Hello! I am Patrick, a chemical physicist educated at the University of Edinburgh. I am now working towards my DPhil in physical and theoretical chemistry in probing electron correlation effects using ultrafast X-ray scattering.
During my undergrad, I worked at Diamond Light Source, UK’s national synchrotron facility, where I performed research on soft X-ray optics and ray-tracing simulations. My master’s thesis focussed on developing new methodologies for simulating soft X-ray beamlines with plane grating monochromators. A copy can be downloaded here.
I am currently working on developing the theory required for probing electron correlation effects in atoms and molecules using scattering experiments done at X-ray free electron lasers. This would hopefully shed light on the fundamental electron dynamics as well as improve our current quantum chemistry methods.
I teach the Quantum Chemistry supplementary subject at the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford.
Publications
2025
Wang, Patrick Yuheng; Silva, Murilo Bazan Da; Held, Georg; Wang, Hongchang; Sawhney, Kawal; Walters, Andrew C.
An Automated and Robust Method for Modelling X-ray Beamlines with Plane Grating Monochromators Journal Article
In: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, vol. 32, no. 4, 2025, ISSN: 1600-5775.
@article{wangAutomatedRobustMethod2025,
title = {An Automated and Robust Method for Modelling X-ray Beamlines with Plane Grating Monochromators},
author = {Patrick Yuheng Wang and Murilo Bazan Da Silva and Georg Held and Hongchang Wang and Kawal Sawhney and Andrew C. Walters},
doi = {10.1107/S1600577525003200},
issn = {1600-5775},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-07-01},
urldate = {2025-06-04},
journal = {Journal of Synchrotron Radiation},
volume = {32},
number = {4},
abstract = {The plane grating monochromator (PGM) is an optical instrument used in the majority of soft X-ray beamlines. Despite its ubiquity, the PGM efficiency can easily be overestimated, because the geometry of many modern PGMs can lead to unexpected blocking of the beam. We have developed a new workflow in Python for simulating PGMs, thus extending the capabilities of SHADOW3 , a well established ray tracing software tool. We have used our method to simulate the flux on branch C of the Versatile Soft X-ray (VerSoX) beamline B07 at Diamond Light Source. The simulation results demonstrate qualitative agreement with the experimental measurements, confirming the robustness of the proposed methodology.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The plane grating monochromator (PGM) is an optical instrument used in the majority of soft X-ray beamlines. Despite its ubiquity, the PGM efficiency can easily be overestimated, because the geometry of many modern PGMs can lead to unexpected blocking of the beam. We have developed a new workflow in Python for simulating PGMs, thus extending the capabilities of SHADOW3 , a well established ray tracing software tool. We have used our method to simulate the flux on branch C of the Versatile Soft X-ray (VerSoX) beamline B07 at Diamond Light Source. The simulation results demonstrate qualitative agreement with the experimental measurements, confirming the robustness of the proposed methodology.
Wang, Patrick Yuheng; Silva, Murilo Bazan Da; Hand, Matthew; Wang, Hongchang; Chang, Peter; Beilsten-Edmands, Victoria; Kim, Timur K.; Lee, Tien-Lin; Sawhney, Kawal; Walters, Andrew C.
PGMweb : An Online Tool for Visualizing the X-ray Beam Path through Plane Grating Monochromators Journal Article
In: Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 261–268, 2025, ISSN: 1600-5775.
@article{wangPGMwebOnlineTool2025,
title = {PGMweb : An Online Tool for Visualizing the X-ray Beam Path through Plane Grating Monochromators},
author = {Patrick Yuheng Wang and Murilo Bazan Da Silva and Matthew Hand and Hongchang Wang and Peter Chang and Victoria Beilsten-Edmands and Timur K. Kim and Tien-Lin Lee and Kawal Sawhney and Andrew C. Walters},
doi = {10.1107/S1600577524011603},
issn = {1600-5775},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-01},
urldate = {2025-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Synchrotron Radiation},
volume = {32},
number = {1},
pages = {261–268},
abstract = {We present here a newly developed software tool (called PGMweb ) for computing and simulating the X-ray beam path through a plane grating monochromator (PGM), a key component in soft X-ray beamlines at modern synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities. A historical overview of the development of PGMs is presented, with special attention dedicated to the collimated PGM optical scheme found at several X-ray facilities worldwide. The analytical expressions that fully describe the geometry of a PGM are derived and have been implemented as functions in a Python library ( pyplanemono ). PGMweb is distributed as a web-based application that can be run in any modern browser without installation, making its use very straightforward for X-ray beamline designers and beamline scientists alike.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We present here a newly developed software tool (called PGMweb ) for computing and simulating the X-ray beam path through a plane grating monochromator (PGM), a key component in soft X-ray beamlines at modern synchrotron and free-electron laser facilities. A historical overview of the development of PGMs is presented, with special attention dedicated to the collimated PGM optical scheme found at several X-ray facilities worldwide. The analytical expressions that fully describe the geometry of a PGM are derived and have been implemented as functions in a Python library ( pyplanemono ). PGMweb is distributed as a web-based application that can be run in any modern browser without installation, making its use very straightforward for X-ray beamline designers and beamline scientists alike.
Recent Posts
- Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and Fourier Analysis
As the semester goes on, I find myself to be quite often in a pickle to find spare time. Therefore, what I will be writing about is mostly what I need to know for my exams. Tedious as it may sound, there are still absolutely stunning proofs and derivations that can bring a smile to…
Read more: Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and Fourier Analysis
- Symmetry, and Lie Algebra
Back by popular demand, this is the third instalment on my journey to learn Quantum Field Theory. “I am waiting for another blog post.” Ben Thamm, University of Edinburgh Student Arguablly one of the most important concepts in the whole of modern physics is one of symmetry. Suppose we were to perform an experiment today,…
Read more: Symmetry, and Lie Algebra
- Casimir Effect, Renormalisation Theory, Topology, and Sum of All $n$ for $n\in \mathbb{Z}^+$
This is the second instalment of my journey to learn Quantum Field Theory. This week, I got a preview at Renormalisation Theory and how we can use this to solve seemingly impossible physical problems, and during the process, I encountered a particularly peculiar sum… Questionable Pedagogy… I remember that in grade 10, my then maths…
Read more: Casimir Effect, Renormalisation Theory, Topology, and Sum of All $n$ for $n\in \mathbb{Z}^+$
- Automatic Door Opener for My Flat
I became quite interested in servers running in python after my first exposure to Django. I thought I’d put my Raspberry Pi to good use by making an automatic door opener for my flat. Background The street entrance to my building is controlled by an archaic intercom/buzzer system. Say a person with a delivery for…
Read more: Automatic Door Opener for My Flat
- Canonical Quantisation to Establish a Quantum Theory of Fields with Harmonic Oscillators
At the beginning of this summer, I embarked on the journey of learning about the ephemeral nature of life (or, quantum field theory), as a mean of exercising the mind if you will, so that I won’t start off the new semester having to resort to google to remind myself what Newton’s second was. Much…
Read more: Canonical Quantisation to Establish a Quantum Theory of Fields with Harmonic Oscillators
