In the fall of 2018, Xu Chenyang, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Peking University, abruptly resigned from Peking University and then went to the United States full-time to teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At that time, it caused an uproar in the academic circles, and it was reported that Xu Chenyang was a genius in mathematics, having a master's degree in mathematics from Peking University and a doctorate from Princeton University. After that, he gave up the invitations of many universities in the United States and resolutely returned to Peking University to teach. After teaching at Peking University for six years, Xu Chenyang chose to go to the United States again, and many people are puzzled by this, why is this?
Xu Chenyang
Xu Chenyang was born in May 1981 in Chongqing, China, to parents who were intellectuals. As the only child in the family, his parents have high expectations for him and hope that he will become the pride of heaven in the future.
When he was 3 years old, his father began to teach Xu Chenyang to count, which may have been Xu Chenyang's initial mathematical enlightenment. When counting, Xu Chenyang obviously counted more than children of the same age, and remembered it more clearly. His father also discovered Xu Chenyang's talent in mathematics.
After entering primary school, Xu Chenyang also fell in love with math classes, and he especially enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when he made each math problem. During the holidays, his father also specially enrolled Xu Chenyang in a mathematics training class to continue to cultivate his interest in mathematics. In the training class, Xu Chenyang learned a lot of mathematics Xi ahead of time.
This made him a lot more bored in his usual classes, because he could almost grasp what the teacher said. But Xu Chenyang is not a top student in the traditional sense, he is only top-notch in mathematics, and other subjects, such as Chinese and English, are very ordinary. Therefore, Xu Chenyang has never skipped a grade.
Chengdu Shude Middle School
In 1993, Xu Chenyang's father moved to Chengdu because of his job transfer. As a result, Xu Chenyang also entered Chengdu Shude Middle School and studied junior high school. Chengdu Shude Middle School is a century-old famous school and a key middle school in Sichuan Province. Here, although Xu Chenyang is not the first in his grade, no one is better than him in mathematics.
When he was in junior high school, he participated in many citywide math competitions, and almost every time, he won the first prize, and his score was much higher than that of his classmates. In the school's daily mid-term and final exams, Xu Chenyang can get a full score in mathematics every time. Xu Chenyang's talent amazed the teachers and classmates.
Mathematical calculations
In 1998, 17-year-old Xu Chenyang was selected into the Sichuan Provincial Mathematics Training Team, here, Xu Chenyang finally met a lot of mathematical geniuses with his own strength, he did not slack off, during that time, in order to participate in the mathematics competition, Xu Chenyang had to study Xi more than ten hours every day, he worked very hard, and climbed in front of the desk at more than 10 o'clock in the evening to learn Xi.
In the winter of this year, Xu Chenyang represented the Sichuan Provincial Mathematics Team in the National Mathematics Olympiad, and finally he won the gold medal, but because the International Mathematical Olympiad was held in Taipei, Taiwan Province, China, China refused to participate, so Xu Chenyang did not have the opportunity to represent China in the International Mathematical Olympiad.
In 1999, Xu Chenyang was selected to join the National Mathematics Training Team, and because of this, he received the opportunity to be sent to the Department of Mathematics of Peking University. For this opportunity, Xu Chenyang gladly accepted, after all, for him, the chance of taking the college entrance examination and being admitted to Peking University was too small. His grades in Chinese, English and other subjects are not very good.
Hokkaido
After obtaining the guaranteed quota of Peking University, Xu Chenyang came to Peking University in advance and began to accept advanced mathematics in advance. Here, Xu Chenyang realized that the mathematics he had learned Xi before was all superficial, and the real mathematics was in advanced mathematics. As if he had opened up a new world, he was very eager for the next university life.
Peking University has given Xu Chenyang a full free environment, where Xu Chenyang only needs to choose the subjects he is interested in, and then take enough credits to graduate from university. In the subsequent college life, Xu Chenyang lived a three-point life, he rarely went out to play with classmates, and during college, he did not fall in love, but devoted himself to Xi.
After all, in the School of Mathematics of Peking University, everyone is a genius, and if you don't work hard, you may be left behind.
After that, Xu Chenyang only took three years to complete the credits and obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Peking University one year ahead of schedule.
Xu Chenyang during his master's degree at Peking University
Then he was sent to the Department of Mathematics of Peking University to study for a master's degree. During his master's studies, Xu Chenyang's supervisor was Tian Gang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Tian Gang may have been heard by many people, and he became famous because of the mutual spraying with Yau Chengtong on the Internet. Of course, the academic everyone's mutual spraying is very rational, everyone is arguing academically, and it is impossible to talk about which is right and which is wrong. However, it is certain that Tian Gang's academic ability is very strong.
Academician Tian Gang
Under the guidance of Tian Gang, Xu Chenyang gave full play to his talent, and it took only two years to obtain a master's degree in the Department of Mathematics of Peking University, and then under the recommendation of his mentor Tian Gang, Xu Chenyang came to Princeton University to study Xi.
At Princeton University, Xu Chenyang has risen to a new level, after all, this is a school known as the center of mathematics in the universe. Famous scientists such as Albert Einstein and John Nash were born.
John Nash
At that time, Xu Chenyang could often see John Nash on the campus of Princeton University, and he admired John Nash's life experience and longed to achieve the same achievements as John Nash. But Xu Chenyang's idol is not Johann Nash, but the German mathematician Grothendieck.
Grothendieck was the founder of modern algebraic geometry and is known as the greatest mathematician of the 20th century. In Xu Chenyang's view, Grothendieck's way of thinking about mathematics is different from others.
Grothendieck
In an interview with the media, Xu Chenyang commented on his idol: "He thinks that if you use a certain technique to solve a mathematical problem, it means that you have not really understood the problem; ”
In short, it is precisely because of his goals and dreams that Xu Chenyang can make smooth progress on his academic path.
In 2008, at the age of 27, Xu received his Ph.D. from Princeton University, and then went to MIT, the university with the best mathematical development, for postdoctoral research.
Xu Chenyang, a postdoctoral graduate
In 2011, Chenyang Xu, who had just finished his doctoral studies, was invited by many prestigious universities in the United States, and finally he chose to teach at the University of Utah. After only one year at the University of Utah, Xu Chenyang suddenly posted on social media: "I have resigned from the University of Utah this week and will return to China full-time. ”
In fact, Xu Chenyang first returned to China completely at the invitation of his mentor Tian Gang. At that time, Tian Gang's Beijing International Mathematical Research Center was in the development period, and he recruited many PhDs who had returned from abroad. Xu Chenyang is Tian Gang's protégé, and this return to China will definitely enable the rapid development of the Beijing International Mathematical Research Center.
Xu Chenyang who returned to Peking University
In the summer of 2012, Xu returned to Peking University and successfully joined the Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research. After returning to China, Xu Chenyang did not buy a house or rent a house, but lived in the dormitory arranged for him by Peking University.
At Peking University, Xu Chenyang's life is very monotonous, getting up early every day, and after breakfast, he goes to the office to continue his mathematical research. In the office, Xu Chenyang is very introverted, he rarely communicates with his colleagues, and he has repeatedly laughed at himself for being a little socially phobic. But in fact, it is not social fear, but his own reluctance to communicate too much with the outside world, and it is obvious that mathematicians are very lonely inside.
Wei Dongyi
Like Wei Dongyi, who was popular on the Internet before, Xu Chenyang is not very particular about life, he often wears slippers to work, and sometimes he doesn't go to get a haircut when his hair is very long. However, Xu Chenyang still completed the wedding at the urging of his parents. But in his wife's eyes, Xu Chenyang always puts mathematics first, because the only picture on his office desk is that of Grothendieck, whom he admires, not his wife.
In 2013, Xu Chenyang was awarded the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars and was named a Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor of Peking University due to his outstanding academic ability. The award also made the young Xu Chenyang famous in Chinese academic circles.
In the Department of Mathematics of Peking University, Xu Chenyang's academic progress is also going well. During this period, he solved a series of important geometric problems in many different fields of algebraic geometry, which were highly praised by international peers. He also won the 2017 Future Science Prize in Mathematics and Computer Science.
Chenyang Xu won the Future Science Prize
The prize money for the award is up to US$1 million, which is close to 7 million RMB. With this money, I believe that Xu Chenyang's quality of life will be greatly improved, but he is still very low-key, living in the dormitory arranged for him by the Peking University School of Mathematics, and traveling is just a bicycle. He spends more time working in the office, and his only hobby is classical music, and in Xu Chenyang's view, art and mathematics can always be perfectly combined.
Xu Chenyang, who likes to be alone
Many people may feel that Xu Chenyang is lonely, his life is monotonous, and he is definitely unhappy in his heart. But in Xu Chenyang's view, he himself enjoys all that mathematics has brought him. In an interview with reporters, he once said: "Mathematics is a free art, when you are immersed in mathematics, you are very free in your heart, no one can restrict you, there is no hierarchy, and you are completely in a free spiritual kingdom." ”
Obviously, it can be seen from this passage that Xu Chenyang is very satisfied.
Xu Chenyang, who is taking classes at Peking University
During his six years at Peking University, Xu Chenyang made long-term progress at Peking University, and his academic achievements exploded, making him one of the world's top young mathematicians in the field of algebraic geometry. In addition, he has also provided a lot of help for the development of mathematics at Peking University, and he has trained many undergraduate, master's and doctoral students. His students have also made breakthroughs in the field of mathematics to this day.
Of course, with the increasing fame, Xu Chenyang has already become a rare talent. At this time, many universities around the world began to compete for this talent in the field of mathematics again, among which many universities in the United States threw an olive branch to Xu Chenyang, and after careful consideration, Xu Chenyang finally chose to teach full-time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This means that Xu Chenyang is leaving Peking University, leaving China, and going to the United States again.
As soon as the news of Xu Chenyang's departure was reported by the media, it quickly exploded.
Yan Ning
In recent years, as China has become stronger, many scientists have been returning to China. Suddenly, a few scientists who returned to China and left, which made ordinary people unable to figure it out, such as Yan Ning before, as a top young scientist in the field of biology, Yan Ning suddenly chose to teach in the United States again after returning to Tsinghua University to teach for 10 years.
And their choice is a personal decision, and no one can make decisions for them.
According to Xu Chenyang's own statement, China has made long-term progress in the field of mathematics and is already a leader in the world. In recent years, young students in the field of mathematics have returned to China, and some have returned, and some have left.
In his view, there should be a constant flow of talent in the field of science, so that science can continue to make progress.
Xu Chenyang was interviewed
The second reason is to listen to Xu Chenyang's original words: "Personally, I am the kind of person who likes to look around, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) mathematics department is one of the best mathematics departments in the world, I still want to see how a top mathematics department runs." ”
It can be seen that the decision Xu Chenyang made was completely what he thought in his heart, and he couldn't take into account the grander feelings, so he could only do it casually. But he didn't think about his future, and said that he would most likely return to China in the future. After all, his parents are still living in their hometown in Chongqing.
Xu Chenyang in the United States
In the fall of 2018, Xu Chenyang bid farewell to his colleagues and students at Peking University and came to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States to officially start a new life. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Xu Chenyang was directly hired as a full professor, and at this time, he was only 37 years old, which is one of the youngest full professors in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
But after only a year at MIT, Xu returned to his former alma mater, Princeton University, to teach. We don't know why. But after returning to Princeton University, Xu Chenyang's academic progress has improved by leaps and bounds.
Chenyang Xu won the 2021 Cole Algebra Prize
Together with his collaborators, he developed the algebraic theory of K-stable Fano cluster mode spaces, and used K-stability to realize a new way to study singularities in the program of minimal models.
It is estimated that most people do not understand these academic terms, but in short, this achievement won Xu Chenyang the 2021 Cole Algebra Prize. It is reported that the Cole Algebra Award is the highest award in the field of algebra. It is awarded only once every three years and recognizes the most important research results in the field of algebra that have emerged in the last six years.
Chenyang Xu teaches at Princeton University
Today, Xu Chenyang is 41 years old, and for him, he has officially misestimated the Nobel Prize Fields Medal in mathematics (mathematicians over 40 years old do not participate in the selection). Unloaded this burden, Xu Chenyang in the future also hopes that he can live more easily and strive for new breakthroughs.
The departure of Xu Chenyang and Yan Ning can't help but make the Chinese people feel regretful, and I hope that they can come back again in the future, and I also hope that more scientists studying in the United States can cherish the motherland, return to China as soon as possible, and contribute to China's development.