Lukáš Hrdý

Lukáš Hrdý

Physics student at Charles University

computational physics, astrophysics & simulations

I write crystal-growth simulations, solve the Schrödinger equation numerically, and in my free time teach people to look at the sky.

See the projects Download CV (PDF) GitHub

Planet positions computed in your browser from JPL Keplerian elements (Standish & Williams 1992); comet C/2017 K2 uses the orbital elements from my SOČ project. Distances are compressed (√r); sizes are not to scale. About the ephemerides project

About

I study physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University (Prague). I enjoy the place where physics meets programming: kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of thin-film growth, numerical solutions of quantum-mechanical problems, and astronomical data processing. Since secondary school I have done research internships at the Astronomical Institute and the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Sharing science matters to me too: I ran an astronomy club, recorded public lectures, and every summer I work as a leader at an astronomy camp.

Research interests

  • Computational physics & simulations
  • Surface & thin-film physics
  • Astrophysics & astroparticle physics
  • Quantum mechanics
  • Machine learning for science
  • Astronomy outreach
Portrait of Lukáš Hrdý

Projects

  • Kinetic Monte Carlo: sapphire growth

    02/2026 – Student Faculty Grant (SFG), Dept. of Surface and Plasma Science, Charles University

    Atom-by-atom simulation of sapphire (α-Al₂O₃) thin-film growth by pulsed laser deposition, including dopants with tunable energetics.

    • Python
    • Numba
    • kMC
    • thin films
    • PLD

  • The deuteron: numerical bound-state solution

    01/2024 – 11/2024 Open Science internship, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences

    A program describing the deuteron as a proton–neutron bound state with both s-wave and d-wave components, computing its properties from the wave function.

    • Python
    • NumPy
    • SciPy
    • Numerov
    • nuclear physics

  • Interactive STM & FM-AFM simulation

    09/2026 KFPP Summer Student Project 2026, Charles University

    A teaching simulation of the feedback loop of a scanning tunnelling microscope and an atomic force microscope, controlled with sliders directly in the browser.

    • Python
    • Pyodide
    • JupyterLite
    • control loops
    • SPM

  • Computing positions of celestial bodies

    09/2022 – 06/2023 Secondary-school research competition SOČ (physics), Zlín Observatory

    My own program predicting positions of planets and comets from orbital elements, including parabolic and hyperbolic orbits.

    • celestial mechanics
    • Kepler's equation
    • Pascal

Other projects

  • Arrival-direction reconstruction of gamma-ray showers (SST-1M)

    11/2023 – 01/2025 Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

    Optimizing source-position reconstruction for the SST-1M Cherenkov telescopes with the DISP method: Random Forest models for the DISP norm and sign, trained on Monte Carlo shower simulations.

    • Python
    • scikit-learn
    • Random Forest
    • Cherenkov telescopes
    Angular resolution vs. energy: trained model vs. analytic model, with disp_sign cut

  • Photometric atlas of variable stars

    01/2023 – 11/2023 Open Science internship, Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

    Building a photometric atlas of variable stars.

    • photometry
    • variable stars

  • AI assistant for quantum physics

    2025 Personal project

    Distilling knowledge from a RAG system over scientific papers into a Mistral-7B language model: a RAG “teacher” generates a synthetic Q&A dataset used to fine-tune the model with QLoRA.

    • PyTorch
    • Transformers
    • RAG
    • QLoRA
    • Mistral-7B

  • Software for clinical practice

    2026 Rakathon 2026 and collaboration with physicians

    Experience developing AI software for deployment in medicine, with an emphasis on patient-data protection and running models locally. Took part in the Rakathon 2026 hackathon.

    • AI
    • healthcare
    • local LLMs

Experience

Research and internships

Education

  • 2025 –

    Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University – Physics (Bc.)

  • 2017 – 2025

    Gymnázium Zlín – Lesní čtvrť (grammar school)

  • 06/2022

    Planetum astronomy course – foundations of modern astronomy & astrophysics, Štefánik Observatory, Prague

Awards

  • 11/2024

    Open Science conference: 2nd place

    Quantum mechanics in the study of nuclei and exotic mesons

  • 06/2024

    Zlín Region award for gifted students

  • 06/2023

    SOČ (student research competition) – physics: 3rd place

    Computing positions of celestial bodies

  • 06/2023

    Physics correspondence seminar (FYKOS), Charles University: 2nd place

  • 2022 – 2024

    Czech Astronomy Olympiad

    6th (2024, cat. AB), 2nd (2023, cat. CD), 8th (2022, cat. CD)

  • 2022 – 2024

    Active participation in IWAA international workshops

    International Workshop on Astronomy and Astrophysics

  • 04/2023

    Goethe-Institut “Bystré hlavy” competition

    Won a two-week language stay in Obertauern, Austria

Outreach

Recorded lectures (in Czech)

Activities

  • 03/2024 –

    YouTube channel “Kosmické okénko – Lukáš Hrdý”

    Public popular-science lectures (Zlín Observatory)

  • 2024 –

    Leader at the Zlín Observatory astronomy camp (every summer)

    Among other things, we observe variable stars with the kids and reduce their light curves.

  • 2021 – 2025

    Running the astronomy club (Zlín Observatory)

    Beginner and advanced courses, weekend events

  • 2024 –

    Board member, Zlín Astronomical Society

  • 2024

    Talk at “Zvaž vědu!” (Brno)

    SOČ, the Astronomy Olympiad and Open Science

Light curve of the eclipsing binary FU Dra measured at the Zlín Observatory astronomy camp on the night of 2–3 July 2025 (differential photometry).

Skills

  • Programming

    Python (NumPy, SciPy, Numba, pandas, matplotlib), C#, Pascal

  • Machine learning

    scikit-learn (Random Forest), PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, PEFT/QLoRA, RAG

  • Tools

    Git, Linux, HPC / Slurm, LaTeX, Jupyter

  • Astro data

    Astronomical data processing (photometry, spectroscopy); CCD photometry of variable stars (observing practicum, Valašské Meziříčí, 08/2022)

  • Video

    Video editing and running a YouTube channel

Languages

  • Czech

    native

  • English

    C1 (CAE certificate)

  • German

    C1 (DSD II certificate)

Stays abroad

  • Erasmus – two-week stay at a German grammar school in Marienberg (2023)
  • One-week practical course at TU Chemnitz, Germany – Physical technologies (02/2023)
  • Schnupperwoche at TU Chemnitz – university orientation week
  • Schnupperwoche at Hochschule Osnabrück – university orientation week