The Godlike Boyfriend
The Chern Prize in Mathematics is awarded every two years to young Chinese scholars who have made significant achievements in Mathematical Research within the past two years, with two winners each year.
Candidates for the Chern Prize in Mathematics are nominated by recommendation, and two peer experts may jointly recommend a candidate.
Lu Guozhen found a chair in Sun Erxiong's office, sat down, and began to read the Journal of the American Mathematical Society, carefully studying Shen Qi and Ou Ye's proof of the Wash Conjecture.
"The Wash Conjecture is a second-tier conjecture and cannot be compared with the Goldbach Conjecture or the Lê Conjecture, but the proof of this conjecture has solved an important practical problem for the study of Diophantine equation and number theory," Lu Guozhen commented objectively.
Sun Erxiong nodded and handed Lao Lu a cigarette. It was rare for him to agree with Lao Lu on academic viewpoints, "Only conjectures that have been proven true are useful, and only theories that can guide practical applications are good theories. The contemporary academic world is very pragmatic; it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. But true dragons roam the clouds; mortals can look up to them but dare not approach, nor can they get close."
"You mean the real dragon is out of touch with reality, all abstract?" Old Lu lit a cigarette and said, "The proof of this Wash Conjecture belongs to the 'black cat, white cat' series—it's down-to-earth and practical. I agree with Old Sun and you jointly recommending Shen Qi and Ou Ye as candidates for the Chern Prize in Mathematics."
"There are a few young Chinese mathematicians who have made significant research achievements in the last two years. Let's submit Shen Qi and Ou Ye's names first; there's no time to lose, I think November 30th is the deadline for recommendations." Old Lu handed JAMS back to Sun Erxiong and said, "However, among the young Chinese mathematicians, only one paper has been published in the four major mathematics journals in the last two years, which is Shen Qi and Ou Ye's proof of the Wash Conjecture. Publishing a paper in one of the Top Four Journals is enough to at least get you Associate Professor in our Big Mathematics Department at Yenching University."
Sun Erxiong was in charge of the specific work of recommending candidates. Of course, he had to inform the candidates themselves, otherwise it would be ridiculous if a candidate did not want to participate in the selection of the Chern Prize in Mathematics and ultimately refused to accept the award.
Sun Erxiong made a phone call to the United States. Although Ou Ye was only 5 meters away from him, Sun Erxiong contacted Shen Qi first, knowing that Ou Ye would definitely listen to Shen Qi.
"A candidate for the Chern Prize in Mathematics? Professor Sun, you are truly my mentor! I can't thank you enough. I'll treat Professor Sun to a nice meal when I get back to China." Shen Qi was quite moved when he heard the news. "Old Sun, you really came to my rescue in my time of need."
"You can thank me after you win the award. Don't get too excited yet. I'm hanging up now; international calls are too expensive."
After ending the call with Shen Qi, Sun Erxiong went to the office next door and said to Ou Ye, "I'm officially informing you, Ou Ye, that you and Shen Qi will be nominated for this year's Chern Prize in Mathematics. No need to prepare anything, just wait. Shen Qi has already agreed to participate in the selection."
"Thank you, Professor Sun," Ou Ye said gratefully.
This office was formerly called the SOS Office, and it was the dedicated office where Sun Erxiong, Shen Qi, Ou Ye worked on their research projects together.
The office has now been renamed SOZ Office, which is the dedicated office where Sun Erxiong, Ou Ye, and Zhou Yu'an work on their research projects together.
Sun Erxiong had more than one project under his control, and after Shen Qi went abroad, Zhou Yu'an filled in for him.
Zhou Yu'an and Ou Ye are now juniors, and they have already decided on their majors: Zhou Yu'an is specializing in Differential Geometry, and Ou Ye is specializing in number theory.
Differential Geometry uses the theory of Mathematical Analysis to study the properties of curves and surfaces in the neighborhood of a point. It intersects with topology, variational calculus, and Group Theory. It extracts from Algebraic Geometry and refines it to study curves and surfaces on a small scale.
Algebraic Geometry and number theory are the core of the Langlands Program. The Strong Force combination of these two branches is considered to have the potential to achieve Mathematical Grand Unification.
Algebraic Geometry and number theory cover a wide range of topics, and these two branches can be further subdivided into many smaller research areas.
The intersection of Differential Geometry and Analytic Number Theory is Complex Analysis. Sun Erxiong fully integrated the professional expertise of Zhou Yu'an and Ou Ye, and arranged for Zhou and Ou to collaborate on a Complex Analysis topic, namely the SOZ topic.
"It's so great to have a boyfriend who's like a god." Zhou Yu'an held a copy of the Journal of the American Mathematical Society in his hand, and he was very envious of Ou Ye.
Zhou Yu'an wasn't surprised that Shen Qi could publish papers in the four major international mathematics journals; it was bound to happen sooner or later.
The fact that Ou Ye was among the authors of the paper that proved the Wash Conjecture put pressure on Zhou Yu'an.
Shen, the King of Show Offs," is far away in the United States. This "King of Show Offs" is too far removed from Zhou Yu'an both geographically and academically, while Ou Ye is right beside Zhou Yu'an.
"This award should belong to him; I'm just here for the ride." Ou Ye exuded happiness. She was only a junior in college and had already published a paper in Top Four Journals —that was legendary. Her boyfriend, after all, was a graduate student in the Princeton Mathematics Department.
"It's so great to have a boyfriend who's like a god..." Zhou Yu'an kept repeating this sentence, as if she were obsessed.
"Let's write the thesis, Zhou Yu'an. Now it's just the two of us." Ou Ye was so happy, in a great mood, that she sent her boyfriend a kiss emoji on WeChat.
"But I don't have a boyfriend who's like a god..." Zhou Yu'an is still repeating her senior year of high school.
"No problem." Ou Ye ignored Zhou Yu'an and focused intently on writing her part of the paper.
Princeton, USA.
Even at Princeton, publishing a paper in one of the four major international mathematics journals is a highly prestigious achievement.
Taking the Journal of the American Mathematical Society (JAMS) where Shen Qi published his proof of the Wash Conjecture as an example, this journal is published quarterly, usually publishing about 10 papers per issue, and about 40 papers per year. Submissions come from all over the world, and the paper acceptance rate is no more than 1%.
The four issues of the Journal of the American Mathematical Society for this year have all been published, containing a total of 39 papers, 18 of which are from American universities or research institutions.
These 18 papers are from American universities or research institutions, including 5 from Princeton University and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.
Mathematics research is not limited to academic institutions in the United States, nor is it confined to the Xiao Cheng of Princeton. Major cities like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles also have leading mathematicians.
The mathematics programs at prestigious universities such as New York University, Columbia University, MIT, Harvard, and UCLA are also very strong, and cities like UC Berkeley and New Haven also have renowned institutions like UC UC Berkeley and Yale University competing in the Mathematics Community.
In particular, UC UC Berkeley has been incredibly successful in recent years. The National Institute of Mathematical Sciences is operating vigorously in UC Berkeley, and UC UC Berkeley has become the "Math Capital" of the West Coast, attempting to rival Princeton on the East Coast.
Princeton University and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study) are two separate institutions. Princeton Institute for Advanced Study undertakes its own research and is not affiliated with Princeton University. Of course, Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University have a close historical relationship and can be considered sister institutions, intertwined and mutually influential.
Take a look at the five JAMS papers from Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study this year. Four of them are written by established mathematics experts or rising young talents.
Shen Qi was the only one who was a graduate student, having only been enrolled for three months.
"Gentlemen, we haven't done very well this year. We've published a total of 12 papers in the Top Four Journals, which, including the two from the Institute for Advanced Study, is exactly the same as UC Berkeley's number." Charles Feierman, the chair of the Princeton Mathematics Department, didn't seem satisfied with this year's academic results.
This year, Princeton University published a total of 12 papers in the Top Four Journals, while the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study published 2. The Princeton Institute for Advanced Study does not produce many papers; its leading researchers no longer need to publish a lot of papers to enhance their reputation, and they publish mainly based on their mood.
This is a spacious room located inside the Lud Hall, where the leading figures in the Princeton Mathematics Department hold meetings.
The fireplace is burning brightly, and the retro decor makes you feel like you've stepped back into medieval Europe. The exquisitely carved teapots and coffee pots are just like the Princeton style: not big and all-encompassing, but small and exquisite.
"Who can argue with that? I've been to UC Berkeley many times, more than I've ever been back to Israel," Professor Lyndon Strauss Elon. "You know, UC Berkeley isn't most famous for its math, it's for its girls."
Hehehe.
The group of gentlemen in the room smiled knowingly, and the atmosphere eased.
There are 10 Fields Medal winners in this room. The two who spoke earlier, Director Feierman and Professor Lyndon Strauss, are both Fields Medal recipients.
The remaining twenty-odd people have not won the Fields Medal, but they each have won other equally prestigious mathematics awards such as the Wolf Prize, the Abel Prize, the Crawford Prize, and the Ramanujan Prize.
If criminals were to attack this house at this moment, resulting in the complete annihilation of the bigwigs inside, the Mathematics Community could potentially regress by more than a decade, returning to the 20th century overnight.
Shen Qi, who had won a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad, dared not speak. He didn't know why he had been called to sit in on the monthly meeting of the Mathematics Department's bigwigs. It was supposedly at the behest of the Mathematics Department Feierman.
All Shen Qi could do was pour coffee, specifically for Professor Witten, who was sitting next to him.
In this room, IMO gold medalists are more valuable than Fields Medal winners; rarity makes things precious.
Professor Witten made a thank-you gesture and gave Shen Qi an encouraging look.
"The only surprise this year came from a graduate student who published a paper in JAMS, which is no easy feat," Director Feierman said, looking at Shen Qi. "Regardless, proving the Wash Conjecture is a meaningful achievement. Shen Qi, share your thoughts on the Wash Conjecture."
"Oh?" Shen Qi was a little surprised. "I'm just a newbie auditing the class. Why did you call on me, Director?"
"At Princeton, publication in a journal isn't considered official publication; it only counts when we approve it," Professor Witten explained to Shen Qi about Princeton's internal rules.
Oh, is that so? There's such a rule? Why don't you people just fly to the moon?
Shen Qi cleared his throat, composed himself, and prepared to speak.