October 1, 2022 is the 73rd birthday of the Republic. Coincidentally, this day of celebration for the whole country is also the 100th birthday of Yang Zhenning, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, and an honorary dean of the Center for Advanced Studies of Tsinghua University, and a professor of the .
In 2017, Yang Zhenning was in Tsinghua Park. Photography Gao Yuan
In August this year, "Yang Zhenning I Know" written by physicist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was published by Commercial Press . In the preface of the book, Ge Molin wrote: "I am fortunate to know Mr. Yang for more than 40 years. With a blink of an eye, I am also an old man over 80 years old. Whenever I think of Mr. Yang's care and help to me, I always have an impulse in my heart, wanting to write down the little things I know about him and share with my friends. With my narrow contact, I write small things. I hope everyone can feel the style of a giant from small things."
According to reports, Ge Molin met Yang Zhenning, the winner of Nobel Prize in Physics, and went to the United States many times in the 1980s to carry out research. Later, under the direct leadership of Yang Zhenning, the theoretical physics research office of the Institute of Mathematics of Nankai University, and participated in the short-term teaching and research as a part-time professor in the early days of Yang Zhenning's establishment of the Advanced Research Center of Tsinghua University. The book takes time as the line and records his memories of his dating with Yang Zhenning for nearly half a century. Many of the content and photos are released for the first time and have considerable historical and documentary value.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 During several telephone conversations, the 84-year-old man recalled his date with "Mr. Yang" bit by bit in the past half a century. Once he called and apologized to the reporter, "I'm old and I almost forgot about important things. Recently, a friend sent me a message and a website sent a message saying that Yang Zhenning had a discussion on physics and Buddhism , which is purely a rumor. Mr. Yang has never had this. If someone studies the relationship between physics and Buddhism, it may be someone else's academic discussion, and we have no right to inquire about it. But the website spread rumors on Mr. Yang, which cannot be tolerated. Can this be my statement at the beginning of your phone visit?"
below integrates the content of this interview and presents it in oral form. In response to the interviewee's repeated requests of "highlighting Mr. Yang and writing less about myself", the article was deleted.
After Ge Molin was elected as an academician, Yang Zhenning invited him and his lover Qin Shifen to have a meal to celebrate.
[Oral]
"I want to do three things to give a gift to Mr. Yang for the 100th anniversary"
How to celebrate Mr. Yang's 100th anniversary? I have no news at the moment. Mr. Yang has been living at Tsinghua 's home in recent years, and he has not seen many visitors due to the epidemic. His 100th birthday is coming soon. I heard that in order not to cause trouble for everyone, he was recuperating in the hospital during the National Day.
The birthday habit of Chinese people is "9 but 10". Last year, the birthday of 99 years old was Tsinghua University held a very grand birthday celebration for him. After the meeting, a very thick collection of birthday celebrations was released, which looked like 600 pages. Many people wrote articles. I was very moved after reading it. The collection of essays was published by the Hong Kong Commercial Press. The collection "A" is about Mr. Yang's past written by everyone, and the collection "B" is an academic work and has not been published yet.
I didn’t go to Tsinghua University to celebrate that time, and the epidemic happened to be particularly serious during that period. Mr. Yang and I often call. One of them has a poor ear and his eyes are particularly good. In the past, we had a phone call once a week, and sometimes we didn’t hear it very clearly on the phone, so we sent e-mail. Another time, he told me on the phone that he was thinking about a physics problem. As he thought about it, he had a headache and felt that he was almost 100 years old and could no longer do physics. I also reminded him to pay attention to rest.I really admire Mr. Yang. He is 100 years old and has always written e-mail very clearly. Sometimes, which person’s name is mentioned on the phone, what is the matter and year? I was stuck, and he was able to correct me. The old man had a good memory.
Regarding celebration this year, I can do three things: First, this book "Yang Zhenning I Know" has been handed over to Commercial Press for publication - there are too many articles writing Mr. Yang's biography, and I write short stories that I have experienced myself. When I was writing, I didn’t communicate with Mr. Yang, so I was responsible for my own responsibilities. I personally don’t have the habit of writing a diary, but I remember everything about dating Mr. Yang very clearly. The only thing I communicated with Mr. Yang in this book is his work during his hospitalization in 301 Hospital two years ago. He said that the photo could be used.
"Yang Zhenning I Know" Book Cover Commercial Press
Yang Zhenning still worked through the Pad placed on the bed during his hospital stay in 301 Hospital.
Springer, a very famous technology publisher in Europe, is about to publish a book celebrating Mr. Yang's 100th birthday. I guess it may not be able to be published in October, because the publishing procedures in Europe are too complicated. The book was co-edited by me and a Chinese friend in the UK. The title is "Dialogue between Physics and Mathematics" (Dialogue between Physics and Mathematics, at CN Yang 100). The book will include articles by four Nobel Prize winners in physics, as well as many articles by famous mathematicians. There are also three top scientists in China who wrote articles for this: Mr. Zhao Zhongxian, the winner of China's highest award for high-temperature superconductivity; Mr. Pan Jianwei, who made China's world-leading , quantum communication , and Mr. Pan and Mr. Yang also had a lot of communication; finally, Mr. Xue Qikun, the "Quantum Anomaly Hall Effect Dream Team" led by him is very famous internationally.
Two years ago, I started preparing for Mr. Yang’s 100-year-old gift. Mr. Yang is an international master, so we must invite international authoritative persons (commit to write). There are also regrets here. Sir Atyia, the former president of the Royal Society of Britain, was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Fatiev (formerly chairman of the International Mathematics Alliance), and the famous physicist Dyson . When it comes to Dyson in the international theoretical physics community, everyone knows it. These three people used to come to Nankai University's Mathematics Institute (now Chen Shengshen Mathematics Institute) for meetings. I am very familiar with them. They are Mr. Yang's good friends and they all agreed to write articles. As a result, they passed away one after another last year... Later, they put their photos behind the book. This is the second thing, the book Springer is going to publish.
The third thing, Sun Changpu Academician is a doctoral student jointly recruited by Mr. Yang and I in China. 30 years ago, he completed a manuscript, "Classic Yang-Milles Field Theory", which he did when he was a doctorate, and he calculated it all. Gu Chaohao has reviewed the manuscript and believed that it should be published. When we were about to release it, we felt that we should add some content, so we put it aside later. Now as a gift to Mr. Yang, the Higher Education Press has published this book. Mr. Yang also wanted to go to the manuscript, and went through it himself, and wrote a very short preface. The general meaning is that although Ge Molin and Sun Changpu are not their own students, their research style is very similar to him. This book can be used as a textbook for first-year graduate students. Frankly speaking, there are not many people who really understand the "Yang Mills Field" and have calculated it all again. Sun Changpu's work is very meaningful. Moreover, to be cautious, he asked his students to do it again.
"Classic Yang-Milles Field Theory" Higher Education Press
I can only do these three things, mainly because I am 84 years old, my right eye cannot do it, and myopic degeneration. Sometimes I also envy Mr. Yang's health. He is 100 years old and can walk in Tsinghua Park with a cane. He can move by himself. This is rare for the elderly. Moreover, all his speeches never need to be drafted by others, they are written by themselves. The characteristic of his speech is that it is just an article that you say without revision, and it is done in one go. When he was 95 years old, the Tianjin Municipal Government held a welcome party for him. He spoke impromptu without any stuttering.
Planning with Mr. Yang Zhenning
His arrival is like a spring breeze blowing through the physics community
We are doing an interview, I want to determine a principle, don’t talk about me. (Outline for reporter interview) Regarding the book mentioning the "40 Fire" (69 40mm rocket launcher) of our army, I can talk a few simple words, or it can also show how difficult our development was back then.
1969, I received a notice to transfer back to Lanzhou University , and followed my tutor Duan Yishi , and took on the technical innovation work to improve rocket . The improvement work that year was very dangerous now. In the classroom on the 4th floor of Lanzhou University, there is a wall that is full of explosives, and the most dangerous thing is when welding the detonator. For a while, Mr. Duan worked day and night, and one day he was so tired that he smoked a cigarette in the classroom. At that time, there was no one guarding the door of our physics building. Whoever thought came, Mr. Cheng Kaijia came in after a chance. Mr. Cheng was Mr. Duan’s teacher when he was Nanjing University , and he can be said to be my teacher. When Mr. Cheng saw it, he sat on the explosive box and said, "Go out (pinch the cigarette) quickly!"
In those days, people were very excited. I also do military research during the day and have to participate in labor. I study standard field at night, which is really ruining my eyes. Thinking about it now, Mr. Yang Zhenning returned to China for the first time in 1971. He was also the first person to visit New China by a well-known American scholar. He gave a report at our school, in the large classroom on the first floor of the physics building. At that time, the explosives were still there! Looking back, I was really scared. If it was blown up, there would be no building.
In 1977, Mr. Yang returned to China again (he had returned to China many times before), but this time it was not only for me personally, but also for the entire Chinese physics community. The "Cultural Revolution" just ended, and his arrival was like a spring breeze blowing through the physics community. With the foresight of an Nobel Prize winner, he suggested to the Party Central Committee to pay attention to basic physics research, which also reopened the door to the world of Chinese physics community.
Shortly after that, the then vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qian Sanqiang, proposed that the Chinese scientific community should strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the American scientific community. He proposed that the field of academic exchange between China and the United States choose high-energy physics . Why? This shows Mr. Qian’s foresight. In Mr. Qian’s own words, “Academic exchange between China and the United States is both an academic task and a political task.” High-energy physics does not have much practical application value – if we discuss semiconductor with American scientists at the beginning, this matter may be difficult to accomplish.
In 1980, my first study in the United States was recommended by Mr. Yang. When I went out, I paid for the money. Considering that I went to , SUNY Stony Brook, , the institute where Mr. Yang was called ITP (English abbreviation of the Institute of Physics Theory). The country considers that I am in the city of New York, the monthly subsidy was US$420 at that time. Some scholars who went to the United States with me were in other states, the subsidy was less than US$400.
In the 1980s, our country was still in a difficult situation. I was able to take out such foreign exchange for us to go out - I am not singing a high-profile now, and I am really moved. When I was sent to the countryside, I had truly seen the living conditions of local farmers in rural Gansu, which was too hard. If you are poor to that level, you have to pay agricultural tax and public grain . The professional course exam is at Lanzhou University. I remember that at least half of these students are all poor in their families. A student came from Yan'an . He was still wearing cotton pants in September and didn't even have a single pants, so he did very well in the exam.
It was not easy to go abroad at that time. It required political review, and professional courses, and English. I studied Russian. At that time, there was a foreign language teacher at Lanzhou University, Wu Bing , the daughter of Mr. Bingxin . She spent a long time in London and had a beautiful London sound. Fortunately, with her careful guidance, we were all mute English when we read professional books.
At that time, there were also some different voices in China. Someone wrote to the central government, saying that these students (scholars) had gone to the United States and what should I do if I couldn’t come back after studying? It was Mr. Li Zhengdao. He wrote a letter refuting the doubts, and jointly wrote more than 40 Chinese scholars overseas to write a letter to Deng Xiaoping. At that time, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency was about to return from New York, so he brought the letter back to the country and submitted it to the central government. Someone asked Mr. Yang about his opinion - this was told by Mr. Yang after returning to Shixi. He said something inconvenient to say, because he passed the public fund to study in the United States before liberation and did not return to China since then. He just replied at the time, "We are getting older and we need to train the successors of Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao in the United States."
Mr. Yang later gave many speeches, hoping that Chinese students studying in the United States would return to their motherland after graduation. This is how Mr. Yang’s personality is, sometimes he is more straightforward. In 2015, he gave up his American nationality and rejoined Chinese nationality.
Of course, as far as I know, some people sent abroad did not come back later, some people did well, and some people later worked in American restaurants and later became accountants. There are not only one or two such people. Later, especially after the 1990s, there was too much exchange between the two countries. In my understanding, it was not until , after Trump came to power that the academic exchange environment between China and the United States changed, and no one of us would like to see this change.
Planned with Mr. Yang Zhenning in Southern California, USA
"When I was studying at Southwest Associated University , China was invading by Japan"
At that time, the world also felt very curious and fresh about the Chinese. I was not the first group to go abroad. The first group to go abroad was from Mr. Gu Chaohao, who went abroad in 1979. I was in 1980, the second batch. Back then, I had no experience in going abroad. My wife was afraid that I would not have a kitchen knife to cook in the United States, so she secretly stuffed a handful of me into my backpack. I didn't pay attention and kept carrying it on her back. When I arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, I flew to New York with the transfer flight, I found out that I took the initiative to tell the airport security personnel. The French are very friendly. Seeing that we are Chinese, we turned off the security check switch and allowed me to pass smoothly.
Later, I got familiar with Mr. Yang and Mr. 1 Du Zhili . Once they drove me for a ride. The old couple was so interesting. At that time, it was the teacher's wife who drove, so Mr. Yang urged her to drive faster. The teacher's wife curled her lips, "I have more driving experience than you, so I don't want you to teach me." Mr. Yang also felt that the teacher's wife was right when she heard this. Another time, we drove out together and talked about American culture on the way. I dared to ask, are Americans more casual? My teacher’s wife told me that this is not the case. Many American families believe in religion and are very rigorous in life.
Mr. Yang and his teacher’s wife both love their motherland. Let me give you another example of what I experienced personally. On Christmas 1980, the school held a celebration and asked each team to come up with a program. This made us, the science and engineering men. After a long discussion, everyone decided to give a song " Yellow River Chorus ". It was really time to rehearse, except for the first sentence "The wind is roaring and the horse is yelling." Only then did everyone realize that the lyrics could not be memorized thoroughly. At this time, Mr. Yang picked up a napkin and wrote down all the lyrics. We were all shocked at the time. He explained slowly, "I am more than teenagers older than you, and my memory is definitely not as good as you. But this song was when I was studying at Southwest Associated University. China was invading by Japan. The hardship and harsh environment will be unforgettable for me."
Planned with Mr. Yang Zhenning in the office in Shixi
Patriotism is the bottom line. No matter what the reason can't touch
00000 1984 New Year's Day, I fell in my New York apartment, my ribs were broken, and my lungs were pierced. I was sent to the emergency hospital in the Changdao area. The hospital was right next to our Shixi Branch. Fortunately, there was no big problem with the treatment in time. When I was discharged from the hospital, I expressed my gratitude to the attending doctor, who is a very famous thoracic surgeon in Long Island and even New York.After the doctor learned that I was here to do theoretical physics research, he blurted out "Frank Yang (Yang Zhenning's English name)!" I laughed and told him that Mr. Yang was our big boss. He repeatedly said, "Yang, wonderful!" This shows that Mr. Yang is very prestigious in Shixi, especially among Americans.
It was because of him there, especially later he founded the CEEC (China Visiting Scholars Project) bonus, which funded more than 80 domestic scholars to do research in the United States, including Chen Jiaer , Yang Fuquan, Wang Wen, etc., involving mathematics, physics and chemistry, biomedicine , aviation, transportation, medicine, and even liberal arts. Dr. Chen Zhongwei from Shanghai has also been here. He is the first person to replant the broken limb in China.
In Shixi, there is a Chinese restaurant called "Mantingfang". Whether Chinese people visit or foreign friends, Mr. Yang is always willing to treat them there, so that the visiting Chinese people can taste the taste of becoming a monk, so that foreign friends can understand the new changes in China and are willing to go to China for a walk. For Mr. Yang, it is not like a restaurant, but more like a window and stage to serve and show China.
Frankly speaking, at that time, the American academic community still looked down on the Chinese people, and we were indeed behind others at that time. But one of the biggest advantages of the American academic and technological circles is, as Mr. Yang told us, Americans admire the strong, and as long as they think you are better than them in a certain aspect, they will respect you. As long as you can achieve results, he will accept you and speak with your strength. I have a lot of touch with this point. When we Chinese scholars arrive there, they have to work hard and achieve results. At least they have to prove that they are not worse than them. When they attend the meeting, they will treat you as a friend and even take the initiative to communicate with you. In the 1980s, Mr. Yang was a real "big Buddha" in Shixi. No one dared to say that China was not good because Mr. Yang was there. Many authoritative scientists I met with Nobel Prize nomination rights during my time at Stony Creek have said that because the Yang-Milles Gauge Field Theory will nominate Mr. Yang for the second time.
In 1990, Mr. Yang had a dinner and chatted with several European scientists with good relationships. The scope was relatively small and it was a private party, and I was there. At that time, someone was chatting that if Mr. Yang could make a statement in public, such as denying some of China's practices, it would definitely be very beneficial to winning the Nobel Prize for the second time. Because they speak English faster and have some Nordic accents, I don't listen to it very seriously, but the meaning is probably not wrong.
Mr. Yang's attitude was very clear. He said on the spot that winning the Nobel Prize is hard to come by, but he cannot say something or do something he doesn't want to win the prize. I was very moved when I heard this, and at the same time I felt that Mr. Yang was a very principled person. Loving China was his bottom line and he could not touch it for any reason.
life in his later years, Weng Fan contributed indecently
Frankly speaking, I am not a suitable candidate to talk about Mr. Yang’s academic thoughts. Mr. Yang has many friends with profound academic attainments and a group of very outstanding students, which is more appropriate for them to talk about. I just based on several areas where I came into contact with Mr. Yang, and talked about my experience from a very narrow perspective.
The ideological basis of Mr. Yang’s physical research is the symmetry of nature. He believes that symmetry determines the interaction between things, and symmetry controls nature and gives nature a regularity. Much of his research is related to symmetry. At the same time, he also pointed out that the nature we observe is likely to have been destroyed by symmetry, and such issues are also worthy of research and attention, such as parity.
Mr. Yang's physics research philosophy has had a great impact on me. He has always emphasized that research should be carried out under the promotion of physics' own development. If physics has reached this point, then it must do this, and do this, rather than doing it as you take it for granted. Physical development drives you to do it without mistakes, and it is easy for you to have problems if you take it for granted.Such academic concepts require Mr. Yang to have a relatively comprehensive understanding of the fields of physics and even mathematics, which has also created Mr. Yang's broad research horizon and profound research foundation. I think this is an important foundation for Mr. Yang's success.
Mr. Yang's life in his later years can be safe and smooth, and Ms. Weng Fan will definitely make an indelible contribution to this. Once, Mr. Yang got a bacterial infection with a high fever of 40 degrees. It was Weng Fan who had been by his husband's side, unchanging his steps. The gentleman later recalled that he felt that his life was about to end, and it was Weng Fan who was calling him: "Darling! Darling!" His soul seemed to be stopped by his lover, and slowly descended and returned to his body.
I think Weng Fan is really like Mrs. Yang when he was young, and he is also a person with personality. In this regard, I recommend everyone to read " Morning Collection " launched by Commercial Press last year (co-authored by Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan). It contains Weng Fan's writing about how Mr. Yang taught her to drive. I know that Mr. Yang likes to drive by himself. He didn't let Weng Fan drive by himself until he was 85 years old. That article tells a lot of life about the couple, and it is interesting to read.
"Collection of Morning Light" launched by Commercial Press last year (co-authored by Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan)
When they got married, it attracted some criticism from the society. It seemed that Mr. Yang married Weng Fan just over a year after his master's wife passed away. How about it? In this regard, I also talked about my personal experience in the book. In fact, two years before the death of my teacher's wife, she once told me that her health was not good, and the one she couldn't rest assured was Zhenning. She told me personally that if she was gone and Zhenning could not live by herself, "he should remarry and find a suitable partner." In this regard, Ms. Du Zhilian, the sister of the teacher's wife, later expressed her gratitude to Weng Fan several times. She also believes that Weng Fan gave Mr. Yang a happy old age, which is irreplaceable to anyone else. "As a relative, I can only thank you."
In recent years, Mr. Yang and Weng Fan have basically lived in China and lived in Tsinghua Park in Beijing. Sometimes we also make an appointment to see performances and exhibitions. My ability to appreciate art is really not very good. I often see Mr. Yang and Weng Fan discussing with relish. Sometimes, as the two talk, they simply communicate directly in English. Once I watched a foreign opera at the National Grand Theater. The plot may be a little lengthy, and some viewers left before they finished watching it. I heard Weng Fan say to his husband, "Why do many people leave without watching such a good drama? What a pity." Mr. said, we have finished reading it, no problem. On the way back, the two of them were still discussing the plot.
Mr. Yang Zhenning wrote the inscription "It is better to be clumsy than clever, rather to be simple than to be Hua"
