杨振宁爱徒张首晟离世，新加坡学界沉痛缅怀

永远怀念张首晟教授。

By—潘国驹

”

张首晟

(1963-2018)

美国华裔物理学家

美国斯坦福大学终身教授

世界科技期刊编委

（IJMPB和MPLB）

      2018年12月1日，美国华裔物理学家，美国斯坦福大学终身教授、美国科学院院士、中科院外籍院士，世界科技期刊编委（IJMPB和MPLB）张首晟教授去世，终年55岁。

张首晟的主要贡献包括对拓扑绝缘体、量子自旋霍尔效应、自旋电子学、高温超导等领域的研究。2007年，他发现的“量子自旋霍尔效应”被《科学》杂志评为当年的“全球十大重要科学突破”之一。天妒英才，我们对于张首晟教授的离世表示哀悼。

2018年12月6日，惊闻世界知名的华裔物理学家，我们世界科技的挚友——张首晟教授过世的噩耗。据闻，张教授是于12月1日，在加利福尼亚猝然离世，终年55岁。震惊之余，也深切悲恸。张首晟教授是美国斯坦福大学终身教授、美国科学院院士、中国科学院外籍院士，同时也是世界科技的作者和期刊编委（International Journal of Modern Physics B【IJMPB】和Modern Physics Letters B【MPLB】）。

我和张首晟教授是相识好几十年的老朋友。他1963年2月15日在上海出生，1978年考入复旦大学。1980年赴德国柏林自由大学留学，1983年获硕士学位。后赴美国纽约州立大学石溪分校深造，1987年获博士学位。我和他正是在石溪期间认识，有着数十年的交情，也有许多密切的合作。首晟1989年进入IBM从事研究工作；1995年被聘为斯坦福大学正教授时年仅32岁，并在2004年出任IBM－斯坦福自旋电子学研究中心主任。

他在研究领域表现卓著，尤其在拓扑绝缘体、量子自旋霍尔效应、自旋电子学、高温超导等领域，贡献很大，特别是发现了“天使粒子”和“量子自旋霍尔效应”，并且在理论上预测了拓扑绝缘体的存在。

我曾多次邀请首晟来新加坡参加会议。访问新加坡期间，他给了三四场精彩的演讲，还与我们进行了一场深入的访谈。记得他曾经提到，他的许多重大研究成果和突破，都与新加坡有关，在新加坡参加的一些国际重要会议，为他的研究提供了不少的灵感。

他也是杨振宁教授的得意门生，杨先生曾说，张首晟是他最好的学生之一。1990年，张首晟与杨先生合作，在Modern Physics Letters B期刊上发表了题为SO4Symmetry in a Hubbard Model的论文，在与高温超导密切相关的Hubbard模型里找到具有非对角长程序的本征态，两人共同发现了它的SO4对称性。杨先生还认为，首晟“获得诺贝尔奖只是时间问题”。其实，早在2014年，他已获得诺贝尔物理学奖提名，但遗憾并未获奖。

首晟天资聪慧，而且勤奋刻苦，热衷科学研究，也热爱哲学历史。与人交往时温文儒雅，平易近人。首晟的突然离世，令人惋惜，更多的是不舍。

首晟，我们永远怀念你！最末，也附上与首晟的访谈，这也许是他最深入的一次访谈。

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Professor Zhang Shoucheng Will Always Be Remembered

On 6 December 2018, we learned about the demise of the world-renowned Chinese physicist, a dear friend of World Scientific, Professor Zhang Shoucheng. Professor Zhang passed away in California, on 1 December 2018, at the age of 55. The news had left us deeply shocked and saddened. The late Professor Zhang was a tenured professor of Stanford University; member of the National Academy of Sciences; Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and a World Scientific author and editorial board member of our journals (International Journal of Modern Physics B and Modern Physics Letters B).

We were old friends who had known each other for decades. He was born on February 15th,1963 in Shanghai, and enrolled into Fudan University in 1978. In 1980, he studied in the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and was conferred Master’s degree in 1983. Later, he travelled to New York for further studies in Stony Brook University and received his PhD degree in 1987. We met in Stony Brook University; and since then, cultivated years of friendship, and worked onseveral collaborations. Shoucheng joined the IBM in 1989 as a research staff member; was recruited as professor in Stanford University at a mere age of 32; and was appointed as Co-Director at IBM, Stanford Center for Spintronics Science and Application Center in 2004. He had outstanding performances in his area of research, especially in the fields of topological insulators, quantum spin hall effect, spintronics, high-temperature superconductivity and more. He had made tremendous contribution, especially in the discovery of Majorana fermion and the quantum spin hall effect, as well as the theoretical prediction of the possible existence of topological insulators.

In the past, I would frequently invite Shoucheng to attend conferences in Singapore.During his visits, he gave 3 to 4 very interesting public lectures, he also did a very long interview with us. And I remember,he once mentioned that these conferences inspired him a great deal,many of his achievements and breakthroughs were relevant to his experiences in Singapore.

He was the star pupil under Professor Yang Chen-Ning. Professor Yang once mentioned Shoucheng as one of his best students. In 1990, Shoucheng and Professor Yang worked together to produce the article “SO4 Symmetryin a Hubbard Model”, published in Modern Physics Letters B, on the discovery of the eigenstates possessing off-diagonal long-range order, in the Hubbard model which is closely related to the high-temperature superconductivity, in which both Professor Yang and Shoucheng discovered its SO4 symmetry.Shoucheng was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014, although he did not win. Professor Yang said it was only a matter of time before he did.

Shoucheng was not only highly intelligent, but also hardworking and persevering. He held a passion toward scientific research and was deeply interested in philosophy and history.He was gentle, cultivated and was amiable and approachable in nature. Shoucheng’s sudden passing is a regretful loss, which left us more than anything, in longing and sadness.

Shoucheng, you will always be remembered.

We have enclosed a copy of his interview with this letter, possibly one of the most thorough interview of him.

（文：潘国驹）

潘国驹 (Phua Kok Khoo)，毕业于英国伯明翰大学，获博士学位, 后又获颁英国伯明翰大学荣誉理学博士（Doctor of Science）学位。目前担任世界科技出版公司主席及总编辑和新加坡南洋理工大学高等研究所永久创所所长。潘教授于2009年当选声誉卓著的美国物理学会院士，2014年当选新加坡国家科学院院士。

作者简介潘国驹 教授世界科技出版公司总编辑新加坡南洋理工大学 高等研究所永久创所所长