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+---
+title: 'M4: Metals, Magnets, and Miscellaneous Materials'
+tags:
+    - physics
+    - condensed matter
+    - Julia
+authors:
+- name: Christina Colleen Lee
+  orchid: 0000-0002-2127-8453
+date: 14 May 2019
+---
+
+# Summary
+
+M4 contains jupyter notebooks on condensed matter physics and topics helpful for a condensed matter physicist.  This repository is an amalgamation of self-contained tutorials on a variety of subjects and at a variety of skill levels, unified under a loose theme, style, and delivery method.
+
+While most notebooks fully finish one topic, some fit into themed series (Monte Carlo, Markov Chain, Ferromagnet, Phase Transitions). I split one topic because of length and difficulty (Exact Diagonalization of 1D Spin Chain).  
+
+In addition to being self-contained in terms of content, the notebooks are self-contained in terms of level and prerequisites.  To account for this disparity, I divide the notebooks into the categories:
+
+* <b>General:</b> Those with some background in programming, math, and physics should be able to follow.
+* <b>Prerequisites:</b> I spell out classes in the beginning that one should have taken to understand the physics of the post.  For example, to understand calculating the orbitals of a hydrogen-like atom, I assume you analytically solved it in a Quantum Mechanics course. Even if you haven't taken the classes, feel free to try still.
+* <b>Graduate:</b> Specialty technique that assumes you have a solid grounding in the basics.  I still try to not take any knowledge for granted, but not everyone tries to learn these things in the first place.
+* <b>Numerics:</b>Without a specific physics goal.  Sometimes I want to talk about something programming or numerical methods related.
+* <b>Programming:</b> Something related to the language itself.
+
+The content is both downloadable on GitHub and hosted on a static website, albi3ro.github.io/M4, for easier access.  
+
+I have recently updated almost all posts to Julia v1.0.1 and unified the plotting utility to `Plots.jl` with `gr()` as the backend. A few posts are being excluded from maintenance and deprecated due to language changes and personal preferences. For example, I wrote a post on Gadfly, a plotting utility, but I no longer use it, keep up to date with the package syntax, or think it's the best option for someone else.
+
+# Statement of Need
+
+Many computational techniques are presented either through fluffy words and descriptions or highly technical, fully fledged research implementations.  Mere words are quite different than the actual code.  Trying to convert a description to code uncovers quite a few details that only matter during implementation.  Research implementations often prioritize results over readability and can leave a beginner with gaps in their understanding of the system. I try to bridge this gap by coding bare-bones versions of algorithms and examining critical aspects of them.  
+
+While a formal course could cover these topics, someone only really learns them through usage or starts paying attention when they need the information for a project.  That in mind, I write for the independent learner.  A user could merely scan or read the notebooks, but I try to suggest different parameter combinations or extensions so users can play around with the base notebook on their own, to test its limits and peculiarities.
+
+# Acknowledgments
+
+Thanks to Lee James O'Riordan (@mlxd) for discussions and revisions.