Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 222: So wise and so close to a demon
"No, Xu Xian, when do you think the God of Burning will return to China?" Li Yiqing asked, looking at the news report about the famous Chinese mathematician "suspected" solving the twin prime conjecture.

I haven't used it in six months.

It only took three months.

Lin Ran not only gave himself the title of mathematician, but also added the word "famous" before it.

Seohyun was completely numb.

Life feels utterly meaningless.

Your high school classmate ascended to immortality on the spot, attaining the Great Luo Golden Immortal status. If he returned to China, he could easily get a professorship at Peking University. Meanwhile, you're still struggling to achieve a Golden Elixir. You'd be just as frustrated if you were in his shoes.

"I don't know, what's wrong?"
Want an autograph, huh? The math department bastards have been lining up for four years to get Ran Ge's autograph.

You'll have to wait in line too; I don't even know when I'll be able to get a visa.

A master is always a master.

If the first Zoom meeting only had foreign participants, the only Chinese participant was Terence Tao.

Terence Tao's relationship with the Chinese mathematics community is not exactly weak, but it's practically nonexistent.

The second Zoom meeting hosted by Lin Ran attracted a large number of mathematicians from China.

Stony Brook School originally thought that at most a few dozen people would come, but several hundred people came.

In addition, Zhang Yitang worked on the twin prime conjecture and then returned to Shandong University to teach. Lin Ran's lecture was also related to the twin prime conjecture. The Zoom meeting room was packed with professors, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows from China.

In this conference room, Chinese mathematics professionals truly witnessed what a master's demeanor is like.

Because it's very simple, Lin Ran used the most common techniques in analytical number theory.

Lin Ran's application of the technique itself has reached a state of perfection. Zhang Yitang said in an interview with Tencent News: "Randolph's technique belongs to the kind of heavy sword with no edge, great skill without artifice."

His technique is easy to understand, but you just don't know why he can get the values ​​so perfectly.

I don't recommend our young students learn this, because it requires profound inner strength, and it's too difficult for young students to learn Randolph's techniques.

At the time, Tian Gang publicly stated that Yenching University would welcome Lin Ran to teach at any time.

In other words, two papers published in the "Big Four" journals are the best stepping stone to any university in China.

That's already abnormal enough.

Back then, when the School of Mathematics at Yenching University learned that Xu Xian was Lin Ran's high school classmate, many people came to him hoping that Xu Xian could help him get Lin Ran's autograph on their yellow book.

Under Xu Xian's answer on Zhihu, a lot of people came out to say that they stood on the side of the answerer and bet that Lin Ran could win Fields.

This time, the two consecutive announcements directly claimed to have solved the twin prime conjecture.

Completely solves the twin prime conjecture.

Every math major knows this.

The reason why science subjects are considered more valuable than humanities subjects is that they are more objective and have a more transparent evaluation system.

Mathematics definitely has the most transparent evaluation system among the science disciplines.

A problem may be difficult, but it doesn't necessarily have a long history. However, a problem with a long history must be difficult.

The twin prime conjecture, which originated in 1900, is a problem that is 120 years old.

The absolute jewel of number theory, second only to Goldbach's conjecture.

By solving this problem, Zhang Yitang was able to rise from a nobody in the mathematical world to become one of the leading figures in the Chinese mathematical community. His work was described as "Yu Xin's life was most desolate, his poems in his later years moved the Jiangguan Pass."

This only solves part of the problem.

Terence Tao launched the Polymath project, which attracted a huge following, largely because the problem involved the twin prime conjecture.

If Lin Ran really solves the twin prime conjecture, it would be an honor for Fields to award him the prize; if they don't, then Fields' honor would be meaningless.

Lin Ran was thus able to become a mathematics master on par with Qiu Chengtong and Chen Xingshen.

More importantly, he is so young.

Only three months have passed.

"No, I don't want an autograph. I just want to meet the God of Burning, just once," Li Yiqing said.

Seohyun became wary: "You wouldn't be thinking of having your godfather bow to you, would you?"

No way! If Ran-ge really has this hobby, I have to be his first adopted son!
Xu Xian thought to herself, "I can't let Li Yiqing get there first."

It's very simple.

If the proof of the twin prime conjecture passes the peer review process and is confirmed.

Therefore, Lin Ran could bring anyone he wanted to join any university in China.

Even for vocational school graduates, Lin Ran can help them first upgrade their diploma to a bachelor's degree, then their bachelor's degree to a doctorate, and finally their doctorate to a teaching position.

Moreover, these are doctoral students at Yenching University.

He truly acknowledged his adoptive father; after graduating with his doctorate, he immediately went to teach at the university where his adoptive father worked.

Just fly straight away and enjoy the ride.

Lin Ran couldn't possibly go to some obscure college in some unknown city, could he?

Li Yiqing exclaimed loudly, "How could that be! How could I be that kind of person?"

He thought to himself, "Damn, Seohyun is really something, she actually came up with the idea of ​​acknowledging someone as her father."

"I've been thinking, don't viruses mutate?"

Do you think the Burning God is infected with a virus that has the side effect of greatly increasing intelligence?

So I thought, if he goes back to China, I must be the first one to get infected by him!

"This virus is great! It'll have to spread, otherwise I might mutate too," Li Yiqing explained.

After listening, Xu Xian thought to herself, "Yes, that makes sense. But if it's true, then I'll be the first to mutate: 'I'll go try it first. If it works, I'll get infected first, and then I'll infect you when I get back to the dorm.'"

They've gone completely insane.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones going crazy.

Mathematicians around the world who have worked on or studied the twin prime conjecture are urgently reading Lin Ran's paper.

Lin Ran's alma mater, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, went completely crazy.

Now that a true dragon has emerged in our own territory, what we need to do is simply to bring it back to our nest!
"No way, how did you do your job? How come you haven't established a close relationship with Dr. Lin yet?" Lin Zhongqing, the president of Shenhai Jiaotong University, was practically slamming his fist on the table.

Li Congming, the dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences, explained, "We have already established contact with Dr. Lin, and he has expressed his intention to give priority to Shanghai Jiao Tong University if he returns to China."

Lin Zhongqing slammed his fist on the table this time: "No, I don't want to hear about 'priority consideration,' I want to hear 'certainty.'"

Bringing in Dr. Lin is one of the most important tasks that the School of Mathematics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has undertaken in recent years.

You need to think carefully about how to do it properly.

I told you to do your job a long time ago.

Is it because we're not paying enough attention?
Two papers published in the top four journals are absolutely unique among young scholars in China.

Shouldn't you feel a little urgency?
Is it enough to just get a priority commitment?

If we had received a definite answer back then, that we would definitely consider applying to Shanghai Jiao Tong University once we returned to China, would we still be in such a passive position?

This time we are completely on the defensive.

Don't think I don't know; if he really solves the twin prime conjecture, he's a shoo-in for the Fields Medal.

The first Chinese mathematician to receive the Fields Medal.

He hasn't acquired American citizenship yet, has he?

Li Congming said in a low voice, "No."

Lin Zhongqing's voice rose another eight octaves: "That's right! That was the first Fields Medal held on Chinese soil after the founding of the People's Republic of China!"

What is the gold content of this?

This is far more prestigious than the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Li Congming thought to himself, "But this problem hasn't been confirmed to be resolved yet."

Lin Zhongqing seemed to see through Li Congming's thoughts: "No, what are you still thinking about!"
Still not convinced?

No, to be honest, if he proves the twin prime conjecture, winning the Fields Medal is a sure thing.

Then we'll have even less of a chance.

Do you know how crazy the Yan Conference will get at that time?

The conflict between Yenching University and Tsinghua University's mathematics departments is less a conflict between Yenching University and Tsinghua University, and more a conflict between Shing-Tung Yau and Gang Tian.

Compared to Yenching University, which has a long history, Tsinghua University's only advantage is that it has Fields University.

Shing-Tung Yau himself is a Fields Medal winner.

Moreover, a message is currently circulating wildly online.

That is, Tsinghua University has secured Kaucher Bilcall, the Fields Medalist of 2018, and Kaucher Bilcall will soon be teaching full-time at Tsinghua University.

Full-time teaching means that this Fields Medal winner will spend more time at Tsinghua University than Zhang Yitang spent at Shandong University.

Zhang Yitang will only stay at Shandong University for a short two months during the summer vacation.

By then, Tsinghua University will have a 2-0 advantage over Yenching University in the field of Fields Medal winners.

(Former Spacetime Kaucher Bilcall joined the Shing-Tung Yau Mathematics Center full-time in September 2020.)

Kaucher Birkal was not someone who came at an advanced age or whose academic career was nearing its end; he was only 42 years old at the time, which is the prime of a mathematician's life.

Moreover, Kaucher Bilcall came to Tsinghua University from Cambridge.

A Fields Medal winner in his prime jumped ship from Cambridge to Tsinghua University, and Yenching University must be worried sick.

Yenching University did not cultivate its own Fields Medalists, but it introduced the first Chinese Fields Medal winner, which can be considered a step ahead of Tsinghua University.

Lin Zhongqing saw this clearly. If anyone in the country needed Lin Ran the most, it would be Yenching University.

Compared to Yenching University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University's only advantage is that it is affiliated with its alma mater.

Seeing that Li Congming didn't seem to care much, he became furious.

It's not impossible for Shanghai Jiao Tong University to transform from a traditional engineering powerhouse into a science and engineering powerhouse by bringing in Lin Ran.

"Principal Lin, I understand. I will definitely communicate well with Lin Ran, appeal to his emotions and reason with him, and try my best to win him over!" Li Congming said.

Lin Zhongqing waved his hand: "You should pay more attention yourself."

In the end, he went to Tsinghua University and Peking University. I don't care; you've done nothing wrong.

"If Lin Ran ends up going to Fudan University or even Huazhong University of Science and Technology, then you just wait and see."

Lin Zhongqing started increasing the intensity.

Li Congming felt a chill run down his spine. "I'll go and do the work right away."

How to do it.

It's simply a matter of asking a professor who taught Lin Ran and has a good relationship with him to help with the work.

Since the paper was published, Lin Ran has been bombarded with emails, phone calls, and WeChat messages.

Mathematicians, university staff, journalists, students—people from all walks of life are looking for Lin Ran.

It continued until April 1th.

This was because it was a remote academic conference organized by Stony Brook University for Lin Ran.

Open to scholars worldwide.

There are 5000 seats in total. Question and discussion seats must be applied for in advance from Stony Brook University.

The Stony Brook branch will review your application before granting you the necessary permissions.

After a month of development, the academic community has gradually reached a consensus on the twin prime conjecture.

That means Lin Ran's proof is not problematic in principle.

However, there are still some doubts that Lin Ran needs to explain personally.

However, one thing is beyond doubt.

That is the EH conjecture, which Lin Ran has completely proven.

Shing-Tung Yau said directly in the Tsinghua University work group: Randolph is one of the Fields Medal winners in 2022.

Let's jump to a conclusion.

Because the EH conjecture is also a very important problem, and it is closely related to many problems in number theory.

On the Simplified Chinese internet, it's no exaggeration to say that Lin Ran is a household name.

"Can everyone hear me?" Lin Ran asked.

An administrative staff member at Stony Brook University replied, "The sound is okay."

"Okay, then I'll begin. Today, I'll mainly explain my proof to you in detail."

Actually, after the EH conjecture was proven.

With the twin prime conjecture completely solved, there are no more obstacles.

The key to this problem lies in our initial EH conjecture.

It provides a strong distribution estimate of prime numbers in the arithmetic series, allowing us to increase the distribution level from N^{1/2+\epsilon} to N^{1-\epsilon}.

This improvement has significantly reduced the error term in the sieving process.

Based on an improved version of the GPY sieve, I introduced a multidimensional weighting function to optimize the counting of prime pairs, ensuring that the principal term exceeds the error term.

If we trace it back further, it's actually about the zero-point relationship of the L function.

The entire academic conference lasted for three full days.

Mathematicians from around the world who work in number theory took turns asking questions.

Lin Ran answered them one by one.

Finally, Lin Ran said, "I believe everyone's questions have been answered."

The twin prime conjecture, after 120 years, was finally solved today, 120 years later, thanks to a flash of inspiration in Göttingen in 1900.

Mikhail Lyubich, in the Zoom meeting room, felt something was off.

No, the twin prime conjecture was proposed by Hilbert, a mathematician at the University of Göttingen, but wasn't it solved by Randolph Lin, a mathematician at our Stony Brook University?

Why do you only mention Göttingen and not Stony Brook University?
What does it mean?
Isn't it more appropriate to say that the brilliant ideas of Göttingen in 1900 were followed by the great development of Stony Brook in 2020?

Mikhail Lyubich felt as if Lin Ran had only said half of what he wanted to say.

He never imagined that Lin Ran felt a much stronger sense of belonging to Göttingen than to Stony Brook University.

After all, Lin Ran's publicly available resume never mentions his visit to Göttingen.

It's a bit absurd to say that Göttingen is one's spiritual alma mater.

That's actually true.

At this moment, Lin Ran's mind was filled with images of the Göttingen Auditorium, where he set fire to blackboards and completed the Göttingen miracle under the witness of masters.

This is just another repetition.

To be honest, I have absolutely no feelings for them.

Sitting in a room on the third floor of someone else's villa, he spoke into a camera about something he already knew by heart.

Even though he was hailed as a new generation of mathematical master and a landmark figure for Chinese people in academia on the internet, it was still too boring for Lin Ran.

The threshold was raised too high in the 60s.

I'm here to go through some procedures.

However, the other mathematicians in the conference room did not see it that way.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, everyone felt the legacy of mathematicians from his words.

They applauded.

From New York to Boston, from Princeton to Los Angeles, from Paris to London, mathematicians around the world applauded this moment, celebrating yet another brilliant display of human ingenuity.

"Randolph, Stony Brook University cordially invites you to serve as a professor in our Department of Mathematics."

Mikhail Lyubich's voice on the phone was incredibly sincere.

To be precise, they had already extended the invitation.

Mikhail Lyubich clearly told Lin Ran that if he transferred to the mathematics department, he would be directly appointed as an associate professor after graduating with a doctorate.

This time, he's a professor.

The deputy is gone too.

Lin Ran said firmly, "Professor Lyubich, I am eager to return to my motherland."

My country's mathematical development needs me; my heart is not here.

Mikhail Lyubich remained silent.

Because this is normal.

Many mathematicians choose to return to their homeland.

“Bless you, Stony Brook University invites you to be a visiting professor,” Mikhail Lyubich continued.

"It's my honor," Lin Ran said.

Chinese mathematicians have solved a world-class problem.

A 23-year-old Chinese mathematician has solved Hilbert's century-old question.

The Chinese internet experienced a direct surge of excitement.

Various news stories emerged one after another.

Chinese propaganda

"are you sure?"

"Director, it's confirmed. Lin Ran has rejected all teaching positions at foreign universities and has chosen to return to China to teach."

He made this point clear during his communications with universities such as Yenching University, Tsinghua University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

He hopes that the university can help him arrange a flight back to China, because tickets are hard to buy now.

As for which specific university he will be working at, he hasn't given a definite answer yet.

"This is a good thing, we must arrange an exclusive interview."

The fact that top Chinese geniuses are choosing to return to China to teach highlights the improvement in the domestic research environment and its increasing attractiveness to talent.

In the current environment, such publicity is very necessary.

"Have President Zhao make preparations so that the Hundred Flowers Society can interview him and produce a program about it."

At this critical juncture when China is being demonized, China's top talents are choosing to return home.

This is absolutely something worth mentioning.

China's propaganda apparatus keenly recognized this as a rare opportunity.

Go straight to the Hundred Flowers Society.

After all, Lin Ran is abroad.

The interview could only be conducted remotely.

"Dr. Lin, hello, I'm Peng Qian, a reporter from Baihua News Agency. Can you hear me?" Peng Qian said.

Lin Ran: "I can hear you."

Peng Qian: "It is an honor to have the opportunity to interview you."

I would like to ask you what the secret to your success is? To achieve such remarkable results at such a young age.

Lin Ran replied without hesitation: "Talent. Mathematics requires hard work, but talent is even more important."

"Without talent, no matter how hard you try, it's useless."

Peng Qian then asked: "When I interviewed Professor Zhang Yitang, who was also famous for the twin prime conjecture at the time, in 16, he said: Although the overall level of mathematical research in China still lags behind that of Europe, America, Japan and other countries, the younger generation of mathematicians has great potential in the future, but they need more challenging thinking."

He felt that Chinese students had a problem: they rarely asked questions, while American students didn't have this concern; they were particularly enthusiastic and willing to speak up. Chinese students, on the other hand, were too hesitant, always afraid of saying the wrong thing. But what is right or wrong in academic pursuits?

What are your thoughts on this?

Lin Ran said, "I don't think so."

I think it's related to the population doing mathematics. China's economy hasn't been developing for very long, so there isn't enough accumulation of knowledge in mathematics.

Given China's population density, its emphasis on education, and its focus on mathematics, it's only a matter of time before we catch up with Europe and America in the overall level of mathematical research.

It took Moscow more than two hundred years to surpass England in mathematics.

Starting from Euler's journey to Moscow, and using Kolmogorov's axiomatic system of probability theory established in the 30s as the turning point, it took a full two hundred years.

We're barely there yet.

Take it slow; mathematics is a process that requires patience to blossom and bear fruit.

I know everyone loves stories of geniuses.

I admire people like Terence Tao, who won an IMO gold medal at age 13, earned a PhD from Princeton at age 21, and became a mathematics professor at age 24.

Or perhaps I, in my early twenties, could publish in top-tier journals within six months and solve a century-old problem.

However, when discussing the development of mathematical research in a country as a whole, we need to be patient.

That would be more like the story of Kunihiko Kodaira.

In his book "The Collection of Lazy People: Number Sense and Mathematics," Kunihiko Kodaira says...

When proving a theorem, mathematicians are unaware that their number sense is at play, and therefore assume that they have proven it according to rigorous logic.

In fact, mathematicians would find that this is not the case if they used formal logic notation to analyze the proof. This would only result in a long string of logical symbols, making it practically impossible to prove the theorem. Lately, we often hear people discussing mathematical intuition, which can be said to be based on number sense. All mathematicians are born with a keen number sense; they just aren't aware of it.

One day in the future, we will get used to seeing Chinese people frequently at the Fields Medal, and it will no longer be like it is now, when the emergence of a Fields Medal winner from China is something to celebrate.

We've come to the point that the International Congress of Mathematicians isn't complete without the presence of Chinese mathematicians.

This phenomenon didn't appear suddenly. Just as mathematicians' number sense is cultivated over a long period, not a talent, its emergence is actually based on China's long-term development, not the brilliance of one or a few geniuses.

Peng Qianren was stunned.

Young mathematicians typically give very superficial answers to such questions.

She interviewed many mathematicians, who became very enthusiastic when talking about mathematics, but were actually not good at or familiar with other subjects.

But what Lin Ran said wasn't a question of whether it was good or bad; it was exactly what the Chinese wanted to promote.

This explains why China's cutting-edge technology has not yet made breakthroughs: the time is not ripe.

Secondly, it explains that even if China's mathematical research catches up in the future, it will not be due to the efforts of geniuses, but to the efforts of China as a whole.

As a senior reporter for Baihua Society, Peng Qian's gaze towards Lin Ran changed instantly. She wondered if this guy was planning to follow the path of academic excellence leading to officialdom and pursue a career in the 11G.

"Moreover, I think that many times slow is fast, and fast is slow."

I achieved great results very quickly, but what the outside world doesn't see is my hard work and dedication.

　It will still be two chapters, totaling 10,000 words. As requested by everyone, the academic content will be reduced, since this part of the academic content has indeed been written before, so I will not repeat it here.

　　It's almost the end of the month, please give me your monthly votes! If you have any, please give them to me!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)