Great Country Academician

In the Alexander Great Hall, thunderous applause lasted for a long time.

Standing on the podium, Xu Chuan enjoyed this moment, which was the honor he deserved.

Time passed for a long time, and the applause gradually stopped. Xu Chuan looked at the audience in the auditorium, and his eyes fell on the old man in the middle of the first row.

Feeling the approval from the old man's eyes, a bright smile appeared on his face.

But now is not the time to celebrate, the next question time is the moment that decides life and death.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Chuan turned his attention to the other audience, and said calmly: "This is the end of the paper report on the proof of Hodge's conjecture. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them, and I will do my best to answer them."

For the Hodge conjecture, the most important thing for the mathematical community is the algebraic variety and group mapping tool.

If you can understand this mathematical tool, then the proof paper of Hodge's conjecture will naturally be understood.

Of course, Xu Chuan didn't expect that everyone in the auditorium could understand the tools of algebraic varieties and group mapping with just one lecture.

In fact, he estimates that less than one in five people in this room fully understand this mathematical tool today.

But it doesn't matter.

As long as the top group of people can successfully understand this proof paper, then today's report will be a success.

After all, top math has never been something that everyone can play.

From three o'clock to four thirty in the afternoon, a full hour and a half, the questioning session officially ended.

This is normal, after all, the Hodge conjecture connects algebraic geometry and topology.

Its proof will connect two extremely important fields in mathematics, allowing mathematicians for the first time to somewhat unify the two fields.

In today's mathematics world, whether it is algebraic geometry or topology, it is one of the most popular fields of mathematics. There are so many mathematicians studying and researching these two aspects.

When faced with the Hodge conjecture proof paper and the algebraic variety and group mapping tools, even though Xu Chuan explained it in detail at the report meeting, many mathematicians still have their own doubts.

Fortunately, at this moment they still have a figure they can rely on, the young man on the stage, who will answer their confusion.

For a doubtful person, someone can answer his question, which is probably the luckiest thing.

On the stage, Xu Chuan tried his best to answer everyone who asked questions.

Fortunately, all is well.

The only thing that made him feel slightly regretful was that not many Chinese scholars stood up during the questioning session.

Only a few mathematics professors of Chinese nationality raised their hands and raised their own questions.

This may have something to do with the implicit mentality of the Chinese people, but more, it is the weakness of his motherland in this basic field.

But there is no rush for this matter, we can only wait for time to develop slowly.

After the questioning session is over, the main body of this mathematics report will officially end.

Of course, evening parties and dances are a consistent tradition.

After the report meeting was over, Xu Chuan walked off the stage, and the media reporters in the auditorium quickly surrounded him.

"Mr. Xu Chuan, I am a reporter from "ABC Broadcasting Company". I heard that you have made great contributions to CERN before. Are you interested in other subjects, such as physics or chemistry?"

Xu Chuan: "I am very interested in physics. High-energy physics is indeed fascinating. Collision experiments can give people a deep understanding of the nature of the world."

"Mr. Xu Chuan, I'm a reporter from The Washington Post. Are you fully sure of proving Hodge's conjecture this time?"

Xu Chuan: "Of course, I have full confidence in the algebraic variety and group mapping tools, which can pry open the door of Hodge's conjecture and bring us into a new world."

"Mr. Xu Chuan, I am a reporter from The Wall Street Journal. Will you be a professor of mathematics at Princeton in the future?"

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A series of various questions were thrown at him, Xu Chuan answered some selectively, and then wanted to slip away.

But it's a pity that these media reporters obviously don't intend to let him go so easily, let alone in a closed space like the auditorium.

Fortunately, Princeton's staff came in time to make a clearance, which allowed him to escape.

To be honest, in Xu Chuan's opinion, dealing with reporters who ask questions from strange angles is even more difficult than studying mathematics.

These "spiritual" media reporters are accustomed to digging holes in questions, and for the sake of traffic, they intercept part of the interview and publish it, so that they often say that a certain scholar or scientist has nothing to say.

Compared with other subjects, mathematics is slightly better at being cheated by reporters.

The most serious fields that have been pitted by the media are medicine and biology. After all, these two fields often involve personal safety or something.

There was even a public confrontation between scientists and journalists before.

For example, three doctors of medicine from "Cardiff University" in the country where the sun never sets published an article in the "Guardian", angrily condemning the report of the "Daily Mail" interviewing them that was seriously inaccurate.

It started when they discovered that the concentration of a neurotransmitter called GABA in the frontal lobe of the human brain may be linked to certain types of impulsive personality.

But the Daily Mail reports the results of the study as follows:

[A study by 'Cardiff University' shows that the recent destructive riots in England were caused by a lack of certain chemical components in the participants' brains. 】

After the news was released, the number of clicks quickly exceeded one million. Readers made rumors, and finally appeared "Scientists claim that the thugs don't know how to take responsibility for themselves. They can't control themselves because they have too little GABA in their brains!" remarks.

And one outrageous newspaper, The Sun, even claimed to have invented a magical nasal spray that would stop drunken fights by manipulating GABA.

This outrageous change and rumors show that some "unscrupulous" newspapers have no moral integrity at all, while most scientists are basically quite ethical.

The encounter between the two is probably the case of a scholar meeting a soldier, and the reason is unclear.

So except for a small number of scientists who like to show off, most other scientists don't like media interviews very much.

On the one hand, it is too difficult to answer those outlandish questions.

On the other hand, you have to be careful that it will be taken out of context one day.

After the report meeting was successfully concluded, the evening party was held as scheduled in the Alexander Concert Hall in Princeton.

Under the arrangement of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, Xu Chuan stood in the center of the ballroom, and Peter Goddard, the dean of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, walked over with a bottle of expensive champagne amidst the elegant music , stood in front of him.

"Open it, it's yours now."

A smiling Peter Goddard handed over the champagne, and Xu Chuan picked it up from the tray without any hesitation.

After shaking vigorously for a few times, the thumb pressed the cork on the mouth of the bottle. After turning the bottle twice, there was a bang sound, and the cork flew to nowhere, and the fine foam splashed everywhere. Come, it spewed onto many guests.

No one would care about this, but countless people wanted to get a glass of glorious champagne from Xu Chuan.

After all, this is the glory of proving the Hodge conjecture.

After dealing with the mathematicians who came to talk with a smile, Xu Chuan just wanted to get up to find Professor Jean-Pierre Serre, when the old man appeared in front of him just in time.

"Congratulations, young genius."

Accompanied by Charles Fefferman, dean of the Princeton Department of Mathematics, the ninety-year-old man stood in front of him and congratulated him with a smile.

"Professor Searle." Xu Chuan walked over in surprise, half-supporting the nearly hundred-year-old man.

The old man held his hand tightly and sighed: "I never thought that I would see the day when Hodge's conjecture was solved in my lifetime. You brought a miracle."

Xu Chuan said with a smile: "There is also peer review. Whether my proof paper can pass this test is still unknown."

Professor Searle smiled and said: "Whether it is Deligne or Faltings, they have made a high evaluation of Ni's thesis. I believe it is just a matter of time."

Xu Chuan: "Then I would like to borrow your good words. I hope this time the Hodge Conjecture can be removed from the hall of mathematics."

After the two chatted for a while, Professor Searle patted his arm with a smile and said goodbye: "Enjoy tonight's dance, it belongs to your glory."

"I'm a bad old man and I won't bother you much. If you have time, I welcome you to chat with me at the University of Paris."

Xu Chuan hurriedly said, "I will definitely go."

Professor Jean-Pierre Serre left, and someone walked over beside him.

This time it was Mr. Qiu Chengtong who came over, holding a wine glass to congratulate him.

This old gentleman studied under Professor Chern Shiing-shen, and if you look at his mathematical achievements alone, he has already surpassed Chen.

The man in his 60s has won three top awards in the world, the Fields Medal, the Wolf Mathematics Medal, and the Craford Medal, and he has made great achievements in mathematics.

Professor Donaldson, an international mathematics master and winner of the Fields Medal, called him "the most influential mathematician in the past quarter of a century."

Professor Singer, another international mathematics master and Abel Prize winner, praised: "Even at Harvard, Qiu Chengtong alone is a mathematics department!"

The "New York Times" called him "the well-deserved emperor of mathematics".

Xu Chuan touched the old gentleman with his wine glass, and thanked him.

After chatting for a while, the old gentleman turned the topic to the other side: "Can you tell me about your next arrangement? Are you planning to work in Princeton, or are you planning to return to China?"

Xu Chuan thought for a while and said, "If there are no accidents, I should still study in Princeton for a while. As for the later time, I should choose to return to China."

Hearing this, old Mr. Qiu's eyes lit up, and he said quickly, "How about I invite you to work at Shuimu University with me?"

"Some time ago, Shuimu University approached me and asked me to go there to carry out the training program for leading talents in mathematical sciences. If you are willing, I invite you to come with me."

Regarding this invitation, Xu Chuan refused with a smile: "Maybe I will disappoint you all the time. I have already agreed to my alma mater. If I return to China, I should be a professor at my alma mater."

As for the old gentleman's invitation, he declined directly and knowingly.

He knew the old man's purpose in inviting him, but he didn't want to participate in the 'fight for hegemony' in the domestic mathematics world.

In the domestic mathematics community, he must have some understanding more or less. In order to master huge resources and interests, there will be various struggles.

Of course, there are such things as school disputes everywhere. Doesn’t Princeton have schools?

Obviously there is, and the Princeton school is one of the largest schools of mathematics in mathematics today.

Academic struggles and school disputes are all normal, and can even promote the development of science to a certain extent.

The premise is healthy competition.

However, the dispute among domestic schools, to put it bluntly, has fallen into deformity.

It is undeniable that many mathematicians at the top of the country are dedicated to the development and promotion of Huaguo Mathematics.

For example, the one in front of you, in the past forty years, he has established mathematics research centers in seven universities including Shuimu University, Dongda University, and Zheda University, and established the Yanqi Lake Institute of Applied Mathematics to train young talents. Penny salary.

But to put it bluntly, the serious domestic school disputes have interfered with the development of domestic mathematics to a large extent.

Especially for the development of the young generation of mathematics students.

Xu Chuan doesn't really want to get involved in these messes, although with his current achievements, it can be said that he has already stood at the pinnacle of the domestic mathematics field.

But in China, ability is not the only factor that determines everything.

So instead of participating in the chaos, it is better to return to Nantah.

The Mathematics Department of Nantah University is indeed weak, but there, he can conduct research without interference.

Compared with places like Shuimu and Peking University, Nantong University is a bit purer, like a piece of white paper, he can let him write on it.

More importantly, although NTU's mathematics is weak, it is very strong in physics.

The purpose of his learning mathematics is to combine with physics to promote the development of physics.

The party and the dance are over, and this math report is basically over for others.

But for Xu Chuan, all this has just begun.

After the report meeting is over, his thesis will officially enter the review process.

This review will be conducted by six top mathematicians in algebraic geometry and topology and the Cray Mathematics Institute.

The list of reviewers is Faltings, Alan Connie, Qiu Chengtong, Mori Shigefumi and others.

The six reviewers are all Fields Medal winners, and many of them have won top mathematics awards such as the Wolf Prize, the Albert Prize, and the Craford Prize. Jubilee conundrum.

It is actually quite difficult for the mathematics community to be able to filter out this review list.

According to the double-blind principle and the principle of avoiding relatives in the review of papers, the two most suitable reviewers, Deligne and Witten, were first excluded.

After all, they are Xu Chuan's mentors and should not appear in this review list.

But to be honest, there are no more suitable reviewers in the mathematics world than the two of them.

Professor Deligne is a disciple of Mr. Grothendieck, and his achievements in the field of algebraic geometry can be said to be the first person in today's mathematics world.

More importantly, he has been engaged in the study of the standard conjecture left by Mr. Grothendieck. The Hodge conjecture is part of the standard conjecture.

Therefore, if you want to say the most suitable reviewer, Professor Deligne is undoubtedly the most suitable of all.

Secondly, the seven millennium problems are the century problems in the mathematics world, and Princeton should not participate too much in the review of this proof paper.

Such as Fefferman, Robert Langlands, Sincon Burgan and other top leaders.

After all, this is the supreme honor, and the principle of avoiding relatives prevents the mathematics community from selecting mathematicians from Princeton for review.

After excluding these top experts, it is really difficult to pick out suitable reviewers.

As for the Clay Institute of Mathematics, in fact, only one special commissioner was arranged to do auxiliary work.

Although they formulated the seven millennium problems, they really can't help much when it comes to top mathematics.

Fortunately, there are many great talents in the field of mathematics, especially in the two popular fields of algebraic geometry and topology, there are still many people who can hold this job.