Wanxiong Shi
施皖雄
Born(1963-10-06)October 6, 1963
China
DiedSeptember 30, 2021(2021-09-30) (aged 57)
Washington D.C., USA
Alma materUniversity of Science and Technology of China
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Harvard University (Ph.D.)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsPurdue University
ThesisRicci Deformation Of The Metric On Complete Noncompact Kahler Manifolds
Doctoral advisorShing-Tung Yau

Wanxiong Shi (Chinese: 施皖雄; pinyin: Shī Wǎnxióng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Si Oán-hiông; 6 October 1963 - 30 September 2021) was a Chinese mathematician. He was known for his fundamental work in the theory of Ricci flow.

Education

Shi was a native of Quanzhou, Fujian. In 1978, Shi graduated from Quanzhou No. 5 Middle School, and entered the University of Science and Technology of China. Shi earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1982, then he went to the Institute of Mathematics of Chinese Academy of Sciences and obtained his master's degree in mathematics in 1985 under the guidance of Lu Qikeng (Chinese: 陆启铿) and Zhong Jiaqing (Chinese: 钟家庆). Then Shi was recruited by Shing-Tung Yau to study under him at the University of California, San Diego.[1] In 1987, Shi followed Yau to Harvard University and obtained his Ph.D. there in 1990.[2]

Since Shi was stronger in geometric analysis than other Chinese students, having an impressive ability to carry out highly technical arguments, he was assigned by Yau to investigate Ricci flow in the challenging case of noncompact manifolds.[3] Shi made significant breakthroughs and was highly regarded by researchers in the field. Richard Hamilton, the founder of Ricci flow theory, liked his work very much.[4]

Academic career and later life

Upon his graduation, several prominent universities were interested in offering him a faculty position. Hung-Hsi Wu (Chinese: 伍鸿熙) from the University of California, Berkeley asked Yau if Shi could come to Berkeley. Without seeking opinion from Yau, Shi applied to and got tenure track assistant professorship offers from the University of California, San Diego, where Richard Hamilton was working at, and Purdue University.

Shi decided to join Purdue University. He published several important papers there, and was awarded three grants from the NSF in 1991, 1994 and 1997.[5][6][7] However, Shi did not pass the tenure review in 1997, so he had to leave the university. (The principal investigator of the NSF grant of 1997 was changed because of this.) Yau believes that the failure was due to the faculty members not realising the importance of Ricci flow theory. Hamilton sent a belated reference letter to Purdue University in which he rebuked the decision, but to no avail.[4]

Shi then left academia and moved to Washington D.C., where he lived a frugal and secluded life in solitude, and had less and less contact with his friends. He turned down some offers from other universities.[4] Yau and former classmates of Shi tried to persuade Shi and help him return to academia, but he rejected.[8] Yau felt sorry for Shi's leaving academia, since among the four students of Yau who worked on Ricci flow, Shi had done the best work. Shi died from a sudden heart attack in the evening of September 30, 2021.[9][10]

Work

Shi initiated the study of Ricci flow theory on noncompact complete manifolds. He proved local derivative estimates for the Ricci flow, which are fundamental to many arguments of the theory, including Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture using Ricci flow in 2002.[11]

Publications

  • Shi, Wan-Xiong (1989). "Complete noncompact three-manifolds with non-negative Ricci curvature". J. Differ. Geom. 29 (2): 353–360. doi:10.4310/jdg/1214442879.
  • Shi, Wan-Xiong (1989). "Deforming the metric on complete Riemannian manifolds". J. Differ. Geom. 30 (1): 223–301. doi:10.4310/jdg/1214443292.
  • Shi, Wan-Xiong (1989). "Ricci deformation of the metric on complete non-compact Riemannian manifolds". J. Differ. Geom. 30 (2): 303–394. doi:10.4310/jdg/1214443595.
  • Shi, Wan-Xiong (1990). "Complete noncompact Kähler manifolds with positive holomorphic bisectional curvature". Bull. Am. Math. Soc. New Ser. 23 (2): 437–440. doi:10.1090/S0273-0979-1990-15954-3.
  • Shi, Wanxiong and Yau, S. T. (1994). "Harmonic maps on complete noncompact Riemannian manifolds". A tribute to Ilya Bakelman. Proceedings of a conference, College Station, TX, USA, October 1993. College Station, TX: Texas A & M University. pp. 79–120. ISBN 0-9630728-2-X.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Shi, Wan-Xiong and Yau, S.-T. (1996). "A note on the total curvature of a Kähler manifold". Math. Res. Lett. 3 (1): 123–132. doi:10.4310/MRL.1996.v3.n1.a12.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Shi, Wan-Xiong (1997). "Ricci flow and the uniformization on complete noncompact Kähler manifolds". J. Differ. Geom. 45 (1): 94–220. doi:10.4310/jdg/1214459756.
  • Shi, Wan-Xiong (1998). "A uniformization theorem for complete Kähler manifolds with positive holomorphic bisectional curvature". J. Geom. Anal. 8 (1): 117–142. doi:10.1007/BF02922111. S2CID 121610392.

References

  1. ↑ Shing-Tung Yau; Steve Nadis (2019). The Shape of a Life: One Mathematician's Search for the Universe's Hidden Geometry. Yale University Press. p. 171. ISBN 9780300245523.
  2. ↑ "才学一流 破百年猜想 贡献卓著 人生几何 解千古疑惑 淡泊超然". School of Mathematical Sciences USTC. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  3. ↑ 郑方阳 Zheng Fangyang (6 October 2021). "忆皖雄同学". Wechat official accounts platform. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Shing-Tung Yau (7 October 2021). "丘成桐：悼念我的学生施皖雄". sohu.com. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Award Abstract # 9103140 Mathematical Sciences: "Studying the Topology of Riemannian Manifolds through Ricci Deformation of the Metric"". National Science Foundation. 10 May 1991. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Award Abstract # 9403405 Mathematical Sciences: Heat Flow on Riemannian Manifolds". National Science Foundation. 13 July 1994. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Award Abstract # 9703656 Global Analysis on Riemannian Manifolds". National Science Foundation. 14 February 1997. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  8. ↑ 王晓林 Wang Xiaolin (12 October 2021). "【情系科大】特立独行，不离不弃——怀念皖雄同学". Wechat official accounts platform. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "58岁数学家施皖雄去世，曾为解决庞加莱猜想做出基础性贡献". thepaper.cn. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "师友追忆旅美数学家施皖雄——"我们一起生活，对于将来是荣幸的"". 上海科技报 Shanghai Keji Bao. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  11. ↑ Richard S. Hamilton. "Prof. Hamilton's speech about Poincare conjecture in Beijing (8 June, 2005)". The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, CUHK. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
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