Ding Rui finally chose to follow Xu Chuan to learn knowledge in the fields of computational materials science and quantum chemistry, and joined the huge and cumbersome project of establishing a set of accurate, effective and universally applicable computational models for chemistry.
With the help of two assistants, the daily work of organizing experimental data, document analysis, and collection becomes much easier.
Although the final data still need to be reviewed by Xu Chuan himself to confirm whether they are really useful for modeling and establishing a theoretical basis.
But at least, he no longer needs to do it himself to initially pick out useful things from the vast data. He only needs to do the final check.
However, before he officially started to establish a complete set of theoretical explanations and mathematical models for the microscopic substantive reaction process of electrochemistry, he still had one important thing to deal with.
That is the mathematical lecture on the weak Riemann hypothesis!
It has been more than a month since the proof paper of the Weak Riemann Hypothesis was published on arxiv. In addition, the proof of "Polynomial Algorithm for Factorization of Positive Integers" published by senior Liu Jiaxin has been waiting for a long time in the mathematics community.
It's been a long time.
...
As usual, this report will be held on the campus of NTU.
Regarding this extremely tedious job, the leaders of NTU cannot be said to be resisting it, they can only be said to be extremely happy and wish they could do it every day without any problem.
After all, this is a proof report involving top mathematical conjectures and the Millennium Problem of the Century.
Every time a problem of this level is solved, it can have a great impact on the entire society and the entire civilization.
Of course, more importantly, with the help of these seminars, NTU has appeared several times in front of the world's top mathematicians.
Before Xu Chuan, although Nanda had a prominent reputation, it was only limited to the country. Internationally, Nanda is not even ranked among the first-class schools, and the U.Sws world university ranking is even lower than the top 100.
After teaching Xu Chuan and experiencing several years of tremendous development, NTU has squeezed into the top 50, ranking 46th in the latest U.Sws World University Rankings released in the first half of 2023.
In China, the only two universities still ranked ahead of Nanjing University are Peking University and Shuimu University. Nanjing University is now truly ranked third, and it has continued to grow and catch up in the past few years.
If it weren’t for the rich heritage of the first two universities, and the fact that the world university rankings don’t just look at a certain subject or a certain person, NTU would have already become the No. 1 in the country.
However, the leaders of NTU firmly believe that NTU’s return to Asia’s number one is not a dream!
After all, there has never been any school that has won two Novel Prize winners, right? There has never been any school that has been able to hold multiple proof and report conferences on the Millennium Problem!
As long as that person is still there, they have enough confidence.
...
The next day, Jinling, Nanda.
Mathematicians and computer scientists from all over the world have entered this ancient campus.
Big red banners related to the Riemann Hypothesis and the P=NP? problem were hung everywhere on campus, guiding participating scholars all the way to the auditorium.
Although this is not the first time for NTU to hold such a grand event, no matter which university or institution holds such a world-class conference, it can only hope to bring a lot of benefits.
After all, this kind of conference that presents an image to the international community not only enhances the academic influence and honor of universities, but also the political achievements of the school and even Jinling City as a whole.
In order to maintain order and ensure the safety of the two speakers and participants, Jinling City mobilized almost half of the city's police force to conduct early inspections of surrounding hotels and people, and even dispatched armed police officers and soldiers to nearby hotels.
Patrolling the streets to protect the entire report.
For a lecture, even if it is the most prestigious event in mathematics, the International Mathematics Conference held every four years, security has never been so strict.
But looking back, thinking about it, security on this scale is actually not that strange.
Whether it is the Weak Riemann Hypothesis or the proof of "Polynomial Algorithm for Factorization of Great Positive Integers", they all involve seven major millennium problems.
The former has more than 2,500 mathematical conjectures linked to it, and the latter is the biggest problem in the intertwined fields of theoretical computers and mathematics.
The scholars who attended this lecture were not only mathematicians, but also many experts in the computer industry. It was not enough for the auditorium that could accommodate 2,000 people to have all the seats occupied.
Many scholars and computer scientists who have not received the invitation letter and have obtained admission qualifications have contacted NTU by phone or email, hoping to obtain an invitation letter.
Due to the needs of the academic community, NTU's leaders finally decided to change the lecture venue from the original auditorium on the old campus to the newly built Xianlin Auditorium in the past two years.
The new auditorium can accommodate more than 4,000 people, which can meet the needs of all walks of life.
With such a huge lineup, even top conferences in the mathematics and computer fields such as the International Congress of Mathematicians and the ACM Computer Conference are enough to compete with it.
...
In the morning, as it approached eight o'clock, mathematicians and computer scientists who came from all over the world passed the strict security check and entered the NTU campus. Following the map on the invitation, they headed towards
Walk to Xianlin Auditorium.
At the school gate, Tao Zhexuan, who was wearing a wool sweater, handed the invitation letter to the security staff with a slight smile on his face.
After careful inspection to confirm that there was no problem, the staff in security uniforms showed a standard smile on their faces, handed the invitation back and said in standard English:
"Welcome, Professor Terence Tao, the report will be held in the auditorium of the North Building. Do you need someone to guide you there?"
Tao Zhexuan took the invitation, waved it with a smile, and said, "No, I'll just follow the instructions above."
The staff let go of the security check and said with a smile: "Then I wish you a happy trip during the report meeting. If you have any questions, you can come to us at any time."
"Thanks."
After saying politely, Tao Zhexuan walked through the gate and entered the park. Following the instructions on the invitation and on the roadside, he found the Xianlin Auditorium.
At this moment, many scholars were gathering together and communicating outside the magnificent auditorium.
Seeing his arrival, many scholars in the mathematics community took the initiative to come up and say hello.
Tao Zhexuan responded with a friendly smile, and then walked through the sea of people to the auditorium and found his seat.
Just as he was about to sit down, he saw an old man coming from the other side.
He was a little surprised for a moment, then he smiled and said: "Professor Faltings? I didn't expect that by such a coincidence, our seats are actually together?"
Hearing the voice, Faltings looked up and saw that he was an acquaintance and nodded as a greeting.
Tao Zhexuan sat down, glanced at the empty auditorium, then turned around with a smile and talked to Faltings beside him.
"This time Professor Xu opened a new path on the Riemann Hypothesis on this mountain peak. I wonder how far we are from the top of the mountain?"
If we want to talk about the research on the Riemann Hypothesis, apart from the person who is about to stand on the podium today, Faltings should be the person who has gone the furthest on this road, or the person who understands it best.
After Xu Chuan started the long-stagnant research on the Riemann Hypothesis, I believe that anyone who understands this problem will think about how far the mathematical world is from the end.
As for Faltings's opinion, I cannot say that it is completely accurate, but it is at least 70% to 80% accurate.
Upon hearing this question, Faltings said calmly: "Infinity."
On the side, Terence Tao raised his eyebrows, and said with some surprise and interest: "But the offset of the Jensen polynomial can be compressed infinitely towards the interval of 1/2. Recently, a large number of them have emerged on arxiv.
Relevant advancement results.”
Faltings said calmly: "So what? This method is no different from the critical zone idea, it's just a different way."
Tao Zhexuan smiled and said: "But it hasn't reached the limit yet, right? Maybe it has a different idea from the critical zone? I think it still has considerable potential, and maybe we can go this way."
Faltings did not answer the question directly, his deep gaze fell on the lit but empty stage.
After a while, he said something irrelevant: "I don't quite understand why he wastes his talent on things that only second-rate or even third-rate mathematicians would do?"
The sudden words made Terence Tao stunned for a while before he realized what he was talking about.
He smiled and said: "Application is also a part of mathematics. Using mathematics to solve real-life problems is also an important part of mathematics."
"Moreover, his talent and knowledge do not only exist in mathematics. If he only studied mathematics, I would feel even more pity."
There are chains of contempt between different disciplines, and there are also chains of contempt within the same discipline.
For example, in mathematics, pure mathematics stands at the top, followed by applied mathematics. Computational mathematics is at the lowest end of the contempt chain. It belongs to the type where success is considered a success if you are not expelled from the scope of mathematics.
It is normal for Faltings to look down on non-pure mathematics such as applied mathematics and computer mathematics. He is a member of the Bourbaki school, and it can be said that most of the mathematicians of this school despise and look down on non-pure mathematics.
Of course, the position of the Bourbaki school in the development of mathematics in the 20th century is irreplaceable.
It can even be said that without this school of thought, today's mathematics may be "discrete" instead of today's system. Especially in pure mathematics such as algebraic number theory, algebraic geometry, Lie groups, and functional analysis.
"Principles of Mathematics" jointly written by this school of thought is not only a classic masterpiece of mathematics, but also the starting point and reference guide for many research works.
Faltings said noncommittally: "But pure mathematics is the most beautiful, isn't it?"
He said these words not to look down on Xu Chuan, at least in today's mathematics community, no one can look down on a mathematician who has solved three major millennium problems.
But for him to use his talent and time in the fields of physical and chemical materials and even batteries, Faltings feels that this is a serious waste.
Tao Zhexuan shrugged, instead of arguing, he smiled and changed the subject.
Prejudice against other subjects is a common thing in the mathematics community. Perhaps young people like him will be better off.
But for seniors like Faltings from the last century, they are all prejudiced not only against other disciplines, but also within the mathematics community.
and.....
Not to mention Faltins.
In fact, even he himself felt that Xu Chuan was not doing his job properly.
After all, he is nominally a mathematician, but if you look at the things he has researched over the years, it covers all kinds of fields.
From physics, to chemistry, to materials science, astronomy, and even computers, he has the energy to get involved. He is simply a playboy.
If he calms down and studies mathematics, maybe he can solve the remaining three millennium problems, and maybe mathematics will be pushed to a whole new level.
.......
While many scholars came to the Xianlin Auditorium to take their seats and discuss the upcoming report meeting, in the lounge on the other side of the backstage, Xu Chuan and Liu Jiaxin sat together to prepare related reports.
"There are still ten minutes left and we will be on stage soon."
In the lounge, after checking the time on his phone, Xu Chuan put away the manuscript in his hand, looked at Liu Jiaxin, who was sitting quietly aside, and said with a smile.
Hearing the questioning, the senior who was carefully reading through every question and detail raised her head, pursed her lips and nodded vigorously, indicating that she was ready.
Seeing the tense expression on her face, Xu Chuan smiled and joked: "This shouldn't be your first time on stage to give a report, right? Are you so nervous?"
"no."
Liu Jiaxin shook her head slightly. This was indeed not the first time she had given a report on stage. She had given reports before at NTU and Princeton.
But in comparison, it is indeed the first time to give a report in front of so many big figures in the mathematics community.
You must know that those sitting under the auditorium at this moment are not just scholars in the field of computer mathematics.
Because it involves another difficult problem, the Riemann Hypothesis, except for those who are too old to come to the scene and those scholars who are really busy and unable to attend this lecture, almost all the other experts are here.
Not to mention others, there are at least twenty or thirty Fields Medal winners, not to mention the Gauss Medal, the Chern Medal, the Abel Medal, the Neumann Linner Medal and other top mathematics award winners.
It can be said that most of the big names in mathematics are sitting here, and their research fields cover almost all research directions in various branches of mathematics.
There is no way of knowing what difficult questions these big guys will ask at the report meeting.
Xu Chuan smiled and joked: "Just treat them like cabbage. There is no need to be nervous at all."
Liu Jiaxin glanced at Xu Chuan angrily: "How can this be the same?"
Xu Chuan smiled and comforted: "Don't worry, I'm still here, right? There will be no problem."
"Um."
Listening to this firm and powerful voice, Liu Jiaxin pursed her lips and nodded vigorously. Warmth rose from her heart and dissipated the tension in her heart.
