A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 162 Heading Towards That Ultimate Question

It was past four o'clock when Helmut came out of the coffee shop. Although it is widely believed in China that Western workers finish get off work at four o'clock, Helmut was obviously not one of them. Four o'clock was the perfect time to start work.

He walked into the office, opened his email, and prepared to review the manuscripts before starting his work, as a warm-up exercise for his brain. As the editor-in-chief, the submissions that reached his email were naturally of genuine talent and ability, making them perfect for a warm-up.

Geometrization of Number Theory: The Langlands Realization of Symmetry Physics and a New Paradigm for Topological Matter

The first paper caught Helmut's attention, not because the title was particularly interesting, but because the author was none other than the little guy he had just been discussing with Witten.

Hui Chen, Jiangcheng University!
The fact that this paper reached his email indicates that it is of high quality.

He has been publishing high-quality papers in a row. One or two papers could be considered plagiarism, but with this one, he has already sided with Chen Hui.

Even in the worst-case scenario, the two produced similar results, greatly reducing the possibility that Chen Hui plagiarized.

Of course, he has no interest in judging the case; let's take a look at this paper first.

This paper proposes and verifies a revolutionary research program: the symmetries and topological responses of physical systems can essentially be viewed as geometric realizations of number-theoretic objects. By establishing a rigorous correspondence between crystal symmetries and Langlands dual groups, we prove that fractional quantization phenomena (such as fractional Chern numbers and non-Abelian statistics) can be encoded as modular analytic properties and representational structures of Galois groups. The "topology-number-theoretic dictionary" constructed based on the geometric Langlands program achieves three major breakthroughs:
1. Completely unify the fractional classification table of strongly correlated topological phases with the classification of automorphic L-functions;

2. Design an experimental protocol for directly reconstructing model parameters from STM topology images;

4. A universal correspondence was discovered between high-dimensional topological responses and Siegel modular tensor products.

The theoretically predicted novel Z-topological order has been experimentally verified in a magic-angle graphene system (σ = e/(3h)). This paradigm transforms condensed matter physics into an "experimental telescope" for exploring the mathematical universe, opening up a completely new dimension for the intersection of topological quantum computing and number theory physics.

The abstract was not short and not easy to understand, but Helmut understood the author's intention. He actually proposed a mathematical model in the paper to predict the properties of material structures!
If he succeeds, wouldn't this model be perfectly useful for studying new materials?
This is quite different from physicists and chemists conducting experiments aimlessly and hoping to find new materials. It's like first identifying a specific area and then digging for treasure. This will bring about revolutionary changes to the study of condensed matter physics, while also saving a great deal of economic and time costs.

If it would have taken twenty years to develop room-temperature superconducting materials using the old methods, now it might only take five years!

After realizing the value of the paper, Helmut took a deep breath, downloaded the attachment, printed it out, and then laid it out on his desk, concentrating intently on studying it.

……

Jiangcheng University, School of Foreign Languages, Girls' Dormitory 403

While scrolling through Weibo, Deng Si exclaimed in amazement as she chatted with Liang Xuefei, "I never would have guessed that your boyfriend's roommate is so amazing, he even got a top-tier SCI paper!"

Liang Xuefei didn't say anything. Of course, she had seen the news on the trending topics, but what Deng Si and the others didn't know was that Chen Hui had also published another SCI paper in a Q1 journal.

He's only a freshman in college, yet he already has two SCI papers in Q1 journals. Liang Xuefei doesn't know how to describe her boyfriend as her roommate.

"Tch, what's so great about it? It's just plagiarism. If I had such no bottom line, I could publish in a Q1 SCI journal too."

Chen Yu said dismissively from the side.

"Where was it plagiarized?"

"Yanbei University has even released the recording of the seminar!"

Xiang Yu retorted.

"What's the point of recording a video? Their email records are clearly from earlier times. They plagiarized someone else's research, so what's the point of holding a charade of a seminar?"

Chen Yu herself didn't realize why she was being so harsh; it was almost an instinctive reaction. She knew there were suspicious points, but she still stood on the opposing side without hesitation.

"You... are talking nonsense."

Xiang Yu was so angry that he had difficulty breathing and his speech became stammering.

"Alright, alright, we don't know the truth either, let's let the dust settle for a while and then talk about it."

Liang Xuefei stood up, helped Xiang Yu sit down, and gently patted her back to help her catch her breath.

……

School of Mathematics
Liu Ming strode into Gong Haitao's office with a big smile on his face.

Gong Haitao is instructing a student, and the two are having a serious discussion about a certain issue.

Liu Ming wasn't in a hurry. He sat down on the sofa next to him and started making tea. He changed the tea three times before Gong Haitao's student finally left.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Gong Haitao asked irritably, knowing Liu Ming as he did, that guy was definitely up to no good.

"I recently came across two excellent papers, and I'd like to share them with you."

Liu Ming smiled and took out two stacks of A4 paper.

"piss off!"

Gong Haitao said irritably, he could tell at a glance that the two papers were Chen Hui's two Q1 SCI papers.

The online debate was raging, but most of the academic circles in China still sided with Chen Hui, especially with the support of Yanbei University, who still believed in the prestigious reputation of the university.

"Was that your esteemed student just now?"

"Wow, to be able to publish in a Q2 SCI journal by a graduate student, that's really impressive!"

Liu Ming was very happy, not only because he was able to avenge his old friend, but also because he had gained a good apprentice.

After studying with him for more than a month, Yin Piao showed extraordinary talent in the field of functional analysis. Not to mention Q2 SCI, he felt that he could at least publish one Q1 SCI before graduating from university.

How do you think this matter will ultimately develop?

"Blatant plagiarism, those guys really have no shame."

Gong Haitao was too lazy to argue with his old friend. After all these years, how could he not understand that when you're at a disadvantage, keeping quiet is the best option, or at least you can change the subject?

"How else can things develop? It'll just fizzle out."

Liu Ming chuckled lightly; such things are not uncommon in academic circles.

"From now on, we shouldn't submit our papers to those guys anymore. We should submit them to domestic journals and see how they plagiarize us."

Gong Haitao said angrily that he had dealt with those people over the years and had suffered a lot of indignities, which made him realize how important it is to have your own influential journal in the academic circle.

"Tsk, tsk."

Liu Ming looked at Gong Haitao as if he were an idiot. "You really do fit my stereotype of an idiot!" "Who's going to read your submissions to domestic journals?"

"We don't even watch it ourselves."

"Even if one day, a top-tier journal comparable to the Communications in Mathematical Physics and Duke Mathematics Journal emerges in China, can you guarantee that such a thing won't happen?"

"All crows are black, so I'll just be more careful in the future."

Gong Haitao remained silent, knowing his old friend was right.

……

In the library, Chen Hui sat in a corner, looking slightly embarrassed. There were less than two months left until December, the time when the postgraduate entrance exam army was making their final push. Even though he arrived at six o'clock, he still couldn't get a good spot.

It wasn't that he arrived late; after all, the library only opens at seven o'clock, and there are quite a few people who arrive early like him, but it's not enough to fill the library. What's competing with him for a seat are the books and bags placed on the seat, and some students even put their computers on the seat, taking advantage of the library's surveillance cameras, which is quite careless.

This behavior of reserving seats with items is indeed annoying, but Chen Hui understands them.

What he couldn't understand was that the four people in the row opposite him were clearly from the same dormitory, and they were also early birds queuing in front of the library to get in.

But after they found a seat, they started playing computer games with gusto, sometimes watching videos with headphones on, sometimes playing a couple of rounds of chess. Before they knew it, it was almost noon, and they still hadn't actually been studying.

Wouldn't it be better to play games together in the dorm instead of wasting time like this?

Would it be more enjoyable to play in the library?
Is this also part of their play?
After a short rest, Chen Hui regained his composure and looked at the data panel in front of him.
[Host: Chen Hui
Chinese Level 2 (8%)

Mathematics Level 3 (17%)

English Level 3 (9%)

Physics Level 3 (9%)

Chemistry Level 2 (0%)

Biology Level 2 (0%)

Physical Education Level 2 (0%)

Geography Level 2 (0%)

History Level 2 (0%)

Politics Level 2 (38%)

Besides math and physics, Chinese and English also saw slight improvements. With the improvement in basic attributes, the difficulty of improving proficiency in each subject has been significantly reduced.

Whether it was due to the confidentiality agreement or not, his political acumen skyrocketed again, much to Chen Hui's surprise.

Now that the papers on condensed matter physics have been completed, Chen Hui has not yet found a further direction. If he continues his research in this area, it will only mean continuing to optimize the model he proposed, or using the model to predict new materials.

This is clearly not what Chen Hui wants to do. Now that the model has been proposed, let others handle the application.

Therefore, a pressing issue now faces Chen Hui.

He should find a research topic!

Yuan Xinyi was unaware that Chen Hui had already published a paper, and naturally did not provide Chen Hui with a research topic. He had been busy with his own paper these days and simply couldn't spare the time.

Although his proof was generally correct, the paper review team still gave him a lot of suggestions for revision, especially Faltings, who had returned to Germany from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton to become the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematical Sciences. This little old man gave four suggestions for revision.

While Yuan Xinyi was having a headache, he also felt great respect for the old man, because these questions were full of insightful observations. In the field of algebraic geometry, apart from the late Grothendieck, only Grothendieck's student Deligne could match the old man's achievements. He never expected that the old man would also have such in-depth research on the Langlands program.

Chen Hui's thinking is divergent.

Perhaps it's time to solve that ultimate problem!
Chen Hui has never forgotten why he studied condensed matter physics. He simply wanted to improve his knowledge in mathematics and physics, and then naturally solve the Millennium Problem that had stood for decades, thus completing an important step in unifying the theory of physics.

However, I'm only at level 3 in math and physics right now. Would it be too much of a stretch to try and get into this field now?
But soon, his gaze hardened.

Several months have already passed; it's dragged on long enough!

Set a goal first. As long as you keep making progress, you will eventually overcome this so-called problem.

After making the decision, Chen Hui stopped wasting time internally and focused all his energy on the Yang-Mills equations.

The Yang-Mills equation currently faces two main problems: the existence of the equation and the mass gap.

The Yang-Mills equations are a mathematical framework for describing the interactions of elementary particles. Just as Newton's equations describe the motion of macroscopic objects, they are a core tool of the Standard Model of particle physics, especially quantum chromodynamics, which describes the strong interaction.

Its core idea is to describe how these symmetries affect the behavior of particles through mathematical "gauge fields". Gauge fields correspond to the symmetries that exist in nature, such as the conservation of charge and the conservation of momentum.

Just as ripples on the surface of water must obey the rules of interaction between water molecules, the behavior of particles must obey these normative symmetries.

The key contradiction is that some solutions to the Yang-Mills equations correspond to particles with zero mass, but particles describing strong interactions, such as protons and neutrons, have significant mass.

Therefore, the core of the problem is that it is necessary to rigorously prove mathematically that when Yang-Mills theory describes certain interactions (such as the strong interaction), the lightest particle must have a non-zero minimum mass, that is, there is a mass gap.

Physicists have long known through experiments that there are mass gaps (such as the masses of protons and neutrons) in the strong interaction, but this has not yet been rigorously proven mathematically, which exposes a profound gap between theoretical mathematics and real physics.

If the mass gaps did not exist, particles might have no mass, and matter would diffuse like light, unable to form atoms or molecules, let alone you and me.

The existence problem of the Yang-Mills equation is to ask: Is it mathematically permissible for the existence of a smooth, stable 'field' that can perfectly describe the strong interactions in nature?

That is, whether it is mathematically consistent, and whether the equation has a smooth, global solution.

Mathematically, it needs to be proven that in four-dimensional spacetime (3 spaces + 1 time), there exists a solution that satisfies specific conditions (such as finite energy and no singularities) and that the solution can describe physical reality.

His challenge lies in the fact that the equation is "non-linear," and a tiny change in the solution can trigger an avalanche-like upheaval, just like tying a knot in a rope and tightening it slightly can cause the entire knot to suddenly collapse.

At the same time, the equations involve operations in infinite-dimensional space, far beyond human intuition, just like we try to use a mathematical model for weather forecasting to predict the trajectory of every grain of sand on Earth.

Physicists have succeeded in using the Yang-Mills equations, for example, to explain the mass of the proton, but mathematicians cannot prove the existence of these solutions mathematically, just as engineers can build airplanes based on experience, but physicists cannot prove that "aerodynamic equations allow airplanes to exist."

The existence problem of the Yang-Mills equation is essentially a question: "Does the universe allow the ultimate rules of the strong interaction to be written in the 'perfect language' of mathematics?"

The answer may lie on the boundary between mathematics and physics!
When he revisited this problem, Chen Hui, with his current knowledge of mathematics and physics, saw a completely different picture, and he was deeply fascinated by it!
(End of this chapter)