Professor Weiping Li, Chair Professor of the Department of Mathematics won the second-class honor of the prestigious National Natural Science Award 2023, for a collaborative project on the "Change of numerically geometric invariants under birational transforms." This research elucidates the structural theory of geometric invariants and paves the way for their application to topological and geometric problems.
In the 1970s, mathematicians began exploring low-dimensional topology by incorporating concepts from quantum field theory in physics. This approach led to the discovery of various numerical invariants defined through moduli spaces like Gromov-Witten invariants, Donaldson-Thomas invariants, and Vafa-Witten invariants. Subsequently, research on these geometric invariants became a focal point of study. Prof. Li's project, conducted in collaboration with Professor Jianxun Hu from Zhongshan University, delved into the Vafa-Witten's S-duality conjecture, Gromov-Witten invariants, and Donaldson-Thomas invariants under specific birational transformations.
“I am honoured to receive this prestigious award. I am grateful to the department and the university for providing a conducive research environment that has allowed me to focus on important research topics. The funding support from the Research Grants Council has facilitated collaborations with mathematicians from various locations around the world,” said Prof. Li.
Prof. Li's research accomplishments have been recognized with various awards over the years, including the First Prize of the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award by the Ministry of Education of China in 2021, underscoring his substantial contributions to the field.
