PHYSICIST

Yang Chen-Ning

1922 - 2025

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Yang Chen-Ning (simplified Chinese: 杨振宁; traditional Chinese: 楊振寧; pinyin: Yáng Zhènníng; (1 October 1922 – 18 October 2025); also known as C. N. Yang, Yang Zhenning, or Franklin Yang) was a Chinese-American theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge theory, particle physics and condensed matter physics. Yang is known for his collaboration with Robert Mills in 1954 in developing non-abelian gauge theory, widely known as the Yang–Mills theory, which describes the nuclear forces in the Standard Model of particle physics. Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on parity non-conservation of the weak interaction, which was confirmed by the Wu experiment in 1956. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 77 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 76 in 2024). Yang Chen-Ning is the 269th most popular physicist (down from 163rd in 2024), the 229th most popular biography from China (down from 158th in 2019) and the 4th most popular Chinese Physicist.

Yang Chen-ning was a Chinese physicist who was most famous for the Yang-Mills theory.

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Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Yang Chen-Ning ranks 269 out of 851. Before him are Carlo Rubbia, John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, Osborne Reynolds, Anthony James Leggett, Johannes Rydberg, and Jack Steinberger. After him are David J. Wineland, Pierre Agostini, Gerard 't Hooft, John C. Mather, Masatoshi Koshiba, and Claude-Louis Navier.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1922, Yang Chen-Ning ranks 53. Before him are Nils Liedholm, Leon M. Lederman, Ademir de Menezes, Seymour Martin Lipset, Roger Etchegaray, and Renata Tebaldi. After him are Cornelius Castoriadis, Betty White, Michel Galabru, Arthur Penn, Alberto Granado, and Barbara Bel Geddes. Among people deceased in 2025, Yang Chen-Ning ranks 48. Before him are Hamilton O. Smith, Myint Swe, Geneviève Page, Frank Caprio, Kunishige Kamamoto, and Roberta Flack. After him are Robert Benton, Denis Law, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Peter Lax, and Violeta Chamorro.

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In China

Among people born in China, Yang Chen-Ning ranks 229 out of 1,610. Before him are Emperor Shenzong of Song (1048), Pujie (1907), Chen Duxiu (1879), Zhang Jue (200), Wong Fei-hung (1925), and Zhang Sanfeng (1200). After him are Huo Yuanjia (1868), Khutughtu Khan Kusala (1300), Diaochan (null), Ragibagh Khan (1320), Abaoji (872), and Wong Kar-wai (1958).

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Among PHYSICISTS In China

Among physicists born in China, Yang Chen-Ning ranks 4. Before him are Walter Houser Brattain (1902), Tsung-Dao Lee (1926), and Chien-Shiung Wu (1912). After him are Daniel C. Tsui (1939), Qian Xuesen (1911), and He Jiankui (1984).

Chinese born Physicists

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