Rate My Professor Yao-zhong Zhang

Associate Professor Yao-zhong Zhang serves as a Reader in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland. He obtained his PhD in Mathematical Physics from Northwest University, China, in 1988 under the supervision of Professor Bo-Yu Hou, MSc in Theoretical Physics from Sichuan University in 1985, BSc (Hons) in Physics from Xidian University in 1982, and Graduate Diploma in Information Technology from Queensland University of Technology in 2003. After completing his doctorate, he held postdoctoral research fellowships at the Institute of Modern Physics, Northwest University (1988-1989), International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS), Trieste (1989-1990), Physikalisches Institut, University of Bonn (1991-1992), Department of Mathematics, University of Queensland (1992-1995), and Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University (1995-1996). Zhang was awarded the Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship at the University of Queensland from 1996 to 2000. He joined the university as Senior Lecturer in the School of Physical Sciences in 2001 and was promoted to Reader/Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Physics in 2006, holding a tenured position since.

Zhang's research interests encompass algebraic structures, quantum (super)integrable systems, (quasi-)exactly solvable models, supersymmetry, and conformal field theory. He has authored the book Introduction to anomalous gauge theories (Jilin Science and Technology Press, 1990) and book chapters including Quasi-exactly solvable systems (Science Press, 2019) and On analytic solutions of the driven, 2-photon and two-mode quantum Rabi models (Nova Science Publishers, 2020). Selected publications feature On the construction of polynomial Poisson algebras: a novel grading approach (The European Physical Journal Plus, 2026), Polynomial algebra from the Lie algebra reduction chain su(4)⊃su(2) x su(2): The supermultiplet model (Annals of Physics, 2026), Polynomial deformations of sl(2) and unified algebraic framework for solutions of a class of spin models (Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, 2025), and Charged massless scalar fields in a charged C-metric black hole: exact solutions, Hawking radiation, and scattering of scalar waves (Physical Review D, 2024). He has received awards such as Alexander von Humboldt Fellowships (1991-1992, 2006, 2012), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Invitation Fellowship (1995-1996), Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship (1996-2000), and Chinese Academy of Sciences K.C. Wong Scientific Research Award (1992). As lead or chief investigator, he has secured multiple Australian Research Council Discovery Projects grants totaling over $2 million for research on superintegrability, Lie superalgebras, quantum integrable systems, and related topics. His publications have garnered over 3,487 citations on Google Scholar.