A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 193 This is not the end, but a door
Wei Dongyi, carrying a mineral water bottle and munching on a steamed bun, pondered the question he had just asked as he slowly walked through the campus of Yanbei University.

Suddenly, he frowned.

Yanbei University was unusually noisy today, making it impossible for him to concentrate on his thoughts. Looking at the crowded people around him, a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.

Yanbei University's status in China is beyond question, and many tourists from all over the country come to visit every day. However, Yanbei University has a visitor limit, and normally, so many people should not be crowding into the campus at the same time.

"Dennis Sullivan?"

A quick glance across the crowd drew Wei Dongyi's attention to an elderly man with gray hair.

This is a professor at Stony Brook University, State University of New York, who received the 2022 Abel Prize for his pioneering contributions to topology in the broadest sense, particularly in its algebra, geometry, and dynamics. He is also a Wolf Prize laureate.

Even though Wei Dongyi doesn't usually pay much attention to these things, he still knows this big shot.

However, this was not the end of the story. Next to Dennis, talking to him, was Zhang Yitang.

This made Wei Dongyi, who was about to go up and greet him, stop in his tracks. Zhang Yitang's academic achievements were undeniable, but Wei Dongyi could not agree with his character.

Both Yanbei University and Huaxia University have treated Zhang Yitang with utmost kindness and consideration, but Wei Dongyi dislikes some of his remarks about Huaxia.

Outsiders only know that Zhang Yitang was washing dishes because he didn't get a recommendation letter from his teacher, but they don't know that Zhang Yitang was eventually able to get a teaching position thanks to the help of alumni of Yanbei University.

Turning away from Zhang Yitang, Wei Dongyi soon spotted a group of internationally renowned mathematicians in the crowd, including the new Kofi Prize winner Alessio Figali.

"Excuse me, has something big happened at Yanbei University?"

Finally, Wei Dongyi couldn't help but stop a young man who looked like a student and ask him a question.

"Wei Shen, you don't know?"

"Today, Professor Chen will be holding a report meeting in Zhihua Building to present the proof of the existence of the Yang-Mills equation."

This student clearly knows Wei Dongyi. Although his academic achievements are not top-notch, Wei Dongyi is still very well-known. In fact, this student is not from Yanbei University, but from Tsinghua University across the street.

"Existence proof of the Yang-Mills equation?"

"Has the existence problem of the Yang-Mills equation been proven?"

Wei Dongyi was taken aback. He had been immersed in his academic world these past few days and hadn't heard of this news. "Also, who is Chen Shen?"

"There's no time to explain, the presentation is about to start, come with me!"

The student said this and continued walking towards Zhihua Building.

Wei Dongyi was still a little confused, but he followed his classmate without hesitation.

Soon, the two arrived at the large lecture hall on the first floor of Zhihua Building.

Wei Dongyi frowned.

Generally speaking, such an important report meeting is usually held in the Centennial Memorial Hall of Yanbei University. Why is it being held in the lecture hall on the first floor of Zhihua Building?
He even had some doubts about the authenticity of the report meeting.

But seeing those familiar mathematicians walk into the lecture hall, Wei Dongyi followed the classmate inside.

Yang Zhenning, Qiu Chengwu, Tian Yang... Deligne, Wiles, Dennis...

Upon entering the lecture hall, Wei Dongyi was somewhat overwhelmed by the impressive lineup.

Such a lineup can probably only be seen at the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Chen Hui had already given a related report at the European Mathematical Congress, but since the event was sudden, many mathematicians did not receive the news immediately, or even if they did, they were unable to get there in time.

Some mathematicians, after listening to the report from the European Mathematical Congress, still had many questions and wanted to hear Chen Hui explain it to them again in person.

Therefore, they naturally wouldn't miss this lecture at Yanbei University.

Suddenly, Wei Dongyi shifted his gaze to a man from the front row who was dressed in old clothes. He had messy, curly black hair, a thick beard, and a slightly tired but sharp look in his eyes.

Perelman!

Wei Dongyi's only idol!
Even he came!
He knew his idol quite well; the guy who didn't even go to accept the Fields Medal was actually here, which meant that what the classmate said earlier was probably true.

Because he is the same way; unless it's a major breakthrough like solving the Millennium Problem, he would never travel thousands of miles to attend any conference.

After finding an empty seat in the back row, Wei Dongyi felt a sense of anticipation for the upcoming presentation.

Soon, even the back rows were full, and the entire lecture hall was packed with people.

Academicians sat in the front row, students crowded in the back, and media reporters set up their cameras and microphones. The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and the restless anticipation.

At 10 o'clock sharp, Chen Hui walked onto the stage. Behind him, a giant screen lit up with a dynamic evolution animation of fractal grids—a four-dimensional hypercube blossomed with complex and regular geometric patterns in recursive segmentation. Chen Hui turned on the microphone and tapped it lightly to test the sound.

The noise in the auditorium receded like the tide, and everyone spontaneously quieted down.

"Dear teachers and students, today I want to tell a story about 'weaving the universe'."

Pressing the remote control, a photograph of a yellowed manuscript appeared on the projector. "This is the original equation of Mr. Yang Zhenning and Mr. Mills in 1954. For 70 years, mathematicians have been trying to catch a smooth fish in the ocean of infinite dimensions, and today, we have found a new net."

Yanbei University is not the European Mathematical Congress. Since it is its home ground, there is no time limit for this lecture. Chen Hui can speak for as long as he wants, so he can talk at length.

Looking at the centenarian sitting in the first row below the stage, Yang Zhenning was also staring blankly at the manuscript photos on the projector, his eyes full of memories.

Chen Hui also felt a little sad.

Just a few months ago, he was sitting in the audience listening to a report; now, he's the one standing on the stage.

After a brief pause, the projector changed again, and two red "quantum fibers" intertwined in the air, generating the symbol of the SU(2) group matrix. With ample time to prepare, the PPT for this presentation was also carefully prepared.

“Traditional methods are always fighting against infinite-dimensional chaos, but our answer is simple—let the gauge field weave itself.”

Chen Hui pointed to the braid group generators σ and σ on the screen, saying, "The intersection of each fiber corresponds to a local gauge transformation. Through the nesting of fractal meshes, we transform the infinite-dimensional problem into a finite-dimensional algebraic game."

As the presentation progressed, Chen Hui's train of thought became increasingly clear, immersing him in a sea of ​​knowledge.

The academicians and mathematicians in the audience leaned forward slightly, their expressions becoming serious, while the students in the back rows took out their notebooks and began to rustle as they took notes.

Wei Dongyi stared intently at the projector. His research focused on partial differential equations, and he had made a series of important advances in the regularity problem of the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and the linear damping problem of the two-dimensional incompressible Euler equations.

Looking at the steamed bun and water bottle in his hand, he felt a pang of regret. He wished he had brought his laptop. "Wei Shen, how about I lend it to you?"

The Tsinghua student next to me was very understanding and handed me his notebook and pen, tentatively asking a question.

Wei Dongyi hesitated.

"Take it, I can't understand it anyway."

The student noticed Wei Dongyi's hesitation and waved his hand dismissively. As a literature student, he certainly couldn't understand any of the formulas in this lecture.

Wei Dongyi stopped hesitating. If he hesitated for another two seconds, he probably wouldn't understand either.

Time flew by, the images on the projector kept changing, and Chen Hui had already picked up a marker. Three whiteboards on the podium were already filled with writing, and a staff member was pushing a fourth whiteboard up.

After writing down one formula, Chen Hui pressed the remote control again.

The scene shifts to instantaneous solutions on a fractal grid—blue energy clouds pulsate regularly in a self-similar structure, and the value of topological charge Q=1 flashes green at the edge of the screen.

"Is this mathematical magic? No, it's a topological necessity!"

Chen Hui’s voice rang out, “When we fold four-dimensional spacetime into a two-dimensional boundary holographic membrane, the genes of the Yang-Mills equation are completely preserved, just like storing a palace with a QR code, where every pixel carries the code of four dimensions.”

Until this moment, the previously confusing lines became completely clear.

Sitting in the first row, Tian Yang already had a smile on his face. Having attended two lectures and read the papers several times, he had sorted out all his thoughts.

Deligne slowly leaned back in his chair, finally free of any doubts. Chen Hui was right!
Looking at the young man speaking eloquently on the stage, Qiu Chengwu suddenly felt that perhaps one day he would really be able to crack the secret of the Navier-Stokes equations.

"I see!"

Perelman's gaze was intense, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Yuan Xinyi's eyes also shone brightly. Chen Hui's research also showed him more possibilities for the future. The proof of the Langlands program was not the end, but only the beginning!
"In conclusion, the result is obvious: the Yang-Mills equation has a solution!"

Chen Hui's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear and certain, possessing a convincing magic.

clap clap clap...

Applause erupted, like a rising tide, quickly sweeping across the entire lecture hall.

Wei Dongyi put down his pen and clapped his hands vigorously.

Although there were still many parts of the report that he didn't understand, the conclusion was correct, without a doubt!
It was already past 12:08, but no one in the entire lecture hall wanted to leave.

Professor Wu from the Institute of Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was the first to stand up: "Student Chen..."

After he stood up, he suddenly realized that he didn't know how to address Chen Hui, but that wasn't the point. "How can you prove that the Hausdorff dimension of a fractal grid does not destroy the differential structure of spacetime?"

Chen Hui smiled slightly and brought up the convergence proof of fractal geometry: "We introduce a dynamic decay factor λ to ensure that fractal measure is equivalent to Lebesgue measure in the continuous limit."

As the formula scrolled across the screen, the bigwigs in the audience nodded slightly.

Is there an irreducibility barrier to the representation of braid groups in the SU(3) canonical group?

A professor from MIT stood up and asked further questions.

"Perhaps this is our next step, but today, the success of SU(2) is enough to light the way."

Questions came one after another, and even after half an hour, people kept standing up. At this point, Yang Zhenning smiled, got up, and slowly walked out of the lecture hall with the help of a young woman.

It wasn't that he was impatient with everyone's questions; it was simply that, given his age, sitting in the meeting room for more than two hours had already made him feel somewhat unwell.

With Yang Zhenning's departure, the fervent atmosphere of the lecture finally subsided.

Chen Hui pressed the button again, displaying an unfinished slide—an animation of the entanglement of fractal meshes and string-theoretic Calabi-Yau manifolds.

“This is not the end, but a door.” He turned off the laser pointer, his silhouette silhouetted against the backlight. “Perhaps one day, we will write down the unified equations of gravity and quantum fields in the same language.”

Grand unified theory was his initial goal; proving the existence of the Yang-Mills equation was only the first step, and proving the mass gap was the second.

If we can truly achieve the unification of physical forces, perhaps humanity will be able to reach realms that were previously unimaginable.

A unified theory might reveal that spacetime is a manifestation of some fundamental force, making spacetime a manipulable "entity." For example, by manipulating gauge fields or quantum gravity effects, humans might be able to warp spacetime, complete a "warp drive," achieve sublight-speed travel, or create stable wormholes.

But that's all a long way off.

Furthermore, after solving the mass gap problem, Chen Hui might spend some time studying the Navier-Stokes equations. The world of turbulence is equally fascinating, and more importantly, he will never forget the romance of plasma spinning in a vacuum chamber.

The entire audience stood up and applauded, the roar almost lifting the roof off.

Chen Hui lowered his head to organize his speech, planning his future path in his mind. No one saw the fleeting smile on his lips.

Click... click...

Flashes went off one after another as media reporters frantically pressed their shutters, trying to capture this historic moment.

Only Zhang Kaimeng of the Black Round Village Newspaper was writing furiously with his head down. "This report meeting is not only a triumph for mathematics, but also a relay race between generations—unresolved questions quietly grow amidst the applause, waiting for the next pair of hands to weave time and space!"

While other reporters were still figuring out how to use today's material to write a sensational report, he had already finished writing his article!

Xing Jiguang, Cao Bo, and others sat at the back of the lecture hall, just as they had when they listened to Professor Edrian's report a few months ago. Not only them, but many professors from Yanbei University and Tsinghua University also sat in their original seats.

An Chengzhang's mentor, Professor Tang; Professor Shi Yuheng, who once gave Chen Hui a zero... and that Tsinghua professor who was a student of Princeton's Professor Friedman and had a verbal altercation with Cao Bo...

After listening to the report, they lingered for a long time. They looked at Cao Bo and suddenly remembered what Cao Bo had said in this lecture hall a few months ago.

"I hope that one day, outstanding Chinese mathematicians will no longer need to go to Princeton, but rather Western mathematical geniuses will yearn to come to Yanbei!"

While achieving this goal remains somewhat unrealistic, just look at those mathematical giants in the front row, like Deligne and Wiles…

These people would never normally want to come to China, but today, these great mathematicians have all gathered here by chance. Who can say that in the future, Western mathematical geniuses will not yearn to come to Yanbei for some reason?

This prosperous era may truly be as Cao Bo wished.

Perhaps, just as Cao Bo said, starting with that little guy, the status of Chinese mathematics in the international academic community will undergo a dramatic change.

(End of this chapter)