Xuenan Li

prof_pic.jpg

150 N University St

West Lafayette

IN 47906, USA

Email: xuenan at purdue dot edu
Office: Room 408

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Purdue University. Previously, I was a Chu Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University, working with Michael I. Weinstein.

I completed my PhD in applied math at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, advised by Robert V. Kohn.

I obtained my bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a double major in mathematics and data science.

You can download my CV here.

My Research Interests

  • Calculus of Variations, PDE and Spectral Theory

    • with particular focus on problems from physics, mechanics, and materials science.

  • New Methods for Designing Higher-order Rigid Frameworks

    • including an optimization-based approach to finding new tensegrity structures.

Selected Recent Work

2026

  1. ac-deformed.png
    Pseudo-magnetism in a strained discrete honeycomb lattice
    Xuenan Li, and Michael I. Weinstein
    arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.27503, 2026
    arXiv PDF

2025

  1. tensegrity.png
    A Constrained Optimization Approach for Constructing Rigid Bar Frameworks with Higher-order Rigidity
    Xuenan Li, Christian D Santangelo, and Miranda Holmes-Cerfon
    arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.23072, 2025
    arXiv PDF
  2. kagome-3.gif
    A nonlinear homogenization-based perspective on the soft modes and effective energies of some conformal metamaterials
    Xuenan Li, and Robert V Kohn
    arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.16907, 2025
    arXiv PDF