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| Yau, Shing-Tung | |
|---|---|
| Name | Shing-Tung Yau |
| Birth date | 1949-04-04 |
| Birth place | Shantou, Guangdong |
| Nationality | Chinese / United States |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley |
| Alma mater | National Taiwan University, Princeton University |
| Doctoral advisor | Isadore Singer |
| Known for | Calabi conjecture, Calabi–Yau manifold, positive mass theorem |
| Awards | Fields Medal, MacArthur Fellows Program, Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry |
Yau, Shing-Tung is a Chinese-born mathematician noted for fundamental work in differential geometry, geometric analysis, and contributions linking mathematics with theoretical physics, particularly string theory and mirror symmetry. He proved the existence of Calabi–Yau manifold metrics solving the Calabi conjecture, established the positive mass theorem in general relativity with collaborators, and founded influential research programs at Harvard University and Stanford University. Yau's career spans institutions including National Taiwan University, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University.
Born in Shantou in Guangdong province, Yau grew up amid the post-World War II environment and moved to Taiwan in childhood, attending local schools before enrolling at National Taiwan University for undergraduate studies. He emigrated to the United States for graduate study at Princeton University, where he studied under Isadore Singer and completed a doctorate connecting techniques from partial differential equations to problems posed by Eugenio Calabi and others. His doctoral period overlapped with major developments at institutions such as Institute for Advanced Study and collaborators across Harvard University and Stanford University.
After his doctorate, Yau held faculty positions at Stony Brook University and later Harvard University, where he supervised numerous doctoral students and established research ties with mathematicians at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and University of California, Berkeley. He served visiting appointments at Institute for Advanced Study and collaborated with figures from Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and international centers including Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques and Max Planck Institute for Mathematics. Yau founded research centers and lecture series that linked scholars from California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Chicago, and global universities across China, Japan, and France.
Yau proved the existence of Ricci-flat Kähler metrics predicted by the Calabi conjecture, producing what are now known as Calabi–Yau manifolds, a class central to string theory, mirror symmetry, and work by Edward Witten, Michael Green, and John Schwarz. With Richard Schoen he contributed to the proof of the positive mass theorem, a result with implications for general relativity developed alongside techniques from Riemannian geometry and partial differential equations. Yau advanced the program of geometric analysis by applying elliptic PDE methods to problems posed by Shiing-Shen Chern, Shiing-Shen Chern's students, and contemporaries like S.-T. Yau's collaborators; his work interfaces with studies by Karen Uhlenbeck, Mikhael Gromov, Simon Donaldson, Andreas Floer, Nigel Hitchin, and Richard Hamilton. He introduced and refined techniques in mean curvature flow, minimal surface theory, and calibrated geometries, influencing research by William Thurston, Grigori Perelman, and researchers in mirror symmetry such as Kontsevich and Maxim Kontsevich. Yau's textbooks and surveys have shaped curricula at Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and graduate programs internationally.
Yau has received numerous distinctions, including the Fields Medal, the National Medal of Science, the MacArthur Fellows Program "genius grant", the Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry, and recognition from academies such as the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded honorary degrees by institutions including Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, and Princeton University, and has held named chairs and fellowships at institutions like the Institute for Advanced Study and the Simons Foundation.
Yau's career has included public controversy over administrative and academic disputes, including investigations into allegations of plagiarism concerning work by colleagues and students, matters that involved institutional review by administrations at Harvard University and external bodies such as the American Mathematical Society and panels convened at universities like Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These disputes prompted discussion in forums attended by scholars from Institute for Advanced Study, National Academy of Sciences, and legal advisers, and led to policy reviews at funding agencies including the National Science Foundation and editorial boards of journals such as those published by the American Mathematical Society and Elsevier.
Yau's personal network includes collaborations with mathematicians and physicists such as Edward Witten, Michael Atiyah, Isadore Singer, Richard Schoen, Karen Uhlenbeck, and students now at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Princeton University, and Stanford University. His legacy is evident in the ubiquity of Calabi–Yau manifolds in string theory, the integration of geometric analysis into mainstream mathematics research, and the mentorship lineage tracing to institutions like National Taiwan University and Princeton University. Yau remains a polarizing and influential figure in contemporary mathematics, cited in works across differential geometry, mathematical physics, and international collaborations that include centers in China, Japan, France, and the United States.
Category:Mathematicians Category:People from Guangdong