Ai Guoxiang, male, Han nationality, is a native of Yiyang, Hunan Province. He was born in February 1938 and graduated from Physics Department, Beijing University in 1963, majoring in astrophysics.
Ai Guoxiang has made several breakthroughs in solar magnetic field observation since he started work at the Beijing Observatory in the early 1960s, including a solar magnetic field telescope he invented which went into operation in 1986. Moreover, the professor has invented a multi-channel filter, which is functioning as a pivotal part of a solar multi-channel telescope, said to be the most advanced observation instrument on earth.
At present, Ai's project of a two-dimensional real-time spectrograph is well under way. He aims to be able to see directly through the fluctuations of the magnetic and velocity fields of the solar chromosphere and photosphere. His solar magnetic field telescope has not only been awarded a state prize for scientific and technological development, but is also used in several other countries.
As an international academic authority on solar physics, Ai has proposed several theories on the precursor of the red shift of solar flares, features of the magnetic field of the penumbra, magnetic reversal on the chromosphere, and the compressional force-free field mode of the flare.