On the afternoon of May 30, the latest winners of the 2023 Shaw Prize were released. Yau, an international master of mathematics, and professor at Tsinghua University, and Vladimir Drinfeld from the University of Chicago, won the 2023 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Science for their contributions to mathematical physics, arithmetic geometry, differential geometry and Keller's geometry.
Picture: The site of press of the 2023 Shaw Prize
Professor Helene Esnault, chairman of the jury, said Yau and Delingfeld have a common interest in mathematical physics. Yau devoted himself to solving the mathematical problems caused by general relativity and string theory. Together with Bellinson, Delinfeld promoted the Geometric Langlandz Program.
Yau has systematically developed the method of partial differential equations in differential geometry. With these methods, he solved the Karabi conjecture, and won the Fields Medal in 1982. He worked with Karen Ulenbeck to address the existence of Hermitian-Yang-Mills contact. In cooperation with Richard Schoen, he solved the positive mass conjecture by means of minimal surface theory. He also introduced geometric methods to solve important problems in general relativity, such as the existence theorem of Schoen-Yau black hole and the intrinsic definition of quasi-local mass in general relativity.
Yau's study of the existence of Kahler-Einstein measures led to the solution of the Calabi conjecture and introduced the concept of Calabi-Yau manifolds, which are the cornerstone of string theory and complex geometry. However, the Strominger-Yau-Zaslow structure has a significant influence on the study of mirror symmetry. His research with Li Weiguang on the thermal core estimation and the differential Hanak inequality has changed the analytical method of the geometric equations on the manifolds. It also influenced the development of optimal transport and Hamilton's work on the Ricci flow.
Yau contributed to the fusion of geometry and analysis, the mathematical branch now called geometric analysis. His work has had a profound and lasting influence on the study of both mathematics and theoretical physics.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Shaw Prize. This prize is selected and awarded annually by Mr.Run Run Shaw to recognize scientists who have recently achieved breakthrough
achievements in academic and scientific research or application and have had a profound impact on human life. The first award ceremony was held in Hong Kong in 2004.
Shing-Tung Yau, is a foreign member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the American Academy of Sciences, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the director of the Center for Mathematical Science, Tsinghua University, a professor of Beijing Yanqi Lake Institute of Applied Mathematics, a full professor of mathematics and physics in Harvard University. He has won five of the world's top science awards, including the Fields Medal, MacArthur Fellows Program, Crafoord Prize, Wolf Prize and Marcel Grossmann Awards. He is one of the most outstanding and influential mathematical masters in the world today.
“Mathematics is the basic language of all natural sciences and modern technology,” as the Shaw Prize website wrote. The development of mathematics in the 20th century has not only created new fields, but also solved major and intractable old problems, affecting every creative science and technology, and also benefiting social science. With the development of computer science, information technology and statistics in the 20th century, mathematics will be even more important to mankind in the 21st century.
The 2023 Shaw Astronomy Prize are Matthew Bailes, Duncan Lorimer and Maura McLaughlin. Patrick Cramer and Eva Nogales won the Shaw Life Science and Medicine Prize. The prize ceremony is scheduled to be held in Hong Kong on November 12 of 2023.
Text | Qiuzhen College of Tsinghua University
Translation | Gao Xudong
