Nobel Laureate Chen-Ning Yang: The Chinese Physicist Who Revolutionized Modern Physics Dies at 103

Renowned Chinese physicist and Nobel Prize recipient Chen Ning Yang passed away in Beijing on Saturday at the age of 103.

Yang, born in Hefei, Anhui Province, China in 1922, relocated to the United States in the 1940s to pursue his academic career, where he subsequently held various teaching positions. His exceptional contributions to physics earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, as reported by official media.

In 1954, Yang collaborated with American physicist Robert Mills to develop a set of equations that would prove to be as significant to physics as Einstein's theory of relativity.

Their groundbreaking work, known as the Yang-Mills theory, described the operation of three of nature's four fundamental forces—electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions—at the subatomic level, according to the South China Morning Post based in Hong Kong.

This theory established the mathematical foundation for what later became the Standard Model, the cornerstone of modern physics that unifies these forces and explains the behavior of all known elementary particles.

"Yang was one of the greatest theoretical physicists of the 20th century," remarked Shi Yu, professor of physics and associate director of the Wilczek Quantum Centre at the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Studies.

She emphasized that without the Yang-Mills theory, the Standard Model would not exist.

According to Shi Yu, Yang's most profound impact extended beyond his scientific achievements—he transformed the mindset of Chinese people who once doubted their capabilities in science and inspired future generations to believe they could compete with the world's leading scientists.