Michael (Yucheng) Zhang

From Huizhou to Cambridge

I grew up in Huizhou in southern China, spent four years in Auckland, and moved to London to study physics at UCL. My BSc project there used simulations to explore boosted Higgs production at a future collider.

At Cambridge I’m investigating how to reconstruct the decay points of long-lived particles. This site follows what I’m learning about the physics and the practical business of getting software, simulations, and statistics to cooperate.

A summer at CERN

As a CERN openlab summer student in 2026, I worked with Enrico Bothmann and František Stloukal on PEPPER. I investigated where rounding changes the numbers that feed into a simulated collision.

Why Noot in Circle?

The circle is the familiar rhythm of research and daily life. The Noot comes from Pingu, and the pun on “not in circle” leaves room for the things that interrupt the routine. Sometimes that’s a discovery. Sometimes it’s Herwig.