Yongbin Ruan (; born 14 February 1963) is a Chinese mathematician, specializing in

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

differential geometry Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra and multili ...

, and

symplectic geometry Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology that studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed differential form, closed, nondegenerate form, nondegenerate different ...

with applications to

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interac ...

. Ruan studied from 1978 at

Sichuan University Sichuan University (SCU) is a National university, national National Key Universities, key public university, public research university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is wholly funded by Ministry of Education of the People's Republic ...

with ''Benke'' Certificate of graduation followed by a master's degree in 1985. In 1985/86 he was a teaching assistant at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. In 1991 he received his Ph.D. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

with thesis ''Gauge theory and its applications to Riemannian Geometry'' under the supervision of

Robion Kirby Robion Cromwell Kirby (born February 25, 1938) is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in low-dimensional topology. Together with Laurent C. Siebenmann he invented the Kirby–Siebenmann invariant ...

(and

Tomasz Mrowka Tomasz Mrowka (born September 8, 1961) is an American mathematician specializing in differential geometry and gauge theory. He is the Singer Professor of Mathematics and former head of the Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institu ...

). As a postdoctoral researcher he was at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. In 1993 he became an assistant professor at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison he became in 1995 an associate professor and in 1999 a full professor. Since 2006 he is a professor at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He has been a visiting professor at the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, in Hong Kong, and at MIT. He was in 1993 and again in 2004 at the Institut des hautes études scientifiques, in 1993 at the

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik, MPIM) is a prestigious research institute located in Bonn, Germany. It is named in honor of the German physicist Max Planck and forms part of the Max Planck S ...

, in 1994 at Cambridge's

Isaac Newton Institute The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences is an international research institute for mathematics and its many applications at the University of Cambridge. It is named after one of the university's most illustrious figures, the mathema ...

, and in 1994 at the

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), is an independent nonprofit mathematical research institution on the University of California campus in Berkeley, Califo ...

. In 1998 he was an Invited Speaker with talk ''Quantum Cohomology and its Applications'' at the

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. From 1995 to 1997 he was a

Sloan Research Fellow The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

. He became a Fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

in the class of 2015.

Selected publications

* * * * with W. Chen: ''Orbifold Gromov-Witten theory.'' Orbifolds in mathematics and physics (Madison, WI, 2001), 25–85, Contemp. Math., 310, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2002 * with A. Li: ''Symplectic surgery and Gromov-Witten invariants of Calabi-Yau 3-folds.'' Invent. Math. 145 (2001), no. 1, 151–218. * with Gang Tian: ''Higher genus symplectic invariants and sigma models coupled with gravity'',

Inventiones Mathematicae ''Inventiones Mathematicae'' is a mathematical journal published monthly by Springer Science+Business Media. It was established in 1966 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious mathematics journals in the world. The current managing editors ...

, vol. 130, 1997, pp. 455–516
arXiv preprint
* ''Topological sigma model and Donaldson type invariants in Gromov theory'',

Duke Mathematical Journal ''Duke Mathematical Journal'' is a peer-reviewed mathematics journal published by Duke University Press. It was established in 1935. The founding editors-in-chief were David Widder, Arthur Coble, and Joseph Miller Thomas Joseph Miller Thomas (16 ...

, vol. 83, 1996, pp. 63–98 * with Gang Tian: ''A mathematical theory of quantum cohomology'',

Journal of Differential Geometry The ''Journal of Differential Geometry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics published by International Press on behalf of Lehigh University in 3 volumes of 3 issues each per year. The journal publishes an annual supplement in book ...

, vol. 42, 1995, pp. 259–367 * ''Stringy geometry and topology of orbifolds'', Contemporary Mathematics, vol. 312
arXiv preprint

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruan, Yongbin 1963 births Living people 20th-century Chinese mathematicians 21st-century Chinese mathematicians Chinese expatriates in the United States Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Sichuan University alumni Sloan Research Fellows University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Michigan faculty University of Utah faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty