Professor Woong-Tae Kim uses theory and numerical simulations to study various gas dynamical processes occurring in a wide variety of astronomical objects from stars to galaxy clusters. He is particularly interested in gas dynamical evolution of disk galaxies.

Stellar spiral arms and bars in disk galaxies interact nonlinearly with the interstellar medium in their way of galaxy rotation, producing various secondary structures that include gaseous feathers, giant clouds, young star clusters, dust lanes, nuclear rings, and nuclear spirals. Professor Kim focuses on what triggers the formation of theses secondary structures, what regulates active star formation associated with spiral arms and nuclear spirals as well as global star formation in disks at large.

Professor Kim is also working on ionization structures and expansion of All regions, dynamical friction in a gaseous medium, mass-loss and evolution of cataclysmic variables, gas dynamics in galaxy clusters.

[Homepage] https://astro.snu.ac.kr/~wkim/