Mr.Shing-Tung Yau is one of the most influential mathematicians of contemporary times. His outstanding contributions are extensive and profound in the fields of mathematics and physics, mainly focusing on differential geometry, algebraic geometry, general relativity, and string theory. When he was young, he went to the United States to study for his Ph.D under the tutelage of Professor Shiing-Shen Chern, a famous differential geometry scientist. He solved a series of problems in mathematics and physics, created an extremely important branch of "geometric analysis" in mathematics, verified the Calabi Conjecture, and became the first Chinese scholar to win the Fields Medal.
Mr.Yau is not only committed to the development of theoretical mathematics but also created many interdisciplinary research directions of mathematics and other disciplines. He introduced conformal geometry or Riemann surface theory into computer science and solved many difficult problems in computer graphics, computer vision, geometric modeling, and high-quality grid generation. He and his younger brother Professor Stephen Shing-Toung Yau invented the first effective nonlinear filtering method, which solved the nonlinear problems in industry and nature. Mr.Yau's contribution to mathematics is widely recognized and praised by academia and the international community. The New York Times has famous praise for him as "the Emperor of Mathematics".
What is commendable is that Mr.Yau integrates and intersects the true beauty of mathematics with the truth of the beauty of his mind, forming a beautiful and colorful landscape in the current academic circle, inspiring and illuminating people to constantly pursue the truth, the good and the beautiful.
Scientific research —— to revitalize the basic sciences of China
For nearly half a century since his first return to China in 1979, Mr.Yau has been deeply engaged in mathematics in China. He is well aware that China's economic development and the promotion of its international status are inseparable from the progress of science and technology, and every progress of science and technology needs mathematics as the cornerstone. He is also well aware of the gap between Chinese mathematics and Western developed countries. To shorten these gaps, he set up high-end mathematical research institutions in many places across the country to promote the development of Chinese mathematics.
In 2022, I was invited by Mr.Yau to join the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Science and Applications(BIMSA), founded by him. Here, I got to know several scientists who love math. Among them, my colleague Professor Wu Jie established the algebraic topology and application team under the leadership of Mr.Yau. My research is to build complex network models through statistical analysis of the data, and they applied the GLMY theory of Mr.Yau and his collaborators to the continuous homology analysis of directed graphs, which can be combined with the network results of our study. Our cooperation hit it off, respectively combined with the intersection and application of mathematics and medicine in our research background, and then carried out close discussion and cooperation. In 2023, we applied GLMY homology theory to the analysis of the metabolome data network results and found consistently unknown metabolic differences in different types of bowel diseases, which shows the great potential of GLMY homology theory in the study of complex biological systems. The work was eventually published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), providing a new idea for analyzing the causes of complex diseases and guiding the treatment of complex diseases and related drugs. This work not only reflects the role of Qiu's mathematical theory in promoting biology and medical research but also reflects that his theory can help the development of basic science in China.
Talent training —— Cultivate the truth-seeking talents
Mr.Yau, a middle school student, was greatly encouraged to read the book “Forty Years of Learning Mathematics” written by Mr.Shiing-Shen Chern and decided to become a world-class scholar. A few years later, his ambition at that time had already been realized. Now he hopes to encourage the next generation of young students to learn and do practical things, and to make contributions to the country and mankind. This is a kind of inheritance and continuation.
Mr.Yau believes that China's basic science education system has gradually matured after 20 years of development, and the domestic students are close to the world-class level, but there is still room for improvement in the cultivation of research talents. To inspire young students' research interest, preserve the next generation of scientific research talents, and establish the future basic science research mainstay, Mr. Yau has established the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Qiuzhen College, Beijing Institute of Mathematical Science and Applications and Shanghai Institute of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Studies. These education institutions and research institutes gathered at domestic and foreign first-class mathematicians and outstanding young scholars, aim to introduce high-end talents and high-level research, cultivate Chinese personnel engaged in basic scientific research provide a broad platform and vision, for young scholars depict the broad blueprint of China's basic science development, also for Yau Mathematical Sciences Leaders Program provides a strong guarantee and support.
The combination of science and art: Find the true beauty of mathematics
Mr.Yau once expressed the understanding and perception of mathematics in The Comparison of Mathematics and Chinese Literature on the beauty of mathematics: " The literary grace of mathematics, manifested in simplicity, in a few words, can tell the laws of different phenomena, and even play a role in nature. This is the elegance and beauty of mathematics.”
Mr.Yau has always advocated the idea of integrating science and art. He believed that mathematics is the real and eternal beauty in nature, and mathematics itself is also a discipline that seeks the truth of nature, and its underlying connotation is rich philosophical thoughts. Mathematicians find laws in nature and express them with mathematical methods, trying to establish the connection between laws in known or unknown phenomena, using logical reasoning to prove the accuracy of associations, and finally presenting this essence through concise language. And this process, cannot be separated from the mathematician's literary cultivation and foundation.
In my eyes, Mr.Yau is not only a mathematician but also a romantic literati and poet. Chinese literature has a profound influence on Mr.Yau, but he still has a great interest in mathematics.
From his early years, the accumulation of ancient Chinese literacy has had a profound influence on his mathematical research. Both literature and mathematics are the arts of nature. The former is the initiation and integration of language, while the latter is the permutation and combination of symbolic axioms. Good mathematics, like good literature, requires the coexistence of prosperity and prosperity. He realized the poetry and charm of Chinese literature in mathematics and brought into it the rigor and rigor of mathematical thinking in literature.
Patriotic feelings —— pure heart feelings as a patriot
Mr.Yau once said, " I have been determined to do only two things well in my whole life. First, to make good mathematics research; second, to serve Chinese mathematics education and help China become a mathematical top country.”
Mr.Yau, who is already in his 70s, is still full of enthusiasm when he mentions the establishment of scientific research in his motherland. Although successful, he still devoted himself to complicated scientific research and education. In recent years, he has been committed to training a new generation of talents for Chinese mathematics, established several funds and mathematics research institutions, but also donated to Tsinghua University, and set up "Chen-Ying Chiou Fund" and "Liang Ruolin Fund" to support the development of mathematics discipline; he visited all over the country to inspect, gave lectures, guided students, and collected 39 "Yau classes" to cultivate young children; he organized academic conferences and summer camps, initiated the World Conference of Chinese Mathematicians, the International Conference of Basic Science, Yau College Student Mathematics Competition, Yau Middle School Science Award, etc., and invited well-known scholars at home and abroad to exchange ideas and discuss the cutting-edge achievements and future development of basic science. These social activities have condensed his painstaking efforts and contained his ardent expectations for the future of Chinese mathematics.
Sometimes, his deep childlike heart would lead to critical thinking about practical problems, and his criticism of academic chaos and unreasonable phenomena also made him involved in the whirlpool of public opinion, but he never retreated. He made it easy to revitalize China's basic science as his mission and dared to take responsibility. Over the years, Mr.Yau has made every effort to promote high-level mathematical research and the cultivation of outstanding talents in China. His devotion and sincere feelings toward the motherland are touching. Under his guidance, China's basic science is steadily reaching the world-class level.
My lovely China is so lucky, there is a group of outstanding children like Yau, they are sincere, magnanimous, tough, and strong, no matter where, the motherland, the nation has never stopped. This may explain the fundamental reason why the Chinese civilization was able to continue for five thousand years.
Wu Rongling (Beijing Institute of Mathematical Science and Applications)
Translation: Gao Xudong
