Shing-Tung Yau 丘成桐

Shing-Tung Yau (Chinese: 丘成桐; pinyin: Qiū Chéngtóng; Cantonese Yale: Yāu Sìngtùng; born April 4, 1949) is a Chinese-born American mathematician. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982and the Wolf Prize in 2010.

Yau's work is mainly in differential geometry, especially in geometric analysis. His contributions have had an influence on both physics and mathematics and he has been active at the interface between geometry and theoretical physics. His proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity demonstrated—sixty years after its discovery—that Einstein's theory is consistent and stable. His proof of the Calabi conjecture allowed physicists—using Calabi–Yau compactification—to show that string theory is a viable candidate for a unified theory of nature. Calabi–Yau manifolds are among the standard toolkit for string theorists today.

Prizes and awards

• 1979, California Scientist of the Year.
• 1981, Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry.
• 1981, John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, United States National Academy of Sciences.
• 1982, Fields Medal, for "his contributions to partial differential equations, to the Calabi conjecture in algebraic geometry, to the positive mass conjecture of general relativity theory, and to real and complex Monge–Ampère equations".
• 1984, Science Digest, America’s 100 Brightest Scientists under 40.
• 1991, Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany.
• 1994, Crafoord Prize.
• 1997, United States National Medal of Science.
• 2003, China International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award, for “his outstanding contribution to PRC in aspects of making progress in sciences and technology, training researchers”.
• 2010, Wolf Prize in Mathematics, for "his work in geometric analysis and mathematical physics".