Edited: November 28, 2019
My name is Yingkai Liu (Google Scholar). I am currently a graduate student at Yeshiva University, US. I major in Physics.
With more understanding of physics, I found the theory used to describe a phenomenon is more and more elegant but in the same time complicated. I was happy about the differential equations, impressed by linear algebra, struck by group theory and now mesmerized by topology and differential geometry. I am aware that physics requires much more than just mathematics. In the same time I believe that with more mathematics there will be deeper physics.
As for my current interest, on my CV I wrote:
Learning Mathematical tools that explain the topological aspects of materials. Understanding the phenomenon of integer discreetness arising from continuous symmetry. Describing and discovering topological quantum systems. Learning through examples and models, especially coding and seeing the numerical result.
Here is my CV (last update: 2019-11-28).
When I started writing on this website, I wanted to share notes on what I have learned. I benefited a lot from many insightful blogs and now I have something to give back. Watching my notes published on websites also gives me motivation and a strange consolation.
I also realized that this website can be used as a billboard of my professional backgrounds. This is a great proof for what I have learned.
The posts are at different status.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Completed | This post is considered completed, but I might edit it when I came up with something new. |
| Writing | This post is being actively edited. |
| Paused | This post is considered of low priority. I will come back to this post later. |
| Archived | This post is outdated and probably won’t receive any update. |
This website (source code here) uses these sources:
| Module | Mainly used in | License/ TOS |
|---|---|---|
| Particle.js | Homepage | MIT |
| Visitor map | Homepage, footer | TOS |
| Homepage and color scheme | Layout @ homepage, color scheme @ all pages | MIT |
| List of recent post | Homepage, Post index | MIT |
| Search | Post index, Tags index | MIT |
| Side bar | Post, all pages with these elements | MIT |
| Table of content | Post | BSD-3 or MIT |
| Markdown vue theme and color scheme | Markdown theme @ Post, color scheme @ all pages | Apache-2.0 |
| Tags, Tag cloud, Tag page | Post, Post index, Tags index | MIT, repo here. Tag page inspired by haixing-hu |
| Font size adjustment | Post | MIT |
| comment | Post | APGL-3.0 |
| 404 T-rex game | 404 page | from Chromium source code, license |
| Encryption | Secret Pages | MIT |
Additional licensing information can be found here.
I mainly use Typora to write my post.
I named this website “A Finger Pointing to the Moon”, as in the Buddhism story:
佛告阿难。汝等尚以缘心听法。此法亦缘。非得法性。
若复观指以为月体。此人岂唯亡失月轮。亦亡其指。何以故。以所标指为明月故。
岂唯亡指。亦复不识明之与暗。何以故。即以指体。为月明性。明暗二性。无所了故。
Which has been beautifully put by Bruce Lee:
It’s like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will all that heavenly glory.
The best way to reach me is via email: $water$ @ $mail.nankai.edu.cn$