Nobel laureate Chen-ning Yang, creator of Yang-Mills theory, dies at 103

Guwahati: Noted Chinese physicist and Nobel Prize winner Chen-ning Yang passed away in Beijing on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the age of 103.

Born in 1922 in Hefei, Anhui Province, in eastern China, Yang moved to the United States in the 1940s to pursue his academic career, later securing teaching positions.

In 1957, he was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics, as reported by Chinese state media.

In 1954, Yang collaborated with American physicist Robert Mills to co-author a groundbreaking set of equations that proved as foundational to physics as Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.

The Yang–Mills theory they developed described the interactions of three of nature’s four fundamental forces: electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces, at the subatomic level, according to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

This theory provided the mathematical framework for the Standard Model of particle physics, which unifies these forces and explains the behavior of all known elementary particles.

"Yang was one of the foremost theoretical physicists of the 20th century," said Shi Yu, a professor of physics and associate director of the Wilczek Quantum Centre at the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Studies. "Without the Yang-Mills theory, there would be no Standard Model," she added.

Yang’s legacy extends beyond his scientific achievements.

He also transformed the perception of Chinese people in the realm of science, inspiring generations to believe they could compete with the world’s top scientists.