Childhood Passions
I've been interested in physics for a very long time. Growing up in Greenwich—home of the Prime Meridian and the Royal Observatory—I spent much of my childhood looking up at the night sky and wandering through historic exhibition halls. That environment sparked a quiet, persistent curiosity in me. I wanted to understand the fundamental laws governing the universe, from the grand motions of galaxies down to the smallest subatomic world.
求学清华物理系
At the age of 14, that curiosity led to a life-changing opportunity when I received an offer from the Tsinghua University Physics Department in Beijing. Moving across the world at such a young age to join one of China's most rigorous and historic academic departments was both daunting and exhilarating. Navigating a new language, adapting to a vibrant culture, and learning to think like a researcher among some of the brightest minds has shaped not just my scientific career, but who I am as a person.
毕业论文研究
Now, I'm a 4th year student. I'm currently working on my bachelor's thesis in experimental nuclear physics within Prof. Xiao Zhigang's research group. My work revolves around developing polarization detectors for deuteron breakup experiments. In simple terms, we are designing and building plastic scintillator arrays—detector blocks that flash when hit by high-energy particles—and using Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations to model how these particles behave. Our goal is to probe the symmetry energy of atomic nuclei, helping us understand how nuclear matter holds together under extreme conditions.
长跑与坚忍
If you couldn't tell from the running logs and personal bests on this site, running is one of my most beloved hobbies. As an active member of Tsinghua’s middle- and long-distance athletics team, I spend many of my mornings on the track, chasing splits in the crisp Beijing air. For me, running is the perfect counterweight to physics; it is a space where complex equations melt away, replaced by the simple, driving rhythm of breathing and pacing. It has taught me the value of quiet discipline, endurance, and pushing past mental barriers.
Other Interests
I also like other things. Chess has been a constant companion—I particularly love fast-paced games like blitz or rapid, maintaining an ELO of approximately 1300 blitz on chess.com. On the board, my favorite weapon is the sharp Scotch Gambit. I've long been fascinated by computer chess; in fact, building a strong custom chess engine from scratch is a highly anticipated item on my checklist that I've been wanting to do for a long time (though it remains unwritten for now!). My fascination with AI spreads across many dimensions. I enjoy everything from chatting about random topics with chatbots, to watching elite computer chess engines clash, to closely comparing different frontier models as soon as they are released. From an architectural perspective, I'm deeply interested in how transformer design choices directly affect the pretraining dynamics. And on a simpler note, I also absolutely love ice cream.
At the end of the day, I believe in keeping things simple, staying hungry, and remaining deeply curious about the world around us. Whether you share a passion for subatomic physics, marathon pacing, chess tactics, or just want to chat about studying abroad, my virtual door is always open. Feel free to explore my technical notes, check out my running splits, or drop a comment in the blog feed.
Thanks for stopping by! — Zichen