Yu Deng facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yu Deng
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| 邓煜 | |
Deng in 2026
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| Born | June 1989 (age 37) |
| Education |
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| Known for | Derivation of the Boltzmann equation |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Long time behavior of some nonlinear dispersive equations (2015) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alexandru D. Ionescu |
| Yu Deng | |||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 邓煜 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄧煜 | ||||||||
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Yu Deng (born in June 1989) is a brilliant mathematician from China. He is a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago. Professor Deng is famous for his important work in different areas of mathematics. These include partial differential equations, which help describe how things change, and fluid dynamics, which studies how liquids and gases move. In 2026, he received the prestigious Fields Medal. This award recognized his groundbreaking work on the Boltzmann equation. He also developed new ways to understand complex systems using probability.
Contents
Growing Up and Learning
Yu Deng was born in June 1989 in Kaifeng, China. His father worked as a software engineer, and his mother was a doctor. He grew up in Shenzhen, where he started joining math contests in elementary school.
Early Talents and Choices
When he was young, Yu Deng was very good at Go, a Chinese strategy board game. In 2001, during middle school, he tried to become a professional Go player. However, he did not make it to the national tournament. He later said that he then decided to focus on mathematics instead of Go.
High School Achievements
While attending Shenzhen Senior High School, Yu Deng showed amazing math skills. In 2006, he won first prize at the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad. That same year, at just 16 years old, he represented China in the International Mathematical Olympiad. He proudly brought home a gold medal.
University Studies
Because of his outstanding achievements, Yu Deng did not have to take the difficult Gaokao exam. He was accepted into Peking University in 2007. After two years, in June 2009, he moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from MIT in 2011.
Discovering a Passion
At MIT, Yu Deng became very interested in partial differential equations. These are special math problems that describe how things change over time and space. He even published a scientific paper on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation while still an undergraduate student.
Advanced Degrees
In 2015, Yu Deng completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at Princeton University. He received a special award called the Jacobus Fellowship, which is the university's highest honor for graduate students. His professor, Alexandru D. Ionescu, described him as "brilliant from the beginning."
Yu Deng's Career Path
After finishing his Ph.D., Yu Deng began his teaching career.
Teaching and Research Roles
From 2015 to 2018, he worked as an instructor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. In 2018, he became an assistant professor at the University of Southern California. He was promoted to a full professor there in April 2024.
Joining the University of Chicago
In September 2024, Professor Deng moved to the University of Chicago. He started as an associate professor of mathematics. By June 2025, he was promoted again to a full professor.
Amazing Discoveries in Math
Professor Deng's research focuses on partial differential equations and mathematical physics. He uses special math tools to understand how waves and particles behave.
Understanding Waves and Particles
With other scientists, he created "random tensors." These tools help study complex starting conditions for the two-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation. This equation describes how tiny particles act like waves. His work helped show that certain properties of these systems stay the same. He also helped explain how wave kinetic equations come from the Schrödinger equation.
Solving the Boltzmann Equation
One of his biggest achievements involves the Boltzmann equation. This equation helps us understand how gases behave. Professor Deng and his team found a way to show how this equation comes from the movement of tiny, hard spheres. This was a huge step forward because it explained how tiny particle movements lead to the behavior of large amounts of gas. This work helped solve a big part of Hilbert's sixth problem, a famous challenge in mathematics.
Awards and Recognition
Professor Deng has received many important awards for his mathematical work.
Prestigious Honors
In 2021, he earned a Sloan Research Fellowship. This award recognizes young scientists who show great promise in their research. In 2025, he received the Oberwolfach Prize for his excellent work in analysis and applied mathematics.
The Clay Research Award
In 2026, he was given the Clay Research Award. This award celebrated his amazing work on the Boltzmann equation. He showed how this equation describes the behavior of gases made of tiny, hard spheres over long periods.
The Fields Medal
On July 23, 2026, Yu Deng received the Fields Medal. This is one of the most important awards in mathematics, often called the "Nobel Prize of mathematics." He shared this honor with Hong Wang, John Pardon, and Jacob Tsimerman. The award ceremony took place at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia, USA. Yu Deng and Hong Wang made history as the first Chinese citizens to win the Fields Medal.
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.
