I am devoted to scientific research, but you want to trick me into having a love relationship?

Chapter 513: Unknown things make people excited

The Boston Number Theory Symposium was in full swing, especially because the supersymmetric zeta function proposed by Xu Qingzhou on the first day attracted the attention of a large number of mathematicians in the mathematics community.

Those mathematicians who did not attend the seminar all approached their friends who attended the seminar to inquire about the news, hoping to find out whether Xu Qingzhou had any new achievements.

This is also normal.

It is like a light suddenly turns on in the foggy jungle, revealing a secret path that has never been discovered. Explorers will be attracted to this path, even if this path is likely to lead to a dead end, there will still be people who will continue to go there.

The ultimate romance of mathematics may lie in the fact that the “unknown unknowns” are more exciting than the “known answers”.

However, after Xu Qingzhou publicly stated many times that he did not have many research results, and with the passage of time and the progress of the seminar topics, the popularity of the supersymmetric zeta function finally decreased.

During this period, he met with Terence Tao several times to discuss the feasibility of the supersymmetric zeta function.

But unfortunately, after two days of calculations, the two Fields Medal winners were still at a loss and had to give up temporarily.

Its difficulty is comparable to Einstein's reconstruction of space-time using the theory of relativity and Turing's definition of computing using the Turing machine. To a certain extent, it requires reshaping the underlying logic of analytic number theory.

This will be an extremely huge project.

Xu Qingzhou was not in a hurry and focused on the seminar itself.

On December 12rd, in a conference room in Kyoto, Xia Kingdom, across the ocean.

The old man in the middle spoke first: "First, please ask Comrade Sun Xiaofeng who is going to the United States to report to us on the situation of this trip to Boston."

"Okay, Wang Bu." Zhang Xiaohui nodded and told Xu Qingzhou all his requirements and ideas, such as the core demands, the establishment of a materials laboratory, and the need for autonomy.
"Superconducting thin films and battery research"

"energy?"

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After Zhang Xiaohui finished speaking, whispered discussions broke out in the conference room.

The old man looked at the man on his left and said, "President Mei, please tell us what Beijing University thinks first."

"Okay, then I'll express my opinion on behalf of Kyoto University." The man nodded with a smile and said in a deep voice, "After the discussion at the meeting, Kyoto University will support all of Professor Xu's requests."

Mei Jiayou, vice president in charge of talent work.

For Kyoto University, let alone material physics, it would be fine if they just came back and got paid for nothing and did nothing.

After all, we are all family.

"The district government has no objection. We welcome Professor Xu back." The person on Mei Jiayou's right also spoke.

"I have a different opinion."

The man sitting opposite Mei Jiayou shook his head. "I think this is a mess. Mathematics is the crown, and applied science is the hands and feet. Professor Xu could have become the Grothendieck of Xiaguo, but now he has to compete with engineers from CATL for jobs. This is like asking a writer to write Android code - cross-border is not chaos!"

Someone agreed: "Yes, Xiaguo's Fields Medal gap in basic mathematics is more urgent than its battery patent gap. Director Wang, we have already caught up in terms of batteries. In less than ten years, we will basically be able to catch up and surpass them."

"That makes sense. We have countless scientists who can focus on battery research, but there is only one mathematician who has won the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize."

Zhang Xiaohui said, "You can take a look at the materials at hand. SMIC alone spent $6 million on importing superconducting diaphragms last year, and major research institutes and universities also spent $4 million on this."

In recent years, Xiaguo has been catching up in various fields. It is undeniable that it has made a qualitative leap, but it must also be admitted that it has always been strangled by foreign countries in some technologies. Top superconducting thin films have always been a pain point in China. Due to US export controls, some materials need to be priced by a third party at 30%-50%. For example, when purchasing MBE equipment from Canon Anelva in Japan, the other party will force the thin film material to be bundled, which accounts for 20%-30% of the total expenditure, an extremely terrifying expense.

This is an optimistic scenario. If the situation becomes more severe in the future and the export conditions on the other side become more stringent or even a 90s embargo, the quantum computing and nuclear fusion projects may be delayed by 3-5 years.

"It will take time to break through the foreign superconducting membrane technology barrier, and Professor Xu doesn't have any previous experience."

"We also have our own advantages and will catch up sooner or later."

"And, Director Sun, everything you said is based on the premise that Professor Xu can really solve the battery problem."

Mei Jiayou looked at the man opposite him and smiled: "So, how do you think we should solve this problem? Reject Xu Qingzhou's request and let him stay abroad? For a mathematician like this, I don't think any country would refuse to provide him with research funding."

The other party was speechless and understood that Mei Jiayou was telling the truth.

He dared to say that as long as he asked, the United States would be willing to provide all the funds, not to mention the physics laboratory. Even if he just asked for tens of millions, the other party might agree.

In this regard, Xu Qingzhou is in absolute control and has the right to choose.

Someone asked: "Does Professor Xu have any ideas about quantum algorithm development and cryptography?"

"Not yet. Professor Xu said that we might be involved in these studies in the future, but right now I want to do the most in material physics."

Sun Xiaofeng shook his head.

Seeing that the meeting had no results, Wang Tong, deputy director of the Organization Department, waved his hand and said, "I already know everyone's opinions. Let's adjourn the meeting. I will report this matter to the higher-ups and then decide how to resolve it."

Boston, MIT is as lively as ever.

In addition to the invited mathematicians, people from local universities in Boston, including Harvard, Boston University, and other schools, came to listen.

The quality of the seminars was certainly high.

Including Xu Qingzhou, there are three Fields Medal winners here.

On the 4th, Terence Tao gave an invited report on Hilbert's fifth problem, which is whether there is a universally applicable algorithm that can determine whether any given topological group is a compact group.

Although this expert did not solve the problem directly, he extracted the essence of the method of structural decomposition of local compact groups and applied it to combinatorial number theory, ergodic theory and harmonic analysis.

In addition, Gerd Faltings, a mathematical master from Germany, gave a report on "Riemann's Theorem of Arithmetic Surfaces", exploring the geometric and topological properties of arithmetic surfaces.

Xu Qingzhou also visited various group reports and exchanged experiences with everyone. Although he was busy, he was very motivated. He could talk with the world's top number theorists and gained a lot.

On December 12, the number theory seminar came to an end with a grand cocktail party.

The next day, Xu Qingzhou sent the mathematicians from Xia Country on the plane. After running around for five or six days, he finally had some free time. He only rested for one morning and then started working on experiments and Song Xiaohua's model again.

At the same time, Zhang Xiaohui from the Organization Department called and said that they were still in a meeting to discuss his return arrangements.

Xu Qingzhou was not in a hurry and repeated his conditions. He would definitely return to China, but while being kind to others, he also needed to take the initiative and fight for the corresponding rights.

Since there is room for negotiation, we cannot leave ourselves vulnerable to future setbacks.

He wanted a pure research environment.

(End of this chapter)