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Summary:"The gentleman actually addressed me as 'Brother Yifang' in his congratulatory letter"

At 2:33 a.m. local time on August 4, 2024, Nobel Prize winner in Physics and foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsung-Dao Lee, died at his home in San Francisco, USA, at the age of 98.

"I was shocked and saddened when I heard the news at noon on August 5. Not long ago, I heard from Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee's son that the old man was in good health. It was hard for everyone to accept the news when they heard it suddenly."Wang Yifang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of SciencesHe said this in an interview with a reporter from Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News.

He recalled the first time he met Tsung-Dao Lee 40 years ago. Lee came to Nanjing University to give a lecture. Although Wang Yifang, who was still a college student at the time, did not understand much at the scene, the seeds of high-energy physics were planted in his heart. He bought a copy of Field Theory and Particle Physics written by Tsung-Dao Lee and waited in line in the crowd for his signature.

[His contribution cannot be overstated]

In Wang Yifang's view, Tsung-Dao Lee is an exceptionally remarkable person who is both admirable and moving.

Needless to say, Tsung-Dao Lee was a great scientist who made very important discoveries in science and wrote important chapters in the history of physics.

After the reform and opening up, Tsung-Dao Lee became a strong promoter of China's science and education - from initiating and personally organizing the Sino-US joint recruitment program for physics graduate students, to proposing the establishment of a postdoctoral research mobile station in China; from vigorously promoting the establishment of the National Natural Science Foundation system, to setting up the "China Undergraduate Scientific Research Assistance Fund" in the name of him and his late wife Qin Huiyi.

Wang Yifang was filled with admiration: "It is remarkable for a person to accomplish just one thing in his lifetime. Mr. Li Zhengdao has done so many things, and his contributions are not overstated no matter how you describe them. What is most touching is his immense concern for and firm promotion of China's science and education."

What moved Wang Yifang was that "Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee has a noble character. When he did these things, he never considered his personal interests."

[Everyone affectionately calls him "Political Commissar Li"]

"The Way of Things: The Way gives rise to life, things give rise to the Way, the Way is the way of things, things are the result of the Way, the Way of Heaven and Earth is the way of things." The author of this poem is none other than Tsung-Dao Lee, and it is now engraved on a sculpture called "The Way of Things" at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Over the past half century, my country's high-energy physics research has achieved world-renowned achievements, and Tsung-Dao Lee has made a huge contribution that no one can replace.

In September 1972, Tsung-Dao Lee returned to his homeland after a long absence and was received by Premier Zhou Enlai. He first proposed that China should consider building a small electron-positron collider. On February 1, 1973, the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences came into being.

In China, where there is almost no foundation, building the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider, which is an order of magnitude brighter than SPEAR (an accelerator that helped win two Nobel Prizes), seems to be a fantasy to many people.

"At the Institute of High Energy Physics at that time, everyone affectionately called Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee 'Political Commissar Li' and would go to him when they had something to do." Wang Yifang said that Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee staked his reputation and spent a lot of energy promoting and organizing the five national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy to support and help China build accelerators and detectors in physics, technology, engineering, and talent. He also personally participated in various discussions to help discover and solve various problems, big and small.

In 1979, Tsung-Dao Lee visited the Institute of High Energy Physics.

"Looking back, building the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider was an extremely correct decision and the best decision that could have been made at the time. First of all, it has great scientific significance; secondly, it is low in cost. A device worth 880 million yuan can be used by nearly a thousand high-energy physicists across the country for 40 years, which is extremely cost-effective. Third, it has high technical content," said Wang Yifang.

In 2003, the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed to build a neutrino detection device in Daya Bay. After learning about it, Tsung-Dao Lee did not express his opinion immediately. After returning to the United States, he spent a lot of time reading literature, discussing with relevant international experts, and communicating with the Office of High Energy Physics of the Bureau of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. Finally, he expressed his support for this project in 2004 and strongly supported cooperation between China and the United States.

In March 2012, the Daya Bay experiment team obtained the first batch of data, confirming the existence of the third neutrino oscillation mode. This achievement was rated as one of the top ten scientific breakthroughs in 2012 by the American magazine Science. my country's neutrino experimental research has gone from scratch to the forefront of the world.

"Without the help of Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee, we would not have achieved results so quickly, or we would have lost the opportunity and become latecomers," said Wang Yifang.

[You will learn a lot from him inadvertently]

"Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee is a theoretical physicist, but he is very down-to-earth and considers things very carefully. It may be hard for others to believe him, but he really does things." Wang Yifang said that if many people had a reputation like Tsung-Dao Lee and were older, they might not do it themselves, but once Mr. Lee made up his mind, he would go all out and treat it as his own business.

Born in Shanghai, Tsung-Dao Lee speaks softly and is modest, kind, and elegant. He is passionate about both science and life. "When you get along with him, you will learn a lot without realizing it."

When the third neutrino oscillation mode was discovered, Tsung-Dao Lee sent a congratulatory letter immediately. "Mr. Lee actually addressed me as 'Brother Yifang' in his congratulatory letter and expressed his 'warmest congratulations' to us juniors, which made me feel very embarrassed."

Wang Yifang still remembers the successful development of the Beijing Spectrometer superconducting magnet for the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider late one night in June 2007. The difficulty in developing large superconducting magnets is that they can only be tested after all manufacturing is completed, and if there are problems, they cannot be modified. Tsung-Dao Lee was at a dinner party at the time, and upon hearing the good news, he immediately said he wanted to visit everyone. "We were all very moved. In fact, he only needed to express it verbally. He was already 81 years old at the time, and he came to the scene at 11 o'clock in the evening, which gave everyone great encouragement."

Mr. Tsung-Dao Lee (third from left) visited the superconducting magnet development site.