A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 176 Unprecedented Scale

UC Berkeley
Oliver drove Bryant to San Francisco Airport. They didn't need to go so early, but this meeting was of great significance to both mentor and student, so they went a few days early to make sure they were fully prepared.

"Hey, Oliver, don't look so gloomy!"

Bryant sat in the passenger seat, beaming with confidence. "It's just a misunderstanding. They're going to the annual meeting too, maybe you two can even become friends."

"I think that after hearing our report, no one will be able to refuse our friendship!"

Seeing the teacher's confident expression, Oliver felt something was off for some reason. After a long silence, he nodded, "I hope so!"

……

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

In the office of Witten,

"You really aren't going?"

Fefferman, the head of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton, clicked his tongue and shook his head. "They've really caught a lucky break this time. Two Phyllis Prize-level achievements are being presented together. I'm afraid a lot of old guys will be going to join in the fun. It's an unprecedented event!"

"There's nothing to go to."

Witten shook his head. "I've already read the Langlands program paper. If it weren't for that old guy Faltings's endless nagging, it would have been published long ago. There's nothing to do with it."

"As for the proof of the existence of the Yang-Mills equation, I have also read it, but I do not agree with their results."

"Oh?"

"You've discovered the problem?"

Fefferman became somewhat interested; he had also read the paper, but hadn't yet identified any problems, otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned two Phaeton Prize-level achievements earlier.

Witten shook his head again, "No."

Fefferman smiled helplessly, "Hey, old man, since no problem has been found, you can't just make baseless accusations."

"Just a gut feeling!"

Witten looked at Fefferman.

Fefferman also fell silent. Such a statement might seem irresponsible to ordinary people, but both of them were top figures in the field of mathematical physics and winners of the Feffer Prize. At their level, intuition is often more reliable than the formulas in that paper.

He also sensed something was wrong when he read the paper. It wasn't that there was a problem with the proof, but the whole proof process felt awkward to him, lacking the unique beauty of mathematics. This feeling was illogical, but it was an intuition he had developed over decades of mathematical research.

Therefore, he needs to go to the scene to see what the parties involved are thinking, and maybe he can find out where the problem lies.

Not only him, but many people from Princeton also go there. It was only after Witten's reminder that Fefferman realized that they might have the same idea as him.

……

University of California, Los Angeles
Terence Tao poked his head out of the pool, dripping wet, and saw a message from Schultz pop up on his phone screen: "Tao, you really should come to Budapest!"

He knew exactly what Schultz was talking about, and he had originally planned to go and see for himself.

Shaking his wet hair, water droplets traced an imaginary ε-δ trajectory in the air as Terence Tao stepped out of the pool and began checking his plane tickets.

In Kyoto, Shinichi Mochizuki pushed the third brew of Gyokuro tea to the table. In the morning mist of Kyoto, he flipped through the two papers on the table again and again, until the sentence "Perhaps the key is intercosmic geometry" caused a slight ripple in the teacup.

At the Planck Institute, Faltings put away the invitation on the table and asked his assistant to buy him a plane ticket to Budapest. He had been reviewing that paper for several months and had raised no fewer than ten questions, which was enough to show how much he liked it. Otherwise, he would not have wasted his precious time deliberately making things difficult for someone.

Grigory Perelman stood before the moldy walls of his St. Petersburg apartment, having just burned the VIP invitation sent by the Budapest organizing committee. But in the unfinished equation on the floor, a sudden change in the curvature of a certain manifold precisely corresponded to the latitude of the Danube River.

Simon Donaldson opened the window of his office by the River Cam, but stared at the Budapest agenda, his fingers unconsciously tracing a knotted projection of a four-dimensional manifold on the window frame.

Elon Lindenström gently turned his wedding ring as his wife asked him why he had suddenly ordered a bulletproof suit.

"Honey."

He stared at the agenda in the invitation from the European Mathematical Society. "If those two papers are real, we will witness a whole new history!"

……

The 16-hour flight from Jiangcheng Tianhe Airport to Beijing, followed by a transfer to Lister Airport, left Chen Hui somewhat exhausted. During the last leg of the flight, he took a short nap for an hour to regain his energy.

Since Hungary is a Schengen country, Chen Hui, who already has a six-month multiple-entry visa for France, does not need to apply for a new visa.

After landing, they took a taxi and arrived at their destination, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences building—the venue for this year's European Mathematical Society meeting—in less than half an hour.

Two days before the start of the conference, the two, led by staff, walked south from the Hungarian Science Building to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, then north along Andrássyút Avenue, passing the Hungarian National Opera, arriving at Elizabeth Square, and finally stopping in front of a building that resembled a European royal palace.

Red stone pillars, reliefs, and classical arched windows create a dignified and elegant facade, while the decorative spire at the top further enhances its vertical imposing presence. Standing in front of it, one is immediately struck by the weight of history.

The Palace Hotel, New York!
Chen Hui only realized what it was when he saw the name of the building.

He remembered a movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was based on this New York Palace Hotel.

After checking in with the invitation from the conference organizing committee, Yuan Xinyi had only been resting in his room for a few minutes when he knocked on Chen Hui's door. "Come on, let's go to the coffee shop on the first floor. There's a small exchange meeting there."

Chen Hui did not refuse, closed the door, and followed the teacher.

He used to be very averse to this kind of social interaction, but as he became more involved, he actually grew to like it, especially the exchanges he attended with academic luminaries. Communicating with these people often sparked unexpected inspiration.

The café is decorated in a Baroque style, with gold reliefs and crystal chandeliers creating a luxurious atmosphere. There were already quite a few people in the café, and the arrival of Chen Hui and his companion immediately attracted a lot of attention.

"Yuan, it's been a long time."

Terence Tao approached with a cup of coffee. Yuan Xinyi had exchanged many ideas with him when he was pursuing his doctorate at Princeton, and they continued to keep in touch via email after Yuan returned to China, exchanging views on current cutting-edge issues and ideas in international mathematics.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Yuan Xinyi picked up a cup of coffee from somewhere and responded with a smile.

"congratulations!"

After Tao Zhexuan finished speaking, he looked at Chen Hui, who was following behind Yuan Xinyi, and said, "I've heard that you've taken on a good student. Seeing him today, he is indeed young!"

While "young" might carry a derogatory connotation in other contexts, if a mathematician tells you you are young, it is undoubtedly a sincere compliment.

Hello, Hui!

As he spoke, he raised his coffee cup to Chen Hui, taking the initiative to greet him.

"Hello."

Chen Hui responded politely.

He had heard of Terence Tao before, but this was his first time meeting him. He was surprised that the Philippine Philharmonic Award winner was so humble and approachable, seeming like a very easy person to get along with. "It's nice to meet you again!"

Schultz, with his flowing long hair, also came over with a coffee. He wasn't familiar with Yuan Xinyi, so he greeted Chen Hui first. "I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to publish in the Annals of Mathematics so quickly. I read the paper. It's very well written and full of ideas!"

"There is still much room for improvement."

Schultz shook his head. "You Chinese are always like this, but that won't work in mathematics. To do mathematics, you need to be confident enough!"

"Hello, little one, I didn't expect to see you in this kind of setting so soon!"

Alan Connie said sourly, "Why isn't such a genius his student?"

"Hello, Mr. Kong Nie."

"Hello, Mr. Tarragran."

This time, Chen Hui took the initiative to greet him. He had a good impression of this professor from Saclay University. Just as Professor Xu had commented, Mr. Taragran was a pure scholar who had transcended vulgar interests!
"Hello there!"

"The IMO is still fresh in my mind!"

Taragran beamed with joy. Now he suddenly felt that even if he couldn't take Chen Hui as his student, it wasn't such a regretful thing. When you see a promising young man like him, you can't help but feel genuinely happy for him.

The others also looked at Taragra in surprise, wondering who this guy was that Chen Hui would take the initiative to greet them.

"Hey, Hui, we meet again!"

"Thank you for your research, you've really helped us a lot!"

Adrien shouted from afar and strode over, giving Chen Hui a warm hug when he arrived.

As he said, Chen Hui was a great help to their team.

Their team has recently achieved some significant results, and they will be presenting these results at this meeting!
Yuan Xinyi, standing to the side, was somewhat amused and exasperated. He exchanged a glance with Tao Zhexuan, and then they smiled at each other.

As the presenter of the opening report at this conference, Yuan Xinyi should have been the undisputed protagonist of the meeting. However, unexpectedly, at this small exchange meeting, his students stole the spotlight, and these academic luminaries took the initiative to talk to Chen Hui.

Of course, he had no jealousy. When a person is strong enough, the stronger the students are, the happier he will be.

Moreover, he also has his home turf.

After glancing around the coffee shop, he walked toward an elderly man with a hooked nose.

“Mr. Faltings, it’s been a long time.”

When Yuan Xinyi was pursuing his doctorate at Princeton, Faltings was still working at Princeton, and Yuan Xinyi even took his classes.

"Long time no see, Yuan."

Faltings nodded without a smile. "I've given you so many suggestions for revisions, you won't blame this old man for being nosy, will you?"

"how come."

Yuan Xinyi shook his head repeatedly, "If it weren't for the old gentleman, my thesis wouldn't be so perfect. I should be thanking the old gentleman."

"In that case, I have one more question I'd like to ask you in person: in your proof, in the case of the non-commutative Kac-Moody group, what is the construction of the geometric Langlands functor..."

Faltings didn't hold back and immediately asked another question.

Yuan Xinyi smiled wryly, but also began to think about it seriously.

The conversation between the two attracted many people to join in. Schultz and Konnie, who had just chatted with Chen Hui, also gathered around. Chen Hui had indeed shown remarkable talent, but he was just a newcomer who was just beginning to show his potential. The protagonists of this era were still Yuan Xinyi and his generation.

Chen Hui still has a long way to go.

In another corner of the coffee shop, Bryant, carrying his coffee, slipped away from one circle and returned to Oliver's side.

Following Oliver's gaze, one could see Chen Hui chatting happily with Schulzconne and others, as well as Yuan Xinyi, who was surrounded by the crowd and treated as the main character.

"Hey Oliver, wake up! Grab your coffee and join the party!"

Bryant put down his coffee and sat down next to Oliver. "After this meeting, everyone will know about your contributions to the Yang-Mills equations. Believe me, they'll be amazed!"

"I saw Fefferman and Deligne in the coffee shop just now. Many big names and senior figures in the mathematics world came. The European Mathematical Society doesn't have that kind of influence. Do you know why they came?"

Bryant himself was also quite excited. The thought of being able to present his amazing results in front of so many academic luminaries made him tremble with excitement.

Unfortunately, his words of comfort had little effect on Oliver. Even though he had joined a top-tier team and achieved remarkable results, he was no longer as happy as he was when he was playing games in the research lab.

He felt like he was trapped in a nightmare, always looking at the world through a thin veil, in a daze. This feeling was very uncomfortable, but he didn't know how to get out of it.

Bryant didn't notice the student's unusual behavior. As one of the main characters, he was undoubtedly a celebrity in the coffee shop. Soon, he took his coffee and went out again, joining various groups and starting to talk loudly.

"Hey, Dobessie, long time no see."

Bryant, who had just come out, spotted Dobessie, the editor-in-chief of Duke Mathematics Journal, in the coffee shop. He sneered and went up to greet her.

Dobesi glanced at him briefly, then walked away without saying a word.

As an Abel Prize laureate, she doesn't need to give Bryant any face, whether it's academic achievements or honors. Even if Bryant's team actually cracked the Yang-Mills equation, she still has the right to give Bryant a hard time.

Top mathematicians usually maintain a basic level of decorum, knowing there might be future collaborations. In academia, connections are also an important resource.

But Dobessie didn't want to talk to Bryant.

"Congratulations."

On the contrary, Christine, another female professor who was with Dobessie, stayed behind and had a warm conversation with Bryant.

Before long, a crowd of people surrounded Bryant.

"Let me introduce you, this is Franklin Lee from the University of California."

Suddenly, Christine introduced Bryant.

"A Chinese?" Bryant looked the bald, middle-aged man, who was now as well-off as a Westerner, up and down, but still recognized his distinctive features.

"Oh, my friend, I'm not like those Chinese who plagiarized your students. Believe me, my name is Franklin Lee now!"

Franklin Lee enthusiastically explained, "I've read your paper published on arXiv, and it's full of insightful observations. I believe you will succeed!"

Bryant suddenly remembered where he had heard the name before. Although he remained calm, a dark feeling crept into his heart.

(End of this chapter)