Recently, Prof. GAO Zhifu from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO), Chinese Academy of Sciences, received notification that the paper titled "Evolution of LMXBs under Different Magnetic Braking Prescriptions" (ApJ, 2021, 909, 174), authored by his student DENG Zhuling and published in the international scientific journal ‘The Astrophysical Journal’, has been awarded the "2024 China Top Cited Paper Award" by the Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing.

This research was a collaborative effort between Prof. GAO Zhifu from the Pulsar Research Group at XAO and Profs. LI Xiangdong and SHAO Yong from the School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University. Based on binary evolution calculations and a binary population synthesis system, the researchers examined the influence of both mainstream and novel magnetic braking models on the evolution of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). The results resolved long-standing discrepancies between theoretical models and observational data on LMXB evolution, particularly regarding accretion rates and orbital distributions. This has advanced our understanding of LMXB evolution.

This award aims to recognize the most influential papers published by Chinese researchers, with citation rates based on data from the Web of Science. It honors authors whose articles rank in the top 1% of citations in their respective fields between 2021 and 2023.