Rate My Professor Yi Yang

Professor Yi Yang is an Assistant Professor, HKU-100 Scholar, and Belinda Hung Outstanding Young Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong. He received his B.Sc. in 2011 and M.Sc. in 2014 from Peking University, followed by a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2019. After completing his doctorate, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT before joining HKU in 2022.

Yi Yang's research centers on optical physics and nanophotonics, including topological photonics, plasmonics, photonic crystals, and free electron optics. His work investigates light-matter interactions at the nanoscale, particularly nonrelativistic free-electron-light interactions in nanophotonic environments. Key contributions include developing a general framework for nonclassical optical responses, synthesizing and observing non-Abelian gauge fields in real space, establishing the upper limit for spontaneous free-electron radiation, and demonstrating photonic flatband resonances for enhanced free-electron-light interactions. These advances enable applications in quantum light generation, integrated radiation sources, particle accelerators, biomedical imaging, and electron microscopy. Notable publications encompass “Non-Abelian physics in light and sound” (Science, 2024), “Photonic flatband resonances for free-electron radiation” (Nature, 2023), “A General Theoretical and Experimental Framework for Nanoscale Electromagnetism” (Nature, 2019), “Synthesis and Observation of Non-Abelian Gauge Fields in Real Space” (Science, 2019), and “Maximal Spontaneous Photon Emission and Energy Loss from Free Electrons” (Nature Physics, 2018). His publications have garnered significant citations, reflecting substantial influence in the field.

Yang has been honored with major awards, including the 2024 Xplorer Prize as Hong Kong's sole recipient, the 2024 Croucher Tak Wah Mak Innovation Award valued at HK$5 million, the 2023 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship in Physical Sciences, the 2022 MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (China), and the 2022 National Natural Science Foundation of China Excellent Young Scientists Fund for Hong Kong and Macau.