After returning to the office with the submission documents, editor Kyle simply made a cup of black tea and opened the first manuscript on top.
As the first review editor, Kyle's job is very simple. He reads the original text, understands the content and structure of the submitted article, decides whether to accept the manuscript based on the two, and then sorts the article according to its value and submits it for review.
Of course, this is just an outline of the preliminary review process.
In fact, Kyle has a lot to do, including checking whether the paper conforms to the scope and completeness of the journal's content, checking its scientific nature and innovation, the format of the paper, etc.
The Mathematics Annual Report is mainly for the field of mathematics. If you submit a paper in the field of physics or chemistry, no matter how shocking the content is, even if it reaches the level of "Heuristic Views on the Generation and Transformation of Light" by a technician from the Bern Patent Office, it will not be passed.
Preliminary review.
The first submission came from New York. The title of the article was "A method of proving prime numbers in elementary number theory." The author's name was John Poulson. Kyle, the preliminary editor, saw this title and shook his head slightly. It was the same elementary proof of prime numbers.
Theorem manuscript.
If you are a new editor, you may be surprised by it, but as an old editor, Kyle has seen too much.
The elementary proof of the prime number theorem is a problem that has been around for hundreds of years but still has not been solved. If the prime number theorem is proved using elementary methods, then this person will instantly become a hot mathematician.
This is the weight of the elementary proof of the prime number theorem.
Every year, the Annual Report of Mathematics receives thousands of manuscripts for elementary proofs of prime number theorems. However, these manuscripts do not even have the most basic paper format, and their proof methods are ridiculous. None of them can pass the preliminary review.
Despite his helplessness, Kyle still maintained the respect and courtesy he deserved for academic achievements, opened the manuscript and began to review it.
A few minutes later, the paper was re-closed, with red rejection written on the surface.
The content of this article is inconsistent and contains extremely fatal logical errors. It is one of the classic examples.
Kyle shook his head, took a sip of black tea, picked up the second manuscript again, and looked at the email information column as usual. Suddenly, he was startled.
"Professor Hua Luogeng?!" Kyle was a little surprised. Isn't this the Chinese mathematician Hua Luogeng who was solemnly invited by the school?
Hua Luogeng's name has spread throughout the international mathematics community. The reason is very simple. Hua Luogeng has made many outstanding and important results following Professor Hardy. Although his academic status and reputation are not enough to reach the level of Hilbert and Hardy, he himself
There is no doubt about the strength.
"The impact and role of asymmetric cryptography on cryptography, Hua Luogeng, Yu Hua... what is asymmetric cryptography?" With doubts and expectations after reading the title of the article, Kyle opened the email, opened the paper and began to review it.
There is no cookie-cutter elementary proof of the prime number theorem. It is no longer a classic article that lacks rigor and logic. It targets cryptography, which has a decisive influence on human communication.
Asymmetric encryption sounds very high-end.
But, who is this Yu Hua?
A student of Professor Hua Luogeng?
Kyle adhered to the rigorous attitude that a first-review editor should have and carefully reviewed the article. After reading the first paragraph about the concepts of symmetric cryptography and asymmetric cryptography, his expression showed a trace of solemnity.
The second paragraph of the article describes the core structure of the asymmetric cryptosystem and proposes public keys and private keys.
The third paragraph of the article is about 3,000 words long. It systematically describes the relationship and operating principles between public keys and private keys, explains the security improvement coefficient between symmetric cryptography and asymmetric cryptography, and uses mathematical language to compare the two.
between the advantages and disadvantages.
The entire article is summarized at the end.
Time passed by, and Kyle, the first review editor, seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, carefully reviewing and considering every sentence in the article, integrating it into his mind, and understanding it.
"Currently, the private key encryption algorithm is based on the discrete logarithm theory. It is foreseeable that the asymmetric cryptosystem will completely surpass the symmetric cryptosystem, and the security will increase by orders of magnitude. The more variable factors introduced, the higher the security..." Tens of minutes later
, Kyle slowly read out the summary paragraph of this paper on asymmetric cryptography.
Quiet.
The office fell into a brief quiet atmosphere.
Kyle sat blankly on the chair, looking at the papers on the table with his blue eyes. He knew that his wonderful afternoon tea time was gone.
Because of this manuscript.
"God, Professor Hua has almost created an era, a new era of cryptography." After a few seconds, Kyle finally came back to his senses. He was extremely shocked and stood up suddenly: "No, I have to go find him right away.
Editor-in-Chief, right away."
"Kyle, what's wrong with you?" In the office, colleagues were a little confused when they saw Kyle's behavior.
"A new era of cryptography has come, and I have to go find Professor Lefshetz right away." Kyle responded, picked up the entire manuscript, left the place, and rushed to the editor's office.
Solomon Lefshetz is a professor of mathematics at Princeton University and editor-in-chief of Annals of Mathematics. He is the top mathematician in the international mathematics community. In his hands, Annals of Mathematics has gradually evolved from an ordinary mathematics journal to a top mathematics journal with extremely wide coverage.
of influence.
Colleagues looked at Kyle's actions and looked confused: "A manuscript that is enough to alarm Professor Lefshetz?"
…
Annual Report of Mathematics Editorial Department, Editor-in-Chief Office.
Lefshetz, who is fifty-three years old, is sitting on a chair, bending over his desk to review papers. His eyes are as bright as amber. Although he is half a century old, his mental state is
And his physical condition is like that of a strong and mature man.
Wearing a gray suit, his body exudes the unique temperament of a top human wise man.
In front of the desk, the first review editor Kyle stood neatly, as if he were a student. In fact, Kyle was indeed a student of Professor Lefshetz.
After a long time, Professor Lefshetz raised his head, rubbed his slightly sore eyes, and frowned slightly, as if thinking about something.
Kyle saw Professor Lefshetz's expression and knew that he had finished reading, so he whispered: "Professor..."
He wanted to know the editor's attitude towards this paper.
As the journal editor responsible for the preliminary review, Kyle's behavior of bypassing the review process and submitting the paper directly to the editor-in-chief is extremely special. If the content of the paper does not reach the level of alarming the editor-in-chief, then he will become a joke to many editors in the journal.
Wages will not be deducted, but it will be hard to save face.
"This paper is indeed an epoch-making academic achievement for cryptography. The structure of the paper is very mature and does not need to be modified. It meets the standards for publication. However, for the sake of rigor, I think it still needs to go through a lot of work.
Cross-reviewed by reviewers.”
As a master of topology, Lefshetz tapped his desk with his right hand, thought for a while, looked at Kyle, and gave his attitude: "Kyle, please go to the institute to invite Professor von Neumann.
and Professor Weyl as reviewers.”
In order for this cryptography paper to be officially published, it must be cross-reviewed by multiple reviewers to ensure that it is as foolproof as possible.
rigorous.
This is something that runs in the blood of mathematics.
Currently, the only reviewers who can review this cryptography paper are Professor von Neumann and Professor Weyl. The former has a very in-depth research on cryptography, and the latter is an all-around mathematician in the school.
As I specialize in topology, I am not suitable to serve as a reviewer for this paper.
Of course, despite this, Lefshetz still understood the value of this cryptography paper.
Bringing cryptography into a new era!
"Okay, Professor." After receiving this reply, Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, his judgment was not wrong.
"Kyle, have you ever heard of the name Yu Hua?" Lefshetz then asked about the name of the first author.
Kyle shook his head: "Never. This is the first time I have seen this name. It sounds like a pure Chinese."
"I didn't expect that besides Professor Hua, there would be Chinese scholars who have made great achievements in the field of cryptography. It seems that the mathematics world is about to welcome a young scholar. Kyle, go and do your work." Lefshetz nodded.
, with some surprise and sigh in his heart, he motioned for Kyle to go to work first.
Kyle nodded, filled with anticipation, and quickly left the editor's office and headed to where von Neumann and Weyl were.
A storm in the field of cryptography research is coming.
If the vast majority of mathematical research fields are considered by others to be high-minded and have no practical effects, then cryptography is the most practical representative among mathematics.
The development of cryptography fundamentally determines whether a country's information transmission is secure.
storm.
A storm is coming.
…
"Review invitation? This is very interesting. I have very strict requirements for papers." Not long after, von Neumann, who was staying at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, received a review invitation from the Annual Review of Mathematics, and he felt quite
For fun, he smiled at Editor Kyle in front of him.
This is the first time this year that an annual report has invited him to review.
Generally speaking, review invitations will not be sent out indiscriminately. Journals and magazines will select reviewers based on the quality of the paper. If a paper of average quality is sent to a top scholar of Einstein's level for review, the result will be obvious.
The content and structure of the article were criticized mercilessly, etc.
Most of the time, the reviewer's job is to find fault.
Of course, Einstein, who stayed at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, rarely accepted review invitations.
"This paper will satisfy you, Professor Neumann." Kyle responded.
"I hope so." Neumann smiled, and was a little curious in his heart as to what kind of paper it was that would make the Annual Review of Mathematics invite him to serve as a reviewer.
Within the Institute for Advanced Study, von Neumann is the youngest professor appointed. His academic status and academic level are undoubtedly at the top level of the mathematician pyramid system.
The reason why the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton is called the "World Center of Mathematics" by the outside world, replacing the University of Göttingen, is because the Institute for Advanced Study has hired six world-class masters.
Einstein, Lefshetz, Professor Weyl who is as famous as Hardy, Professor von Neumann, Professor Morse, and Professor Alexander, six world-class masters have made the mathematical research level of the Institute for Advanced Study reach the top in the world.
, beyond the University of Göttingen under Hilbert.
The University of Göttingen, which once belonged to the world's mathematics center, has lost its original glory amid the growth of Germany.
Unfortunately, most of the top scholars at the University of Göttingen are of Jewish descent.
In the evening, after finishing today's research, Neumann returned home and had some tender moments with his wife. Suddenly he remembered the matter of reviewing manuscripts and came to the study. A submitted paper from the Annual Review of Mathematics was already placed on the table in the study.
With curiosity in mind, Neumann sat down and picked up the submitted paper and began to review it.
At first, Neumann didn't feel anything. However, as he continued to read the content of this paper, his expression became more serious and dignified.
Thirty minutes later.
Neumann carefully put down the paper. As an invited reviewer, he was filled with shock and wonder at this moment: "God, compared to the field of cryptography, this paper is like F=(G×M) in physics.
×M)/R is as flawless as ever, it is truly an extremely great work, Hua Luogeng, Yu Hua..."
"My dear, it's time for us to eat." At this time, the study door opened gently, and the young wife said to Neumann.
"Dear, I'm afraid I can't eat it. I have to go to the editorial office of the Annual Report of Mathematics right away." Neumann shook his head and said.
After finishing his words, he didn't have time to explain anything to his wife. He stood up, quickly packed up the printed submission paper, and headed out the door.
At the same time, another reviewer, Professor Hermann Weyl, the most influential mathematician in the first half of the twentieth century, was also on his way to the Annals of Mathematics.
Both Professor Neumann and Professor Weyl were all shocked by this paper.
The result is... super high review efficiency.
…
Late at night.
"Professor Neumann, Professor Weyl, what are your opinions?" In the editorial office, Professor Lefshetz sat in the editor's seat and looked at the two professors who were reading the manuscript of the paper together. After they finished reading,
asked.
It has to be said that he did not expect that Neumann and Weyl would come directly to visit him.
"My opinion is that the concept of public key and private key proposed by Professor Hua Luogeng and Professor Yu Hua is completely revolutionary compared to cryptography. The security of our information transmission will be improved exponentially. This is a very
Huge theoretical contribution." Weyl looked serious and gave his answer from a rigorous and academic perspective.
In Professor Weyl's opinion, a scholar who can produce top academic achievements together with Hua Luogeng must at least be a professor. He did not hesitate to regard Yu Hua as a university professor.
"My opinion is also a draft. It is really unimaginable that Professor Hua Luogeng and Professor Yu Hua will create such shocking academic results." Professor Neumann slowly put down the original manuscript of the paper. Although he had read it once, he was still shocked in his heart.
Unable to calm down: "The asymmetric cryptography theory is so perfect that it's unbelievable. This is simply a perfect cryptography. I didn't expect that Professor Hua Luogeng, in addition to his achievements in the field of analytical number theory, also has a very high level of research in cryptography."
Asymmetric cryptography security formula: private key A*private key B+public key A, simple and perfect.
"Okay, this may be one of the fastest submission articles in terms of review efficiency in the Annual Report of Mathematics. I will arrange for publication immediately. Professor Neumann, Professor Weyl, do you have any other good suggestions?" Leifshay
Ci received review responses from two top mathematicians, shook his head in failure, and asked after joking.
"If possible, I hope that the school will send an invitation to Professor Hua Luogeng again, and also send an invitation to Professor Yu Hua. They should come here, to Princeton, to get a better academic environment and make more meaningful results."
Professor Weyl said.
Neumann said: "My suggestion is consistent with Professor Weyl. Asymmetric cryptography theory can greatly promote the development of communications security in the United States. Princeton needs these two Chinese scholars, and so does the United States."
"I will send an invitation to Professor Hua Luogeng and Professor Yu Hua." Hearing this, Lefshetz nodded and did not refuse. Neumann and Weyl's suggestions coincided with his thoughts.
In the middle of the night, a decision discussed by three top mathematicians was passed, and this decision meant that the article co-signed by Hua Luogeng and Yu Hua entered publication status.
The day after the editorial office of the Annual Report of Mathematics received the email, this cryptography paper, which had been reviewed and approved by the editor-in-chief, entered the final publication workflow and would be published in the 25th Week of 1937 as quickly as possible.
The journal "Annals of Mathematics" announced this important result to the world.