Yang-Hui He
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yang-Hui He (; born 29 September 1975) is a
mathematical physicist Mathematical physics is the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of ...
, who is a Fellow at the
London Institute The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College ...
, which is based at the
Royal Institution of Great Britain The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
, as well as lecturer and former Fellow at
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
. He holds honorary positions as visiting
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of mathematics at
City, University of London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...
, Chang-Jiang Chair professor at
Nankai University Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Nankai University was establ ...
, and President of STEMM Global scientific society. Yang works on the interface between
quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines Field theory (physics), field theory and the principle of relativity with ideas behind quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct phy ...
,
string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...
,
algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; th ...
and
number theory Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and arithmetic functions. Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects constructed from integers (for example ...
, as well as how AI and machine-learning help with these problems. He is one of the pioneers of the field of using AI for pure mathematics. Yang is author of over 200 scientific publications and is also a keen communicator of science, giving regular public lectures including the Royal Institution Friday Evening Discourse, as well as podcasts. His other outreach activities include acting as an advisor to BMUCO and being a fellow of the One Garden.


Education and career

Yang received his A.B. in
Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in 1996, with Highest Honours (''
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'',
Allen Shenstone Allen Goodrich Shenstone, (July 27, 1893 – February 16, 1980) was a Canadian physicist. He earned bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge. After a brie ...
Prize and Kusaka Memorial Prize), joint with certificates in applied mathematics and in engineering physics. He received his Masters from
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1997 with Distinction and then obtained his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
in 2002 in the Center for Theoretical Physics (
NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party * National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political g ...
Scholarship and MIT Presidential Award) under the supervision of Amihay Hanany. After postdoctoral work at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, in the group of Burt Ovrut, Yang joined the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
as FitzJames Fellow and Advanced Fellow of the
STFC The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astr ...
, UK, working closely with
Philip Candelas Philip Candelas, (born 24 October 1951, London, UK) is a British physicist and mathematician. After 20 years at the University of Texas at Austin, he served as Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford until 2020 and is a F ...
. He remains a tutor at Merton College, Oxford when taking up his professorships at the University of London and Nankai University, and more recently, when he joined the
London Institute The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College ...
.


Works

Yang has authored over 200 journal papers, as well as several books, notably: * ''Topology and Physics'', co-edited with
C. N. Yang Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang (; born 1 October 1922), also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge the ...
and Mo-Lin Ge, with contributions from
Sir Michael Atiyah Sir Michael Francis Atiyah (; 22 April 1929 – 11 January 2019) was a British-Lebanese mathematician specialising in geometry. His contributions include the Atiyah–Singer index theorem and co-founding topological K-theory. He was awarded the ...
,
Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and various areas of mathematics. He is a professor emeritus in the sc ...
,
Sir Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
,
Robbert Dijkgraaf Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf, (; born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist and former politician. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands from 2 ...
et al., recommended by Book Authority as one of the 20 most influential books in quantum field theory of all time. * ''The Calabi-Yau Landscape: from geometry, to physics, to machine-learning'', textbook aimed at early PhD students, introducing mathematics to physicists, physics to mathematicians and machine-learning to both, the first textbook on the AI mathematician. * ''Dialogues Between Physics and Mathematics: C. N. Yang at 100'', co-edited with Mo-Lin Ge, with contributions from
Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and various areas of mathematics. He is a professor emeritus in the sc ...
,
Sir Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
, Sir Anthony James Leggett, Alexander Polyakov,
Vladimir Drinfeld Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld (; born February 14, 1954), surname also romanized as Drinfel'd, is a mathematician from Ukraine, who immigrated to the United States and works at the University of Chicago. Drinfeld's work connected algebraic geome ...
et al., celebrating the 100th birthday of
C. N. Yang Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang (; born 1 October 1922), also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge the ...
. * ''Machine Learning in Pure Mathematics and Theoretical Physics'', the first of its kind, as a collection of essays on the interactions between AI and pure mathematics/fundamental physics.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Yang-Hui 1975 births Academics of the University of London Academic staff of Nankai University Mathematical physicists Quantum physicists Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni