Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yi began his lecture on the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, explaining his analysis of blow-up solutions and turning to the function space needed for his proof. The chapter ended with Xiao Yi developing a new, highly abstract analysis before the audience, including Terence Tao, marveled at his ability.

• Xiao Yi told Liu Cong that fusion depended on developing first-wall materials, which he preferred to call fusion energy exchange materials, and that the research still needed luck.
• Bao Hexin checked on Xiao Yi before the lecture, while Liu Cong left for the audience and Xiao Yi prepared to take the stage.
• Xiao Yi's parents joined the packed audience, and Bao Hexin introduced him as he began his lecture on the Navier-Stokes equations.
• Xiao Yi explained singularities and demonstrated how his data-analysis method identified blow-up characteristics and yielded the blow-up trend.
• Xiao Yi shifted to the NS equation, erased the blackboard, and began analyzing what new function space could accommodate his theory as Terence Tao and Feierman praised his analytical skill.

Xiao Yi presented Xiao's Space and used it to outline a proof of existence and smoothness for solutions to the Navier–Stokes equation. After answering audience questions, he told Terence Tao that he had created the space to describe the complexity of fluids more precisely, then ended the presentation to applause.

• Xiao Yi combined properties of established function spaces with new elements to define Xiao's Space, leaving Terence Tao and Feierman unable to follow how he had conceived it.
• Xiao Yi explained that Xiao's Space provided useful properties for fluid mechanics and used it to present the existence and smoothness proof for the Navier–Stokes equation.
• Xiao Yi answered questions from Jimmy Lawrence and other attendees about the roles of Sobolev and Besov spaces and the properties of his new space.
• Terence Tao asked how Xiao Yi had developed Xiao's Space, and Xiao Yi replied that complex fluids required a more refined description.
• Xiao Yi ended his presentation, and the audience applauded.

After presenting his proof of the Navier–Stokes equation, Xiao Yi declined the Clay Mathematics Institute’s invitation to its award ceremony because traveling abroad was inconvenient and the prize money mattered little to him. He then accepted a Time Magazine interview and argued that education was the most important field because it functioned as a form of knowledge inheritance.

• Xiao Yi ended his presentation to prolonged applause, then joined Terence Tao and other scholars for lunch.
• Thomas Clay invited Xiao Yi to the Millennium Prize Problems award ceremony at MIT, where he would receive a million-dollar prize for solving the mass gap problem.
• Xiao Yi declined to travel outside China, and Jennifer Aikener explained that his Bitcoin software company and battery patents made him worth billions.
• Jennifer asked Xiao Yi to interview for Time Magazine, and he agreed on the condition that he could choose which questions to answer.
• During the interview, Xiao Yi described education as a form of knowledge inheritance that could improve how efficiently people acquired knowledge.

Xiao Yi completed an interview with Jennifer, discussing materials science, nuclear fusion, and humanity’s scientific future. After the interview, he had Jennifer investigated over her questions about fusion; the chapter ended with Time Magazine featuring him on its cover as a scientist on par with Einstein.

• Xiao Yi said materials science was humanity’s most important field and cautioned that nuclear fusion might take decades to achieve.
• Xiao Yi rejected categorizing people by IQ and argued that scientists should have faith in future technological progress.
• Jennifer finished the interview and arranged a cover photo of Xiao Yi for Time Magazine’s upcoming issue.
• Xiao Yi found Jennifer’s contact information, threw it away, and asked Wang Li to investigate whether she had been directed by American departments.
• The academic exchange conference concluded successfully, and the next week Time Magazine’s cover featuring Xiao Yi drew worldwide attention.

Foreign and domestic discussions of Xiao Yi’s Time Magazine interview drew the attention of American officials, who lowered surveillance while keeping nuclear fusion under watch. Xiao Yi returned to studying carbon with Quantum Hodge theory and found an unknown variable that appeared connected to the X particle.

• Foreign netizens praised Xiao Yi’s interview, argued about education and society, and clashed with critics who insulted him.
• Chinese netizens celebrated Xiao Yi’s Time Magazine cover and debated his views, his field, and whether he was researching nuclear fusion.
• The CIA director told the secretary of state that Xiao Yi’s interview suggested he was not researching nuclear fusion, and the secretary ordered surveillance reduced by one level while retaining attention to the topic.
• Wang Li told Xiao Yi that national security investigators had found no proof of Jennifer Aikener’s ulterior motives but considered her nuclear fusion question highly suspicious.
• Xiao Yi used Quantum Hodge theory to analyze carbon and derived an equation for the aperture acceleration phenomenon.
• Xiao Yi examined the equation’s unknown variable and realized it seemed related to the X particle.

Xiao Yi linked aperture acceleration to X particles and shared his uncertain derivation with Liu Xiaodong, who chose to publish their paper in Science. The paper’s release stunned the physics community, while Xiao Yi continued developing a framework for carbon structures used in fusion reactor first walls.

• Xiao Yi connected aperture acceleration to X particles and considered possible applications in colliders and spacecraft, though he could not explain the mechanism fully.
• Xiao Yi showed Liu Xiaodong his derivation and let him decide whether to continue researching or publish; Liu Xiaodong chose to publish and became a first author alongside Xiao Yi.
• Xiao Yi resumed researching carbon while Liu Xiaodong prepared the paper, then submitted it to Science with Xiao Yi as corresponding author.
• Science editor Jia Wen read the paper, replicated the reported electron speed increase in his laboratory, and arranged for the paper to appear on the journal’s cover.
• Jia Wen and Edward Witten described the discovery in interviews as a major breakthrough, discussing its potential energy applications and the challenges of reproducing it and detecting X particles.

Xiao Yi and Liu Xiaodong’s aperture acceleration discovery drew worldwide attention, and Liu gave a successful interview on CCTV. Half a month later, Xiao Yi completed a model of carbon that could predict new properties and structures, naming it the Carbon Deconstruction Diagram.

• CERN agreed to Xiao Yi’s free, research-only license for his carbon nanoporous material patent and promised to share synthesis methods and assign related patents to him.
• Yang Zhenning praised the aperture acceleration discovery as Nobel Prize-worthy and potentially evidence of a new fundamental force, while media attention made Science Island Laboratory internationally renowned.
• Xiao Yi declined most interview requests and assigned Liu Xiaodong to represent the laboratory on CCTV.
• Science Island researchers watched Liu explain the discovery on Xinwen Lianbo, and Xiao Yi praised his clear, professional interview.
• After another half month, Xiao Yi completed a framework model for predicting carbon’s undiscovered properties, including structures able to withstand high-energy neutrons and hot plasma, and named it the Carbon Deconstruction Diagram.

Xiao Yi completed and uploaded his Carbon Deconstruction Diagram paper, then used it to design carbon structures for a fusion reactor’s first wall. The paper sparked a race among physics, chemistry, and materials science researchers to develop analysis diagrams for other elements, while Xiao Yi continued pursuing his own goal.

• Xiao Yi finished his Carbon Deconstruction Diagram paper and uploaded it to his personal website.
• Xiao Yi began designing carbon structures for first-wall materials, using computer simulations and Material Mastery to test and synthesize them.
• Konstantin Novoselov sent the paper to Andre Geim, who praised its approach and agreed to discuss applying it to graphene.
• Researchers across physics, chemistry, and materials science sought collaborators to create analysis diagrams for other elements, including a Berkeley professor assembling a team for silicon.
• Xiao Yi continued working on his material design and gradually approached his goal.

Xiao Yi designed Twisted Carbon as a promising Tokamak first-wall material but struggled to synthesize it, producing three valuable carbon-based byproducts instead. In June, researchers from Institute 603 and the Army Research Institute arrived at the Science Island Laboratory to discuss MHT-1 and MHT-2.

• Xiao Yi completed the design of Twisted Carbon, calculating that a ten-centimeter layer could withstand neutron damage in EAST for at least twenty years, and began searching for a way to synthesize it.
• Xiao Yi developed MHT-1, an amorphous carbon additive with strong electromagnetic-wave absorption, and sent its experimental report to military researchers through Wang Li.
• Xiao Yi produced MHT-2, a high-strength, energy-absorbing carbon fiber suitable for armored vehicles, and also forwarded its report to the military.
• Xiao Yi created MHT-3, a high-mobility, three-layer carbon material with potential for carbon-based chips, but postponed pursuing it.
• Chen Weidong of Institute 603 visited Xiao Yi to ask about MHT-1, and Wang Hao announced that representatives from the Army Research Institute had arrived to discuss MHT-2.

Xiao Yi introduced MHT-1, MHT-2, and MHT-3 to military researchers, who arranged to pursue their uses in military equipment and carbon-based chips. At the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, Xiao Yi attended with Science Island Laboratory as the host announced first prizes for both the Yang-Mills mass gap problem and the Navier–Stokes equations.

• Liu Zhen and Chen Weidong mistook each other for rivals seeking the same material and grappled until Xiao Yi explained that MHT-1 and MHT-2 were different materials.
• Liu Zhen requested MHT-1 for the Army Research Institute, while Chen Weidong requested MHT-2 for Institute 603, and they agreed to negotiate cooperation with Xiao Yi.
• Xiao Yi revealed that MHT-3 had high carrier mobility, so Liu Zhen took its information to carbon-based chip expert Xu Zhi, who later examined it and left with the research materials.
• Xiao Yi attended the National Science and Technology Awards Conference with Science Island Laboratory researchers and greeted Pang Cheng, director of the Physics Research Institute.
• The conference awarded the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award to Xue Kun and Li Ren, then announced first prizes for both the Yang-Mills mass gap problem and the Navier–Stokes equations.

Xiao Yi won two Natural Science Award first prizes and a Technology Invention Award first prize at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, while his colleagues celebrated their shared battery award. After the ceremony, news of his three first prizes spread widely, leaving the public speculating about his future honors.

• Xiao Yi received two Natural Science Award first prizes for his work on the Millennium Prize Problems, and an elderly leader asked about Science Island Laboratory and its nuclear fusion research.
• Pang Cheng received a Natural Science Award first prize for Computational Prediction of Topological Electronic Materials, a project Xiao Yi had previously helped advance.
• Xiao Yi and four colleagues from Science Island Laboratory received a Technology Invention Award first prize for lithium-sulfur solid-state batteries and related new materials technologies.
• Liu Xiaodong shared a photo of the team’s award with Zhou He, who regretted not joining Science Island Laboratory.
• News coverage highlighted Xiao Yi’s three first prizes, prompting online discussion about his chances of becoming an academician and winning the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award.

Xiao Yi developed MHT-7, a material whose neutron-irradiation resistance nearly matched the theoretical Twisted Carbon target, bringing controllable nuclear fusion closer. He began optimizing the material and later met his new graduate students as USTC's school year got underway.

• Xiao Yi used a magnetic levitation furnace to stir and cool molten graphite, then tested the resulting material.
• Xiao Yi found that the seventh sample, MHT-7, nearly reached Twisted Carbon's theoretical neutron-irradiation resistance and met the needs of long-term fusion reactor first walls.
• Xiao Yi named the material MHT-7 and began further experiments to understand and improve it.
• USTC students learned that Xiao Yi would teach number theory, prompting the School of Mathematics to move his class to a large lecture hall open to interested students.
• On September 3, Xiao Yi went to USTC and met several of his new graduate students.

Xiao Yi welcomed his first three graduate students at USTC and set their research goals while continuing to improve MHT-7. After reviewing its test results with Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou, he announced plans to launch a fusion demonstration reactor project.

• Xiao Yi met Chen Muhua, Liang Qiushi, and Sun Yuan, then outlined their graduation requirements, reading assignments, and goals for graduate school.
• Xiao Yi resumed his MHT-7 research and occasionally monitored his students’ progress.
• Xiao Yi visited the Plasma Institute and asked Zhao Zhanyou to arrange a secure meeting with Li Jiangan.
• Xiao Yi showed Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou test results for a highly radiation-resistant material, and they reacted with disbelief.
• Xiao Yi proposed applying for a project under the cover of building a new experimental facility and said he would contact the higher-ups about launching a fusion demonstration reactor.

Xiao Yi explained how MHT-7 enabled a new fusion-device project, which Director Liu agreed to report to the higher-ups under the secret name “Sun-Making.” Xiao Yi then arrived at his first university lecture to find an overflowing crowd, cleared out extra listeners, and began teaching.

• Xiao Yi told Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou that the old leader already knew about their fusion-device plan and urged them to submit a confidential project proposal.
• Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou held a meeting at the Plasma Institute and submitted a proposal for a new fusion experimental device larger than EAST.
• Xiao Yi showed Director Liu MHT-7’s radiation-resistance data and confirmed that he alone knew how to synthesize it and that his confidence in achieving controlled fusion had reached twenty percent.
• Director Liu decided to report the research to Shangjing and approved “Sun-Making” as the plan’s secret name, while the group continued debating its public name.
• Xiao Yi found his first lecture hall packed with hundreds of people, asked those attending only because of his reputation to leave, and told them recorded lessons would be available later.
• Xiao Yi entered the lecture hall, addressed the remaining students, and began his first class.

Xiao Yi taught an engaging number theory class on prime numbers and sieve methods, drawing on his proofs of the Twin Prime and Goldbach Conjectures. After his teaching sparked a university-wide dispute over who could attend his classes, the EAST-S project was approved and its construction site was chosen near a power plant.

• Xiao Yi introduced prime numbers, explained Euclid’s proof that infinitely many primes exist, and began teaching sieve methods to the students.
• Xiao Yi used his work on the Twin Prime and Goldbach Conjectures to hold the students’ interest, and the class ended with two sieve exercises.
• Students praised Xiao Yi’s lecture, recordings spread online, and the university began planning to restrict his classes to mathematics majors while other schools requested lectures.
• Xiao Yi agreed to give several public lectures, then learned that the EAST-S project had been approved under that name.
• Xiao Yi’s covert Sun-Making Plan, officially named Mortal Sun Creation, launched at a site in Luyang District near a power plant.

Xiao Yi was appointed Chief Designer of China’s EAST-S fusion project, while public debate and cautious attention from the White House followed its launch. After setting ambitious targets for the broader Sun-Making Plan, Xiao Yi tested MHT-7 first-wall materials in an EAST ignition and learned that both samples remained unchanged.

• Director Liu announced Xiao Yi as Chief Designer of EAST-S, with Li Jiangan as Administrative Commander and Deputy Chief Designer and Zhao Zhanyou as Chief Quality Officer.
• Xiao Yi, Li Jiangan, Zhao Zhanyou, and the other project members pledged to complete the fusion mission as EAST-S officially launched.
• Netizens argued over whether Xiao Yi could achieve fusion, while the White House judged the odds low and chose to keep watching casually.
• Xiao Yi set design goals for the Sun-Making Plan, including long-lasting first-wall materials and a 50-to-60-percent energy conversion efficiency target.
• Xiao Yi and Zhao Zhanyou prepared MHT-7 samples A-7 and B-10 for an EAST ignition that held temperatures above 100 million degrees for 200 seconds.
• After the reactor cooled, tests showed that A-7 and B-10 had no property changes, unlike the other materials, and Xiao Yi was pleased with the result.

Xiao Yi confirmed that MHT-7 could withstand fusion conditions and proposed replacing the Tokamak with a new UO fusion structure designed to make better use of MHD generation. As 2025 arrived, he continued refining the design while expanding the Science Island Laboratory and balancing work across three institutions.

• Xiao Yi, Zhao Zhanyou, and Li Jiangan witnessed MHT-7 pass verification, with testing indicating it could last about fifteen years under fusion conditions.
• Xiao Yi discussed mass-producing MHT-7 and keeping its synthesis process confidential, then explained that Tokamak geometry was poorly suited to MHD generation.
• Xiao Yi revealed that he was designing a new UO fusion structure, and Zhao Zhanyou and Li Jiangan agreed to trust his plans despite their doubts about leaving the Tokamak design.
• Xiao Yi returned to the Science Island Laboratory, where he refined the UO structure and prepared to recruit 150 people as the laboratory expansion neared completion.
• Xiao Yi continued working at the Science Island Laboratory and Plasma Institute and teaching at USTC as recruitment drew thousands of applications and 2024 gave way to 2025.

Xiao Yi finished the semester’s number theory course, learned that he had been promoted to Level One Professor, and agreed to teach real analysis next semester. He used Perfect Engineering to complete the UO fusion design and planned to begin construction after the New Year.

• Xiao Yi warned his students that he would set a difficult final exam and encouraged them to enter the Shing-Tung Yau Math Olympiad.
• Tang Fucheng told Xiao Yi that his Level One Professor promotion had been approved and asked him to teach real analysis to the sophomore Hua Loo-Keng Class next semester.
• Xiao Yi agreed to teach real analysis but refused Tang Fucheng’s request to take on another course.
• Xiao Yi simulated the UO fusion device with Perfect Engineering and confirmed that its lithium system could breed tritium and sustain fusion.
• Xiao Yi perfected the UO structure, simulated electricity generation at 62% conversion efficiency, and decided to begin construction after the New Year.

During the Spring Festival, Xiao Yi reunited with Luo Mingya, his former university colleague, and they made a bet about who would finish their research first. The chapter ended with Xiao Yi returning home to find his parents already curious about the women he had spoken with.

• Xiao Yi celebrated New Year's Eve with his parents and explained his controlled nuclear fusion research to them.
• Xiao Yi avoided distant relatives who sought favors and spent the holiday at home.
• On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Xiao Yi discovered that Sun Lina's family lived next door and met Luo Mingya again.
• Xiao Yi and Luo Mingya discussed their research and bet that the loser would fulfill one request from the winner.
• Luo Mingya said she would leave for work the next day, while Xiao Yi hoped she would become a full Researcher before he won.
• Xiao Yi returned home and found his parents asking about Sun Lina and Luo Mingya.

After returning to the EAST-S Plan, Xiao Yi announced that he had replaced its planned Tokamak with a new UO Device, prompting doubts from researchers and opposition from Academician Chu Lansheng. The project agreed to build a smaller verification device, with officials promising to provide the necessary funding.

• Xiao Yi returned to Science Island Laboratory, arranged its new facilities, and welcomed ninety-five new researchers after the Lantern Festival.
• At the first EAST-S Plan meeting of 2025, Xiao Yi revealed his completed UO Device design and said simulations suggested it could raise energy conversion to sixty percent.
• Xiao Yi told Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou that he would take responsibility for the UO Device and proposed building a smaller version if Chu Lansheng objected.
• As the UO Device plan spread among researchers, Chu Lansheng wrote to leaders opposing the replacement of the Tokamak with an unverified design.
• After Director Liu Cong raised the pressure from the controversy, Xiao Yi agreed to build a smaller UO verification device, and Liu promised the project would receive the funding it needed.