Institute of Advanced Studies Editor-In-Chief: Prof Phua Kok Khoo, Director, Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU, Singapore ISSUE 18 • January 2016 2nd Pan Asia Liberal Arts Education Conference with 8 university presidents and other experts in Liberal Arts Education! ▪ Celebrating 60 Years of Yang-Mills Gauge Field Theories ▪ 2nd Singapore Sustainability Symposium ▪ CN Yang Scholars’ Informal Dialogue with Nobel Laureate Prof Chen-Ning Yang IAS NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 18 CONTENTS Editor-in-Chief Phua Kok Khoo FEATURES Members 03 | The 2nd Pan Asia Liberal Arts Education Conference Kwek Leong Chuan Low Hwee Boon Xiong Chi 06 | Conference on 60 Years of Yang-Mills Gauge Field Theories: Chris Ong CN Yang’s Contributions to Physics Louis Lim Charlotte Wee Maitri Bobba 10 | CN Yang Scholars’ Informal Dialogue with Nobel Laureate Raymond Liu Prof Chen-Ning Yang Erin Ong 15 | 2nd Singapore Sustainability Symposium: Sustainable City Design 18 | 2015 World Science Conference Israel with Nobel Laureates and Renowned Researchers 22 | Nobel Laureate Prof Eric Cornell’s Visit to SPMS, NTU NOBEL LAUREATE PUBLIC LECTURES 23 | Public Lecture by Nobel Laureates and Eminent Scientists: Personal Perspectives on Physics OTHER EVENTS 26 | Accélérateur de Science: CN Yang Scholars’ Visit to CERN 29 | International Workshop on Higher Spin Gauge Theories 31 | Quantum Physics in Modern Technology SPECIAL ARTICLE 33 | Critical Point From Wrong to Right FORTHCOMING EVENTS 2 | JANUARY 2016 IAS NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 18 FEATURES The 2nd Pan Asia Liberal Arts Education Conference, 28 to 29 October 2015 he Institute of Advanced Studies and College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CoHASS) Tat NTU jointly organised the 2nd Pan Asia Liberal Arts Education Conference from 28 to 29 October 2015 at the Nanyang Executive Centre. The 1st Liberal Arts Education Conference was organised by Prof Fujia Yang (University of Nottingham Ningbo China) in April 2014 and it was a resounding success. This second conference featured a distinguished panel of experts from China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, India, Philippines and Singapore. Co- chaired by Prof Phua Kok Khoo (IAS) and Prof Alan Chan (CoHASS), the Opening Ceremony was graced by Prof Guaning Su, Emeritus President of NTU. Over the two-day conference, the distinguished speakers shared their insights and thoughts on the topic of critical importance to future human development. In his presentation on “Promoting Cultural Diversity, Prof Alan Chan (Dean, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Integrity and Global Leadership in KAIST Education”, Prof Sciences, NTU) speaking on the challenges and opportunities Steve Kang (President of Korea Advanced Institute of for the Arts and Humanities in NTU. Science and Technology) highlighted Korea’s higher education system, which placed heavy emphasis on technical education and specialisation. While it was the driving force for Korea’s rapid economic growth in the 20th century, Prof Kang said that the nation’s unhealthy fixation over college exams had led to a skewed emphasis in education. More than just providing students with technical know-how, universities today must groom graduates who are global citizens: creative, knowledgeable in current affairs and capable of effective communication across cultures. Going to another part of Asia, Prof Anita Patankar (Director, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts) described her experiences of liberal arts education in India. In her talk titled “Looking Towards New Models of Liberal Arts Education for National Development”, Prof Patankar commented how the phenomenon of globalisation has changed almost every aspect of life as we know it, including higher education. She closely examined the Prof Fujia Yang (President, University of Nottingham Ningbo China) need for undergraduate colleges to explore the option discussed the Copenhagen Spirit and Liberal Arts Education. JANUARY 2016 | 3 IAS NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 18 FEATURES of incorporating liberal arts philosophy in the curriculum as part of the process of learning to adapt to the changes brought about by rapid globalisation. Closer to home, Prof Pericles Lewis (President of NUS- Yale College)’s talk on “Innovation in Liberal Education” discussed how Singapore’s first liberal arts college, NUS- Yale College, through innovative means, had incorporated both Asian and Western influences in humanistic, social, and scientific studies, to create a common curriculum for their students. In such an environment, students are encouraged to be risk takers, to experiment, and challenge themselves to go beyond their comfort zones. The presentations by all the speakers were illustrated vividly with examples of student activities and exciting recounts from each speaker’s personal experiences. The highlight of the conference was the roundtable Prof Chia-Wei Woo (Founding President, Hong Kong University of discussion on “Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century”, Science and Technology) engaging in the conference discussion. Panellists of the roundtable discussion. (From left) Profs Anita Patankar (Director, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts), Alan Chan (Dean, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, NTU), Peihua Gu (Provost, Shantou University), Fujia Yang (President, University of Nottingham Ningbo China), Wei Zhao (Rector, University of Macau), Kenneth Young (Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Ka Ho Mok (Vice President, Lingnan University) and Xiaofeng Jin (Fudan University). The discussion was chaired by Prof Da Hsuan Feng (standing), Director of Global Affairs and Special Advisor to Rector, University of Macau. 4 | JANUARY 2016 IAS NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 18 FEATURES Speakers and participants of the 2nd Pan Asia Liberal Arts Education Conference. Prof Phua thanking the guests for their The guests enjoyed a sumptuous feast and excellent performances by young musical participation during the dinner banquet talents at the dinner banquet. at Shangri-La Hotel. chaired by Prof Da Hsuan Feng (Director of Global audience participated actively in the discussion, giving Affairs and Special Advisor to Rector, University of their views from their perspectives as principals, Macau). The panellists gave their views on liberal arts educators and even students. education and in particular, “Asian Liberal Arts Education” as asked by the audience. The lively discussion reviewed All in all, over 100 participants attended the two-day the need for liberal arts education in Asian universities, event, including high school students, undergraduates and possible alternative models of liberal arts education and interested members of the public. The speakers and that are specifically tailored for an Asian context, as guests were also treated to a sumptuous banquet and opposed to using the standard model of liberal arts musical performances at the Shangri-La Hotel. education that originated from the US. The engaging JANUARY 2016 | 5 IAS NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 18 FEATURES Conference on 60 Years of Yang-Mills Gauge Field Theories: CN Yang’s Contributions to Physics by Lars Brink Chalmers University of Technology n 1954, Prof Chen-Ning Yang spent some time at was published in the Physical Review. It was criticised Brookhaven National Laboratory where he met directly by Wolfgang Pauli and others who argued that IRobert Mills. They decided to study an extension of the vector particles would be massless leading to long- Quantum Electrodynamics, where the local symmetry, range interactions that was in contradiction to the the gauge symmetry, was a non-abelian symmetry experimental facts about the strong interactions. The algebra, SU(2), with three vector bosons mediating the interest in the paper was not so strong in the beginning. forces between a doublet of matter particles. The symmetry that the authors had in mind was the isotopic Two years later, Yang together with Tsung-Dao Lee made symmetry and hence this was a prototype model for the the revolutionary discovery that parity might not be strong interactions between protons and neutrons. The conserved in the weak interactions, a fact that was mass of the vector bosons was zero classically and the quickly established by Chien-Shiung Wu with authors speculated that they might obtain masses during collaborators, and the Nobel Prize in physics for 1957 was quantisation. On 1 October 1954 the Yang-Mills paper awarded to Yang and Lee. This opened up the detailed Nobel Laureate Prof Chen-Ning Yang reminiscing about the early days of particle physics. 6 | JANUARY 2016 IAS NEWSLETTER - ISSUE 18 FEATURES study of the weak interactions and to a phenomenological QCD. This took longer to establish but all experimental model called the V-A theory by Richard Feynman and results in the 1970s and 1980s led to the conclusion that Murray Gell-Mann and Robert Marshak and George this is indeed the correct model. By now we have the Sudarshan. Standard Model based on these two Yang-Mills Theories which have been tested experimentally to a very high During the 1960s, most attention in particle physics was degree. We see that the proposal from Yang and Mills is on the classification of particles but attempts were made indeed the correct theory for the particle physics that we to use the Yang-Mills Theories. In 1964, Robert Brout and can measure at the large accelerators. François Englert and Peter Higgs found a mechanism to use spontaneous symmetry breaking pioneered by We can now safely say that in the 60 years since the Yang- Yoichiro Nambu to show that a Yang-Mills