Life Must Go On
Zhou Yu'an took the TOEFL last month and scored 112, one point higher than Ou Ye. His English has always been good. A few years ago, when he participated in the IMO in the UK, Zhou Yu'an served as Shen Qi's temporary translator.
With a GPA of 4.0, Zhou Yu'an is an excellent student.
Based on a 100-point scale, Zhou Yu'an's average score in his major courses was 0.8 points lower than Ou Ye's.
It's not difficult for Zhou Yu'an to apply to an American university, but getting an offer from Princeton is.
Compared to Ou Ye, Zhou Yu'an has limited research experience. He is currently working on a research project with Sun Erxiong, codenamed SOZ, and the results have not yet been published.
Ou Ye is also a member of the SOZ project team, and Ou Ye always has more research experience than Zhou Yu'an.
If, similar to Shen Qi's season, Princeton Mathematics Department only recruits one graduate student from China per season, then Ou Ye and Zhou Yu'an, these two classmates, will be in competition, and there will inevitably be a sequence in which they go to Princeton.
Zhou Yu'an is also under considerable pressure, as he sees Shen Qi as his academic role model.
"Take care, King of Show Offs, goodbye." Zhou Yu'an hugged Shen Qi goodbye, a simple six words: the first two conveyed blessings, the middle two carried hope, and the last two set dreams free.
Shen Qi took a plane and left Hong Kong, returning to Princeton.
Life must go on, and academic pursuits have no end.
To give his family and loved ones a better life, Shen Qi cannot stop; he must forge ahead.
During his first semester of graduate studies at Princeton, Shen Qi chose to take 16 courses.
In the last two months of the first semester, Shen Qi devoted most of his energy to important research topics such as the Wash Conjecture, the Riemann zeta function ζ(2n+1), and the use of the orbifold Fundamental Group to characterize Symplectic Orbifold Groupoid. As a result, he only completed 10 out of 16 courses, and the remaining 6 courses were postponed to the second semester.
Shen Qi earned 80 credits from 10 courses. The research result of the project "Proof of the Proof of Diophantine Equation Wash Conjecture" was verified by the Mathematics Department of Princeton University and was finally converted into 70 credits for Shen Qi.
In his first semester, Shen Qi earned 150 credits through a combination of coursework and paper publication, leaving him 75 credits short of the 225 credits required for a master's degree in the Mathematics Department at Princeton University.
Terence Tao and Yun Wei earned their master's degrees in just two semesters while studying at Princeton, which is an astonishing efficiency.
Because of the curriculum of the Mathematics Department at Princeton University, as well as the time required for verifying and publishing mathematical papers, Shen Qi felt that obtaining a master's degree in the Mathematics Department from Princeton University in two semesters was the limit. The fastest records set by Terence Tao and Yun Wei could only be matched, not broken.
Earning a master's degree in the Mathematics Department from Princeton University in a single semester is an incredible achievement, something even the God of Mathematics would struggle to accomplish, unless Euler, the paper-pushering prodigy in his prime, were resurrected.
The Mathematics Community generally believes that among the four main gods, Euler had the fastest hand speed, the most frequent updates, the best physique, the most abundant energy, and the most devoted love.
Gauss excelled in quality, and inspiration was everything. He published less than half the number of papers Euler in his lifetime, but there are as many as 110 mathematical and physical theorems and formulas named after Gauss, more than twice that of Euler. Gauss only produced high-quality works, which established the Göttingen School's reputation for centuries.
Newton was a polymath with the broadest knowledge base. His strengths and weaknesses were equally obvious. He had a genius mind, but also a utilitarian human heart.
Archimedes was the most imaginative, the most legendary, but also the most tragically killed; he was stabbed to death in his home by an unknown Roman soldier.
Shen Qi hung portraits of the four great mathematicians in his Princeton apartment. He idolized them, aimed for the four major awards, and used the Top Four Journals as his foundation, setting new medium- and long-term plans for himself.
The PhD from Princeton is of course something that needs to be secured as soon as possible. Shen Qi has attended conferences in the US and Hong Kong. In today's high-end mathematics circles, it's somewhat embarrassing not to have a PhD to uphold one's reputation.
"Based on this estimate, if I publish another paper in Top Four Journals and complete one course in the second semester, I can graduate with my master's degree and pursue a doctorate."
The research paper on the Riemann zeta function ζ(2n+1) was jointly drafted by Shen Qi and Mary and submitted to the most prestigious and impact factor-highest of the Top Four Journals, the Annals of Mathematics.
Several months have passed, and the paper remains in the peer review stage, seemingly making no progress.
Since returning from winning the award in Hong Kong, Shen Qi has been in excellent form and his inspiration has been flowing freely.
The obscure topic of <characterizing Symplectic Orbifold Groupoid using the Fundamental Group>, which once nearly drove Shen Qi insane, has now made new progress.
Shen Qi completed this project independently. He was very fast, updated frequently, had a burning body, and great stamina.
"Euler has possessed me!"
Shen Qi studied late into the night, breaking two pencils in the process.
"It is obvious that the definition of {,}g is reasonable and satisfies bilinearity, antisymmetry, the Jacobi identity, and the Leibniz identity!"
"I have a bold idea!"
"Let g=(G0, G1) and h=(H0, H1) be group embryos. Theoretically, through smooth mapping, I can obtain an Orbifold Poisson mapping!"
"I have an even bolder idea!"
"If the orbifold Fundamental Group of g is trivial, and the orbital space |g| = G0/G1 is a connected topological space, then... then... then?"
Shen Qi, who was at the peak of his self-indulgence, suddenly stopped, unable to get out of that crucial moment.
"Phew... that's enough work for today. In short, the Orbifold project has achieved a major breakthrough. We should all know how to be content. I'll consult Professor Muller tomorrow."
You feel an intense tingling sensation, followed by a period of emptiness and exhaustion.
The inability to tremble only amplifies the exhaustion and the sense of oppression.
Shen Qi was tired, so he took a shower and went to bed. It was already 2 a. m.
In the thousands of years of History of Mathematics, the orbifold is very young. The concept of the orbifold only appeared in the 1950s. It cannot be considered an independent branch. It is a new theory that arises from the intersection of topology and Differential Geometry.
Over the decades, orbifold theory has been developed and involves many branches of mathematics and physics, such as topology, Algebraic Geometry, and String Theory.
"Professor Muller, I'm facing a problem. If the orbifold Fundamental Group of g is trivial, and the orbital space |g|=G0/G1 is a connected topological space, I want to obtain the existence of an orbifold that is both fiber-connected and simply connected. How can I do this?" Shen Qi raised this question at Professor Muller's academic meeting.
"Shen Qi, congratulations on winning the Chern Prize in Mathematics. What a remarkable child. Chen Shen was a great mathematician. I've attended meetings with him more than once." Muller did not immediately answer Shen Qi's academic questions.
"Thank you." Shen Qi thought to himself, "Does even Grandpa Muller not understand?"
"I think we should solve the problem of the Riemann zeta function ζ(2n+1) first, Shen Qi, after all, you are one of the participants," Muller said.
"Alright." Shen Qi nodded, then said, "However, are there any other topics that need to be discussed regarding the problem of the Riemann zeta function ζ(2n+1)? We have submitted it to the Annals of Mathematics, and it is currently under review."
"Of course there's a problem. It was rejected and needs major revisions." Mary looked distressed; she was also one of the authors of the paper.
"This is truly unfortunate news." Shen Qi was devastated; he had poured a great deal of effort into this paper on Analytic Number Theory.