报告摘要：I will discuss mechanisms of generating polarized x-rays from magnetars and large eccentricities of exoplanets, and how the underlying "dynamics" is similar to adiabatic evolution of a pendulum.

主讲人简介：Dong Lai is T.D.Lee Chair Professor and Astrophysics Division head at Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. From 1997 to 2025, he was on the faculty at Cornell University, where he was the Benson and Mary Simon Professor in Astrophysics. Dong Lai received B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China, Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University in 1994. He was a Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech, and joined the Cornell Astronomy faculty in 1997. He has made significant contribution to the understanding of the physical processes around compact objects (black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs), including the QED effect in radiation from magnetic neutron stars, the origin of pulsar kicks, gravitational wave sources, and accrection disks around magnetic stars and compact objects. He has also made important contributions in several areas of exoplanetary dynamics. He has received Sloan Fellowship, Simons Fellowship and distinguished graduate teaching and mentoring award from Cornell. In 2024 he received the Dirk Brouwer Award from the American Astronomical Society, the highest international honor in dynamical astronomy.