Basic Information
- wbyan (at) tsinghua.edu.cn
- Office
- Shuangqing Complex Building C544
Wenbin Yan
Associate Professor, Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Tsinghua University
Research Areas
Mathematical physics, supersymmetric field theory, 4d N=2 SCFTs, class S theories, Argyres-Douglas theories, vertex operator algebras, Schur indices, M-theory, and topological strings.
Education
- 2003-2007, B.S., Tsinghua University.
- 2007-2012, Ph.D., Stony Brook University.
Employment
- From 2014, faculty member at Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Tsinghua University; later Associate Professor.
- 2015-2017, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University.
- 2012-2015, Sherman Fairchild Fellow, Caltech.
Research Summary
Wenbin Yan studies exact structures of four-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories and the lower-dimensional algebraic systems that encode them. His recent work relates Higgs branches, Coulomb branches, vertex operator algebras, Wilson lines, mixed Hodge structures, W-algebra characters, and affine Springer fibers, with mirror symmetry for circle-compactified class-S theories providing a recurring bridge between physics and geometry. The aim is to turn protected sectors of supersymmetric field theories into computable algebraic objects, so that dualities, indices, and moduli-space geometry can be compared precisely.
Representative Publications
- S. Cecotti, J. Song, C. Vafa, W. Yan, “Superconformal Index, BPS Monodromy and Chiral Algebras,” JHEP 11 (2017) 013.
- J. Song, D. Xie, W. Yan, “Vertex operator algebras of Argyres-Douglas theories from M5-branes,” JHEP 12 (2017) 123.
- B. Haghighat, W. Yan, S.-T. Yau, “ADE String Chains and Mirror Symmetry,” JHEP 01 (2018) 043.
- L. Fredrickson, D. Pei, W. Yan, K. Ye, “Argyres-Douglas Theories, Chiral Algebras and Wild Hitchin Characters,” JHEP 01 (2018) 150.
- B. Haghighat, J. Kim, W. Yan, S.-T. Yau, “D-type fiber-base duality,” JHEP 09 (2018) 060.
- B. Li, D. Xie, W. Yan, “On low rank 4d N=2 SCFTs,” JHEP 05 (2023) 132.
- E. Pomoni, W. Yan, X. Zhang, “Probing M-theory with tetrahedron instantons,” JHEP 11 (2023) 177.
- Y. Pan, W. Yan, “Mirror symmetry for 4d A1 class-S theories: modularity, defects and Coulomb branch,” arXiv:2412.03155.
- P. Shan, D. Xie, W. Yan, “Mirror symmetry for circle compactified 4d N=2 SCFTs,” JHEP 05 (2026) 015, arXiv:2306.15214.