For the first time, two Chinese scholars have been awarded the Fields Medal, often cited as the mathematics world’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Hong Wang and Yu Deng shared the honor—which includes a prize of 15,000 Canadian dollars—alongside John Pardon of the US and Jacob Tsimerman of Canada.
Hong Wang, a 35-year-old academic teaching in the US and France, became only the third woman to ever receive the award. She was recognized for settling a puzzle posed in 1917 by Japanese mathematician Soichi Kakeya, which sought the minimum area swept by a pencil when rotated a full circle. Collaborating with Josh Zahl, Wang examined the problem within three-dimensional space, noting that such inquiries often appear across various scientific disciplines. Her work is rooted in harmonic analysis, the study of wave movement.
Yu Deng, a 37-year-old professor at the University of Chicago, was similarly honored for addressing a challenge dating back to 1900. Known as Hilbert’s Sixth Problem, it investigates how the properties of a collective can be derived from the motions of individual particles. Deng successfully resolved the matter by studying gas behavior. He expressed profound gratitude to be recognized alongside legendary figures in the field. The Fields Medal is presented every four years to exceptional mathematicians who have not yet reached the age of 40.
