Professor Yang-Hui He

Overview

Professor Yang-Hui He is a mathematical physicist working on the interface between geometry, number theory and quantum field theory/string theory. Recently, he helped introduce machine-learning into the field of pure mathematics by using AI to help uncover new patterns and raise new conjectures (cf. interview by Science [Vol 365, July, 2019] and by New Scientist [Dec 9 Issue, 2019]).

Yang studied at Princeton University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Physics, with a Certificate in Applied Mathematics and a Certificate in Engineering, Summa cum Laude (Highest Honours, Phi-Beta-Kappa). He then obtained a Certificate in Advanced Mathematics (Tripos) at the University of Cambridge, with Distinction. He went on to receive his PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics from MIT. Yang continued with postdoctoral work in the University of Pennsylvania before joining University of Oxford as the FitzJames Fellow in Mathematics and then the UK STFC Advanced Fellow in theoretical physics.

Yang joined City in 2010 as Reader. He is currently Professor of Mathematics. He concurrently holds the Chang-Jiang Chair Professorship at NanKai University, China and jointly remains a Tutor and Lecturer at Merton College, Oxford where he taught since 2005. In 2021, he became Fellow of the London Institute of Mathematical Sciences at the Royal Institution, and is thus splitting his time:

https://lims.ac.uk/profile/?id=102

Qualifications

• PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, Sep 1997 – Jun 2002
• Masters (Tripos) with Distinction, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Oct 1996 – Jul 1997
• Bachelors, Princeton University, United States, Sep 1992 – Sep 1996

Employment

• Honorary Consultant, UK-Tsingdao FinTech Incubator, Oct 2106 – present
• Director and Trustee, STEMM Global, Oct 2021 – present
• Fellow, London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Oct 2021 – present
• Professor of Mathematics, City, University of London, Sep 2014 – present
• Changjiang Chair Professor of Physics & Qian-Ren Scholar, Nankai University, Sep 2010 – present
• Tutor and Quondam Socius, University of Oxford, Oct 2005 – present

Languages

Chinese (Mandarin) (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review) and French (can read, write and peer review).

Yang is a mathematical physicist working on various interfaces between geometry and theoretical high energy physics. He is particularly interested in aspects of algebraic geometry in application to, and interacting with, gauge theory as well as string theory, such as Calabi-Yau manifolds, holographic correspondences and string phenomenology. He also has interests in the dialogue between number theory, graph representation theory and gauge theories.

Featured publications

1. He, Y.-.H. (2017). Machine-learning the string landscape. Physics Letters B, 774, pp. 564–568. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2017.10.024.

   [publisher’s website]

2. Gao, P., He, Y.-.H. and Yau, S.-.T. (2015). Extremal Bundles on Calabi–Yau Threefolds. Communications in Mathematical Physics, 336(3), pp. 1167–1200. doi:10.1007/s00220-014-2271-y.

   [publisher’s website]

Publications by category