Wang Yuan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1930-04-29)29 April 1930 Lanxi, Zhejiang, China |
| Died | 14 May 2021(2021-05-14) (aged 91) Beijing, China |
| Alma mater | Zhejiang University |
| Known for | Number theory,History of mathematics,Numerical analysis,Design of experiments |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Doctoral advisor | Hua Luogeng |
| Notable students | Shou-Wu Zhang |
Wang Yuan (Chinese:王元;pinyin:Wáng Yuán; 29 April 1930 – 14 May 2021) was a Chinese mathematician and writer known for his contributions to theGoldbach conjecture. He was a president of theChinese Mathematical Society and head of the Institute of Mathematics,Chinese Academy of Sciences.[1]
Wang was born inLanxi, Zhejiang, China. His father was a magistrate in the local government. Because of the Japanese invasion (theSecond Sino-Japanese War), Wang's family had to move away from Zhejiang Province, and finally arrived at the southeast cityKunming in Yunnan in 1938. 1942, Wang's father rose to the position of Chief Secretary of theAcademia Sinica. 1946 after the Japanese surrender, his family moved to the capital city,Nanjing. 1946–1949, Wang's father was the Acting Director of the institute. In 1949, Wang separated with his father, who went toTaiwan.
Wang entered Yingshi University (later merged into National Chekiang University, nowZhejiang University) inHangzhou, and graduated from the Department of Mathematics in 1952.[2] He then earned a position in the Institute of Mathematics,Academia Sinica.Hua Luogeng was his academic adviser and one of his closest collaborators.
In 1966, Wang's career was interrupted by theCultural Revolution. He was unable to work for more than five years, until 1972. During this time, Wang was harassed and put through interrogation.
In 1978, Wang was back to his professorship, in the Institute of Mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1980, he was elected to be a member of Chinese Academy of Science. 1988–1992, he was the president of theChinese Mathematical Society. Wang also worked in the United States for a period of time. He visited the Institute of Advanced Studies and taught at theUniversity of Colorado.
Wang advisedShou-Wu Zhang when he studied at the Chinese Academy of Sciences for his master's degree from 1983 to 1986.[3][4][5]
Wang is the father of Chinese American computer scientistJames Z. Wang.[2]
Wang's research focused on the area ofnumber theory, especially in theGoldbach conjecture, throughsieve theory and theHardy-Littlewood circle method. He obtained a series of important results in the field of number theory.[6][7]
WithHua Luogeng (华罗庚, alternatively Hua Loo-Keng), he developed high-dimensionalcombinatorial designs fornumerical integration on theunit cube. Their work came to the attention of the statisticianKai-Tai Fang, who realized that their results could be used in thedesign of experiments. In particular, their results could be used to investigateinteraction, for example, infactorial experiments andresponse surface methodology. Collaborating with Fang led touniform designs, which have been used also incomputer simulations.[8][9][10][11]
