Top Mathematician Kenji Fukaya Leaves US To Join China's Tsinghua University Amid Rising Tensions

In a significant development, acclaimed Japanese mathematician Kenji Fukaya has left his post in the United States to take up a full-time professorship at China’s Tsinghua University.

What Happened: Fukaya, formerly a permanent member of the Simons Centre for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University, gave his inaugural lecture at Tsinghua on Sep. 11. His course on symplectic geometry drew a large crowd of students and faculty, as per the university's Yau Mathematical Sciences Centre, South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

Fukaya, now associated with both the Yau Mathematical Sciences Centre and the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, expressed hope that the return of more China-born researchers to teach in the country would promote the development of a community of highly skilled, domestically educated mathematicians. These institutions were established at Tsinghua by Chinese-American mathematician Shing-Tung Yau.

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Fukaya, globally recognized for his contributions to mathematics, initially focused on Riemannian geometry. However, since the 1990s, his research has pivoted to symplectic geometry, creating influential tools for fields like low-dimensional topology and mirror symmetry. His work connects various areas of mathematics and physics, offering insights into complex systems.

Why It Matters: Fukaya’s move to China comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S., China, and Japan. Just days before Fukaya’s lecture, China released David Lin, a U.S. pastor imprisoned since 2006. This unexpected move was seen as a positive sign in the strained US-China relations.

Moreover, recently, a Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan's contiguous waters for the first time, leading to strong objections from Japan.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari