Yu Deng
Yu Deng | |
|---|---|
| 邓煜 | |
| Born | June 1989 (age 37) |
| Education |
|
| Known for | Derivation of the Boltzmann equation |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Long time behavior of some nonlinear dispersive equations (2015) |
| Alexandru D. Ionescu | |
| Website | sites |
| Yu Deng | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 邓煜 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄧煜 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Yu Deng (Chinese: 邓煜; pinyin: Dèng Yù, born June 1989) is a Chinese mathematician known for his contributions to partial differential equations, fluid dynamics, and probabilistic analysis. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 2026 for his derivation of the Boltzmann equation, his derivation of wave kinetic equations from nonlinear dispersive systems, and his development of probabilistic approaches to non-linear dynamics. He is a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago.
Early life and education
[edit]Deng was born in June 1989[1] in China.[2] His father was a software engineer and his mother was a gastroenterologist.[1] He was raised in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and began participating in mathematics competitions in primary school.[3]
As a child, Deng excelled in tournaments of the Chinese strategy board game Go.[4] In 2001, while in middle school, he competed professionally but failed to qualify for the national Go tournament in China. He later recalled, "Either Go or math. Since I lost, I decided to move my focus to math."[1] As a first-year student at Shenzhen Senior High School, he won first prize at the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad.[5] He then represented China in the 2006 International Mathematical Olympiad, where he won the gold medal at age 16.[4]
Granted exemption from the Gaokao, Deng was admitted to Peking University in 2007, alongside Hong Wang.[6] He was an undergraduate there until June 2009, transferring to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 2011. He then earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton University in 2015.[7] As a doctoral student at Princeton, Deng won a Jacobus Fellowship, the university's highest honor for graduate students.[8] His doctoral dissertation, completed under Alexandru D. Ionescu, was titled, "Long time behavior of some nonlinear dispersive equations".[7] Ionescu described Deng in 2015 as "a brilliant student".[9]
Academic career
[edit]After receiving his doctorate, Deng was an instructor at the Courant Institute School of Mathematics, Computing, and Data Science from 2015 to 2018. He became an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Southern California in 2018 and a full professor there in April 2024. In September 2024, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago as an associate professor of mathematics and was promoted to a full professorship in June 2025.[7]
Awards and honors
[edit]In 2021, Yu received a Sloan Research Fellowship in recognition of outstanding early-career research.[6] In 2025, he was awarded the Oberwolfach Prize for "his outstanding achievements in analysis and applied mathematics".[10] In 2026, he was awarded the Clay Research Award for "remarkable derivation of the Boltzmann equation for long times, starting from a system of hard spheres".[11]
On 23 July 2026, Yu was awarded the Fields Medal alongside Hong Wang, John Pardon, and Jacob Tsimerman at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2] Along with Hong Wang, this marks the first time that a Chinese national received the award.[6]
For his work in partial differential equations, including the rigorous derivation of the Boltzmann equation from hard-sphere dynamics for rarefied gases, the derivation of wave kinetic equations from nonlinear dispersive systems, and probabilistic approaches to nonlinear Schrödinger dynamics.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Cepelewicz, Jordana (23 July 2026). "Yu Deng Wins the Fields Medal 2026 for His Work on the Random Data Problem". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- 1 2 Chang, Kenneth (23 July 2026). "Four Young Mathematicians Receive Prestigious Fields Medals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ Liu, Michael (21 June 2023). "Mathematical maestro tackles nature's greatest puzzles". USC Dornsife News. University of Southern California. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- 1 2 Searcy, Maureen (23 July 2026). "UChicago Prof. Yu Deng receives Fields Medal, highest honor in mathematics". University of Chicago News. University of Chicago. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Deng Yu Wins Gold at the 47th International Mathematical Olympiad". Shenzhen Economic Daily (in Chinese). 1 September 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2026 – via Sina Corporation.
- 1 2 3 "Wang Hong and Deng Yu become first Chinese nationals to win Fields Medal". South China Morning Post. 23 July 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Yu Deng: Curriculum Vitae". July 2025. Archived from the original on 23 July 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
- ↑ Best, Zia (5 February 2015). "Four win Jacobus Fellowship, top graduate student honor". Princeton News. Princeton University. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Princeton alumni awarded three of four 2026 Fields Medals in math". Princeton News. Princeton University. 23 July 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Oberwolfach Prize 2025 goes to Yu Deng". MFO. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Yu Deng". Clay Mathematics Institute. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
- ↑ "Fields Medal 2026: Yu Deng" (PDF). International Mathematical Union. 23 July 2026. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
