Just turned over a new leaf and became a wise and intelligent student

Chapter 270 The Seven Greatest Mathematical Problems in the World
Xu Qingshan became a shining star in the international academic community overnight.

The world of academia is that simple.

Even if you have been unknown for forty years, as long as you can overcome the calamity of life and death one day, you can become the most popular leader, and then establish a sect, recruit disciples, and achieve fame.

Here, age and background don’t matter, only strength matters.

Of course, this is also an ideal statement.

In fact, unless one is much stronger than others, age will not be a big concern, but background will still be important.

For example, where are you from? Who is your mentor? Do you have any connections?
This is all very important.

Whether it was Charles Fefferman or John Milnor, they believed that Xu Qingshan was unlikely to reject them because they could bring Xu Qingshan one of the most reliable bases in the international academic community.

But Xu Qingshan still refused.

The top of Kyoto University is not bad, but it is not considered to be the best in the world at this time.

Compared with Princeton University, which is ranked first, and Stony Brook University, State University of New York, which is regarded as one of the "Four Public Ivy League Schools", Capital University is indeed not that strong.

Although the latter seems to be ranked lower than Beijing University on lists such as QS.

But just look at the alumni and professor team of Stony Brook University. They have the world's most profitable mathematicians James Simons, Yang Zhenning, Qiu Chengtong, Stanford President John Hennessy, former President of the American Mathematical Society James Grimm, Glenn Durbin, founder of Highbridge Capital, various Nobel Prize winners and presidential advisers, and so on.

Coupled with the special nature of American public universities.

The State University of New York system, where Stony Brook University is located, has 64 member campuses. It is the largest education system in the world and the largest and most comprehensive state university education system in the United States. Its network of personal connections is, to some extent, not inferior to that of Princeton.

In their view.

Although Beijing University was the best university in China at that time, it had no competitiveness in front of their school.

unless
Xu Qingshan wants to go into politics.

But they were still rejected. For this reason, Charles and Milnor had bitter faces on the second and third days. From time to time when they looked at Xu Qingshan, hope would appear in their eyes.

Just like a dog who longs to be favored by the goddess.

Tian Gang was contacted by Milno several times.

"Tian, ​​you didn't even tell me in advance that Xu would prove Zhou's conjecture and the twin prime conjecture directly at the venue, so why did you come to me for help?"

John Milnor, such a good guy, was provoked by Tian Gang to swear for the first time.

"Do you think the guys at the American Mathematical Society are so blind as to give the Cole Prize in Number Theory to some other son of a bitch and miss Xu's work?"

John Milnor looked very excited in the room.

"Then it won't be Xu's achievement that has no value, but the Cole Prize in Number Theory."

"Don't worry. Not to mention the Cole Prize in Number Theory, I think even the Fields Medal will have to reconsider its candidates because of Xu's academic conference."

Tian Gang just stood there with his hands folded and smiled awkwardly.

Now thinking about my actions, it seems that they were indeed a bit redundant.

"The Fields Medal"

John Milnor knew what Tian Gang meant and nodded.

"The candidate who is being considered for next year's prize is Ngo Bao Chu, who is currently in Princeton and is of Vietnamese descent. He proved the fundamental lemma of the theory of automorphic forms in the Langlands program."

"There is also Elon Lindenstrauss, who worked at the Clay Mathematics Institute and Princeton before and just won the Fermat Prize this year and went to the Hebrew University. He proposed the measure rigidity of ergodic theory and its application in number theory."

"Then there is Cédric Villani, who has just become the director of the Henri Poincare Institute. I think you know him. His work in differential geometry is somewhat related to yours. He proved the nonlinear damping and convergence to equilibrium of the Boltzmann equation. And he belongs to the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, you know."

John Milnor does not shy away from revealing these inside stories of the Fields Medal. After all, those who can win the Fields Medal every year basically have to have recognized great achievements.

"You also know that since the last Fields Medal was awarded to Tao and Perelman, there have been four winners each year. The results of these candidates have actually been published for some time. Only Xu's results were published the latest, but this is not a problem."

"Now it seems that the Russian who completed the planar Ising model and conformal invariants of percolation in statistical physics will have to retire regretfully. He is already 40 years old. If he misses this session, he will have no chance."

John Milnor sighed.

But he is also well aware that the mathematical world has always been full of such regrets.

Not to mention others, Tian Gang in front of him is like this.

Tian Gang's work results were already extremely close to the level of the Fields Medal, but when he produced the most important results, he was already over the age limit.

“Although I have some sympathy, I still hope that my students can succeed.”

Tian Gang also sighed and said.

"After all, there are many people like me who missed the Fields Medal, but there is only one person who can win the Fields Medal at the age of 19 from beginning to end."

Tian Gang did not hesitate to reveal his scars. He looked directly at John Milnor and said.

"Like it says on the medal, TRANSIRE SUUM PECTUS MUNDOQUE POTIRI."

Tian Gang uttered an obscure Latin phrase, but every mathematician who has devoted his life to the Fields Medal will be familiar with this phrase because it is engraved on the medal.

"Transcend the human spirit and become the master of the universe."

“I think the mathematics community needs more exciting news right now.”

"I think you've convinced me."

John Milnor nodded, extended his hand and shook hands with Tian Gang, then he said.

“I look forward to seeing you build the East into a brilliant academic world.”

For the final report of the last day, Xu Qingshan didn’t need to talk about anything at all.

He simply and easily chatted with the scholars present, talked about his own academic and psychological journey, and also invited the top scholars to go to the East, to China, and to Peking University to sow the seeds of wisdom for those outstanding students who are eager for the most cutting-edge knowledge.

It was just that, at the last dinner before the end of the meeting.

Xu Qingshan was once again surrounded by Lord De and King of Gambling.

"Hey, Sir, Mr. Bombieri, I really have no intention of teaching at Princeton at the moment. If there is a chance, I would like to invite you to teach at Beijing University."

Seeing their posture, Xu Qingshan spread his hands helplessly and spoke in a joking tone.

Jiang Huanxi stayed beside him and handed him the wine glass, after all, it was a matter of etiquette.

"No, we didn't come to you to argue with you about that matter."

Deligne shook his head, smiling broadly.

"Yes, the purpose of our visit is that we hope you can help me cash in my Ferrari."

Enrique Bombieri came over to talk to him enthusiastically, and judging from his red face, it was obvious that he had drunk quite a bit of wine.

"Enrique! Let's get down to business! You're destroying our symmetrical positioning!"

Deligne unsatisfactorily carried Bangbieli back to his original position and stopped him from getting too close to Xu Qingshan. Didn’t he see that his family was right next to them?

Lack-of-tact Italians, huh!
"You two mean the Riemann hypothesis?"

Xu Qingshan quickly realized the intentions of Deligne and Bombieri.

Yes. Of these two, one is the one who has advanced the work of Riemann hypothesis to the part closest to the solution in modern times, and the other is the guardian knight of Riemann hypothesis. I don’t know how deep his obsession with Riemann hypothesis is.

As the jewel in the crown of mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis has always been one of the most fascinating unsolved mysteries in mathematics. If it is proved, it will greatly promote the development of mathematics, especially the field of number theory.

In addition to the field of mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis also has extremely important connections with physics, especially quantum mechanics. It can even reveal the basic properties of certain microscopic particles, make the predictions in quantum field theory more precise, and thus promote new breakthroughs in the field of quantum computing.

Well known.

The importance of a scientific research project is proportional to its difficulty.

The more important it is, the more difficult it is to solve.

As a result, the Riemann hypothesis was listed as one of the world's seven major mathematical problems by the Clay Mathematics Institute in the United States in 2000. Every time a problem is solved, a prize of $100 million will be awarded from the Clay Mathematics Institute.

The world's seven most difficult mathematical problems.

NP-complete problems, Hodge conjecture, Poincare conjecture, Riemann conjecture, Yang-Mills gauge field existence and mass gap conjecture, Navier-Stoke equation, BSD conjecture.

This is the most important key in the mathematics world right now, just like the brightest spotlight on the stage in the whole world.

When Deligne and Bombieri heard Xu Qingshan take the initiative to talk about the Riemann hypothesis, the wrinkles on their faces caused by smiling were enough to directly pinch to death the occasional fly that popped up in the hall.

"We are just giving you some simple suggestions. After all, you have such a talent in number theory, and you have proved both Zhou's conjecture and the twin prime conjecture in such a short time. The Riemann conjecture is tailor-made for you."

"Perelman solved the Poincare conjecture. Although he has rejected the Fields Medal and the prize money and announced his retirement from mathematics, there is no doubt that he is one of the top mathematicians in the world. If you have done it, you are the youngest top mathematician, although you are already one now."

"I think that in addition to achievements in pure mathematics, achievements with similar application value like the Riemann hypothesis are also necessary for your height, status, and honor."

Professor Deligne said sincerely.

"If you don't have a new direction for the time being, we recommend that you give it a try. We can provide you with the greatest possible help and do what we can."

Bombieri nodded and continued casually.

"Even if you let me follow you back to the capital now, my old man probably won't live for many more years. I think this is my last chance to get that Ferrari from him."

"Enrique!"

“Well, Pierre, you are really funny, but even Mr. Grothendieck and Mr. Tietz would like to see the solution to the Riemann hypothesis.”

Enrique Bombieri said with a pout.

Xu Qingshan nodded in agreement and continued.

"After all, the essence of no conjecture is more symmetrical than the Riemann hypothesis. All non-trivial zeros are on the critical line. Tsk, one-half, tsk."

Deligne also nodded approvingly.

"I think the Riemann hypothesis is indeed suitable for me, but such a difficult problem cannot be solved overnight. I hope that if it is really possible, you two can come to Beijing University to become honorary professors? And come to Beijing to live for a period of time, maybe we can..."

Xu Qingshan made some gestures, indicating his willingness to cooperate.

What Bangbieli said just now was just a casual remark, and he didn't expect Xu Qingshan to really bring this up.

Deligne looked a little troubled.

"I still have a lot of students in Princeton who need to be taught. Maybe..."

Before Deligne could finish speaking, Xu Qingshan interrupted him impolitely.

"Sir, don't rush to refuse. What I mean is that I think I need to ask my teacher Mr. Tian Gang to introduce him to you."

Xu Qingshan asked Jiang Huanxi to find Tian Gang, while he stayed there with Deligne and Bombieri to briefly discuss the work content of the Riemann hypothesis.

After a moment, Tian Gang came over in a daze.

"Teacher, I'll leave these two to you."

Xu Qingshan whispered in his ear.

"I have tricked them into coming here. Just tell them about your math center. As long as you can lure them over, even if it's just for vacations and lectures, and some direct guidance from students, you can set the conditions. As long as it's not full-time or permanent, they will definitely agree. I'll leave it to you."

After Xu Qingshan finished speaking, he chuckled and patted Tian Gang on the shoulder, motioning him to go and talk to Deligne and Bonbieri in detail. He then returned to the banquet with Jiang Huanxi, holding a glass of wine.

He is only responsible for the beginning, and the actual details can be left to the teacher.

It was a long time later that Xu Qingshan saw Tian Gang find him with an expressionless face.

"What's wrong? Didn't you reach an agreement?"

Xu Qingshan and Jiang Huanxi were sitting at the table, eating seriously.

He ate the most authentic Boston lobster here, which tasted pretty good.

"It's a deal."

Tian Gang shook his head and sighed, then sat down. Jiang Huanxi obediently handed Tian Gang the plate of lobster that she had not touched.

"Thank you."

Tian Gang thanked him politely and said.

"Mainly, they just talked to me about the Poincare conjecture and Perelman."

Xu Qingshan was stunned for a moment.

"Teacher, do you know Perelman?"

As if realizing that his question was a little stupid, Xu Qingshan changed his words.

"Are you friends?"

"Well, it is."

Tian Gang nodded.

"When the Poincare conjecture was first proved, Perelman first sent me the abstract of the article, as well as Mr. Yau."

Tian Gang was reluctant to mention his full name.

Sure enough, when it comes to that person, Tian Gang’s mood will not be very good.

Xu Qingshan observed the teacher's expression and asked cautiously.

"and then?"

Tian Gang looked up at Xu Qingshan with a very sad look.

"Morgan and I verified and explained Perelman's proof, and the Clay Institute used our proof as evidence to prove that Perelman had solved the Poincare conjecture. But what happened next was beyond our imagination, and even a little disgusting and nauseating."

Tian Gang rarely talked about this with Xu Qingshan.

Xu Qingshan restrained his expression and listened carefully.

"In those years, about five or six years ago, I had a lot of exchanges with Perelman, and I invited him to give speeches at our school many times. I was still at MIT at the time, not at Peking University."

“But I didn’t expect Mr. Yau to have someone try to steal Perelman’s work.”

(End of this chapter)