Shoucheng Zhang facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shoucheng Zhang
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| Born | February 15, 1963 Shanghai, China
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| Died | December 1, 2018 (aged 55) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Fudan University Freie Universität Berlin Stony Brook University (PhD) |
| Known for | Quantum spin Hall effect Topological insulators Field theory of quantum Hall effect SO(5) theory of high-temperature superconductivity |
| Awards | Europhysics Prize (2010) Oliver Buckley Prize (2012) Dirac Medal of the ICTP (2012) Physics Frontiers Prize in Fundamental Physics (2013) Franklin Medal (2015) NAS (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Stanford University Fudan University |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter van Nieuwenhuizen |
Shoucheng Zhang (Chinese: 张首晟; February 15, 1963 – December 1, 2018) was a brilliant Chinese-American physicist. He was a professor of physics at Stanford University. He was known for his work on special materials called topological insulators. These materials can conduct electricity in unique ways.
Professor Zhang also studied the quantum Hall effect and the quantum spin Hall effect. He explored spintronics, which uses the spin of electrons, and high-temperature superconductivity. This is about materials that conduct electricity without resistance at warmer temperatures. The National Academy of Sciences said he found a new state of matter. In this state, electrons can move along the edges of a material without losing energy. This discovery could lead to new electronic devices that use much less power. For his amazing work, he won many international awards.
Zhang also started a company called Danhua Capital. This company helps new businesses grow by investing money in them.
Contents
About Shoucheng Zhang's Life
Early Life and Education
Shoucheng Zhang was born in Shanghai, China, in 1963. He was very smart and started at Fudan University when he was just 15 years old in 1978. In 1980, he moved to Germany to study at the Free University of Berlin. He earned his first degree there in 1983.
After that, he went to Stony Brook University in the U.S. for his advanced studies. He earned his PhD in 1987. At first, he studied a complex topic called supergravity. But then, a famous scientist named Chen-Ning Yang suggested he look into condensed matter physics. This is a field that studies the physical properties of materials. Zhang followed this advice and changed his focus.
Career and Discoveries
After his PhD, Zhang worked as a researcher at IBM from 1989 to 1993. Then, he joined Stanford University as a physics professor. Later, he also became a professor of applied physics and electrical engineering at Stanford.
In 2007, a discovery by Zhang's team was named one of the "Top Ten Important Scientific Breakthroughs in the World" by Science Magazine. This was about the "quantum spin Hall effect". In 2010, he became the J. G. Jackson and C. J. Wood Professor in Physics.
In 2013, Zhang started his own company, Danhua Capital. This company invested in new technology businesses. He also served on the boards of other big companies like Lenovo Group.
Family and Passing
Shoucheng Zhang was married to Barbara, who is a software engineer. They met when they were children in Shanghai. They had two children, a son named Brian and a daughter named Stephanie. His family shared that he passed away in 2018 after a period of illness.
Amazing Science Discoveries
Pioneering Topological Insulators
Professor Zhang was a key scientist in creating the field of topological insulators. He was one of the first to suggest the idea of the quantum spin Hall effect. Soon after his idea, his team predicted a real material that would show this effect. This material was called HgTe quantum wells.
Scientists then did experiments and proved his prediction was right. This led to a lot of new research around the world. His group also predicted many other new types of topological materials. These include the Bi2Se3 family of 3D topological insulators. They also predicted effects like the topological magneto-electric effect. Many of these predictions have now been proven by experiments.
Other Important Contributions
Before his work on topological insulators, Zhang made other big contributions to physics. He helped explain how special liquids called fractional quantum Hall liquids work. He also suggested a way to understand different quantum Hall states. Many of his ideas have been proven by experiments.
He also worked on a theory for high-temperature superconductivity. This is about materials that can conduct electricity perfectly at warmer temperatures than usual.
In the early 2000s, Zhang helped bring new life to the field of spintronics. This is a field that uses the spin of electrons to store and process information. He showed how the spin of electrons could be used in new ways. This led to more research on the quantum spin Hall effect and topological insulators.
Between 2010 and 2015, Professor Zhang and his team at Stanford University worked on a big idea. They showed how to test Ettore Majorana's theory about Majorana fermions. These are special particles that could be their own antiparticles. This was a scientific idea that had not been proven before.
Awards and Recognitions
Shoucheng Zhang received many honors and awards for his groundbreaking work. He was a fellow of the American Physical Society. He was also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Here are some of the major awards he received:
- Guggenheim Fellow, 2007
- Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize, 2009
- Europhysics Prize, 2010
- Oliver Buckley Prize, 2012
- Dirac Medal of the ICTP, 2012
- Physics Frontier Prize, 2013
- "Nobel-class" Citation Laureates by Thomson Reuters, 2014 (meaning he was considered a top candidate for the Nobel Prize)
- Benjamin Franklin Medal, 2015
- Member, National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 2015
- Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
