China News Agency, Hong Kong, January 30. Question: How can Chinese mathematics research learn from foreigners and improve their skills rapidly?
——Interview with Hong Kong mathematician Mo Yiming
China News Agency reporter Han Xingtong
In 1980, when Mo Yiming was working at Princeton University, he met the first group of international students from China. They learned new knowledge to advance their own academic research, and at the same time introduced advanced foreign research results back to China.
Mo Yiming saw from them the motivation and dream to promote the development of national mathematics.
Not long ago, Mo Yiming won the 2022 Future Science Award - Mathematics and Computer Science Award. He recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East and West" to review his mathematical dream and how Chinese mathematics has changed from the backward state before the reform and opening up. Barbarian skills, catch up, and achieved fruitful results.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: Can you talk about how you embarked on the "mathematical journey"? Were there people who had a profound influence on you during this process?
Mo Yiming:
My father is interested in mathematics. When I was very young, I hoped to do something that would contribute to China, Chinese culture and civilization.
When I was a child, I had very few resources. I always borrowed books from the library or read the textbooks of my sister who was a level above me.
At that time, mathematics had just undergone reforms, transitioning from old mathematics to new mathematics. I happened to be at this juncture. My sister was still studying old mathematics that year, so I started to study new mathematics. I used her old mathematics textbooks to study, yes I am very interested and fascinated by those that focus on solving problems, such as plane geometry.
I not only learned very content and relatively classical mathematics, but also was influenced by the new mathematical geometry set theory and mathematical logic.
The teacher in my middle school should be teaching at a university level. The textbooks he compiled put the content of old mathematics in the language of new mathematics, and also taught us some basic mathematical connotations in new mathematics, such as linear Algebra, probability theory, etc.
When I left Hong Kong, I already had a relatively solid foundation in mathematics, with a wider and deeper scope, so when I arrived at the university, I could immediately study the course research of the graduate school.
China News Agency reporter: In your opinion, as a mathematician, why is it so important to master the knowledge of different disciplines?
Mo Yiming:
In many universities, you can get a master of arts or a master of science in mathematics.
In fact, doing mathematics requires a lot of inspiration and creativity.
Therefore, some people regard mathematics as being in the middle of liberal arts and science.
Many mathematicians have other abilities, such as musicians, painters, etc., but I am very interested in literature.
If a person has a wider understanding of the world, he will naturally have more sources of inspiration.
China News Agency reporter: How do you understand the beauty of mathematics? Compared with other disciplines, what attracts you more about it?
Mo Yiming:
"The universe is so big, particles are so small, rockets are so fast, chemical engineering is ingenious, the earth is changing, biology is a mystery, the sun and the moon are so complicated, mathematics is everywhere." This is Hua Luogeng's famous saying.
The beauty of mathematics is a relatively abstract beauty. It can describe a truth in a very simple way. Special examples can be solved one by one. After understanding it, you can sum up a lot of hard work in a few words.
Its beauty lies in its simplicity and consistency.
In the world of mathematics, there are always more problems to solve than people who can solve them.
Therefore, as long as there are humans, the subject of mathematics will exist.
This pursuit process is endless, which is also an aspect that attracts me.
Galaxy starry sky.
Photo by Wu Dejun
China News Agency reporter: From a macro perspective, what kind of environment do you think mathematics research needs? How does the level of mathematics in Hong Kong and the country as a whole compare with the highest level in the world?
Mo Yiming:
To develop mathematics, there must be many people with motivation and dreams.
In 1980, I was working at Princeton University. During that time, I met the first group of Chinese students studying abroad. They were very motivated to learn new things. I also participated in this operation early in the morning.
After I finished my doctoral dissertation at Stanford University, my first academic project was to give a speech at the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a month, introducing some relatively new things to students from the perspective of students. It was also on that occasion that I got to know some Later partners.
Today, compared with 1980, China's progress in the field of mathematics is very obvious. It can be said that it has achieved very good results.
I have full confidence in the development of Chinese mathematics.
To improve China's mathematics level faster, the research environment and communication environment are important, and an open environment is needed, such as seminars or conferences held by the Institute of Mathematics. We should look for more opportunities to communicate with other countries in the world. Excellent talents in various fields share their research inspirations and achievements, and they may find new paths in the process of mutual exchanges. I personally benefit from this opportunity.
In July 2022, the Ninth International Conference of Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM) was held in Nanjing, and Mo Yiming spoke via video.
Photo by Yang Bo
China News Agency reporter: You have the experience of studying and teaching in Hong Kong and overseas. What do you think are the similarities and differences between China and the West in terms of mathematics research and related talent cultivation?
Mo Yiming:
Some differences can be seen from university studies. China may pay more attention to basic courses in each field, which is affected by the examination system.
The assessment methods in foreign countries are more flexible. I also absorbed these experiences and tried to practice them in the teaching design of the University of Hong Kong.
For example, for graduate-level courses, in addition to asking them to do some exercises, I will also use oral exams.
When doing research, it is very important that students have the ability to ask questions and respond quickly to questions raised by others.
Doing research is often a problem that others have not done, so it is necessary to conceive some new ideas on the basis of other people's knowledge to do new topics.
Saying a hundred words that others know is not as good as saying one sentence that others have not said.
What Chinese education needs to do now is to give students the opportunity to express themselves. I personally try to let students find new directions or solve problems in the process of expressing themselves.
Chinese mathematics culture puts a lot of emphasis on problem solving, and problem solving is very important, but to create a new direction, one needs to integrate various aspects or have a new idea.
This kind of ability should be obtained through other channels. It is very important to communicate with experienced collaborators. I very much encourage international cooperation.
China News Service reporter: You were elected as the vice president of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences in October 2022, and you are also the fifth scientist in Hong Kong to win the Future Science Award. What are your thoughts on strengthening scientific research exchanges and cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland in the future?
Mok Ngai-ming:
The Hong Kong Academy of Sciences involves many other disciplines. In what aspect can Hong Kong express itself more, and let the world know that Hong Kong is at a very high level in the world in natural sciences. These are areas that need to be taken care of.
It is very important for the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences to be valued by the world, and it is not purely a matter of the subject of mathematics.
As for the construction of disciplines, a relatively free form of communication is the best. In the past few years, of course, it was difficult to communicate because of the epidemic. Although it can be done online, there is a big difference.
Informal communication in mathematics is very important. If there is a visiting scholar with whom you share the same research interests, if he has the opportunity to discuss with you even for a week or two, the effect that can be achieved is often far better than holding a meeting.
Now I may pay more attention to the cultivation of young people. The concept of mathematics inheritance is very important, because this group is not very big, and some students will be lost while learning is constantly being created. If there is no way to pass it on (mathematics research) may be lost If you stop, other teams will work in this area, and China may lose some representative mathematical research directions, so this kind of inheritance is very important.
I hope that in the future, while developing new directions in mathematics research, we must ensure that some projects that have already achieved high international standards can continue to develop.
(Finish)
Respondent profile:
Mo Yiming, chair professor of the Department of Mathematics of the University of Hong Kong, director of the Institute of Mathematics of the University of Hong Kong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academician and vice president of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, dedicated to the research of multi-complex variable function theory, complex differential geometry and algebraic geometry, Last year, he won the Future Science Award - Mathematics and Computer Science Award. He is the fifth scientist in Hong Kong to win the Future Science Award. He is proficient in multiple languages.