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Princeton University in 2026.

Philippe's research focuses on the dynamics of stars and gas near supermassive black holes, and on the transient emission these interactions produce. He uses 3D hydrodynamic simulations to model repeated collisions between orbiting stars and accretion disks, the debris streams they launch, and the unstable Roche-lobe overflow of stars on tightly bound orbits. By connecting the simulated gas dynamics to the orbital evolution of the stars themselves, he builds predictions for the timing and long-term behavior of quasi-periodic eruptions and other repeating nuclear transients, which he confronts directly with X-ray timing data.