The King of Science
Shen Qi feels more at ease living with his girlfriend who is ill, and he hopes that Ou Ye can come to Princeton to pursue a doctoral degree.
In fact, that was their initial plan, but there was a slight deviation in the execution, Ou Ye was unable to enter Princeton's graduate school after graduating with her bachelor's degree.
Ou Ye is facing a second choice, an opportunity she cannot miss. Whether considering the relationship, mutual support, academic platform, or future career development, Princeton is the best choice for Ou Ye, after all, Princeton is the highest hall of basic mathematics.
Mathematics PhDs from Princeton have some advantages in terms of resources, and Shen Qi has already deeply felt Princeton's energy and international influence.
However, Prince Town is not a bus stop; could Ou Ye just go there whenever she wanted?
She wants to pursue a PhD at Princeton, but she needs a professor to accept her.
Shen Qi cannot accept Ou Ye as a student unless he breaks up with Ou Ye and sever their romantic relationship.
After breaking up, why would Shen Qi take Ou Ye as a student? Was he just bored out of his mind?
Since the 1980s, teacher-student relationships have been prohibited in mainstream American universities, due to a number of scandals.
Most reputable American universities, including Princeton, have rules prohibiting professors from having romantic relationships with students who take their classes or whom they supervise.
If a student doesn't attend a professor's classes or receive guidance from that professor, it's permissible to date the professor, because the professor's authority cannot provide the student with professional advantages.
Therefore, Ou Ye needs to impress a professor in the Princeton Mathematics Department with his genuine talent and learning, and this professor cannot be Shen Qi.
"Little Yezi, I hope you come to Princeton because that way I can take better care of you. Academically speaking, I don't want to be your mentor. Once you completely accept my academic ideas and repeat my mathematical methods, you will never be able to surpass me. What I can't do, you can't do either; what I can't solve, you will be helpless with as well." Shen Qi had his thoughts, and he told Ou Ye.
"Yes, I understand." Ou Ye understood that academic "inbreeding" was not necessarily a good thing. She had studied for three semesters of graduate school with Gong Changwei. She had been passively chosen Columbia University before, but now it seemed that this passive choice had many benefits. Different academic ideas were integrated, and 1+1>2.
"If you can come to Princeton University for your PhD and study under a top professor for a period of time, you'll be combining the strengths of many schools of thought—a deep integration of the three schools of thought from Yenching University, Columbia University, and Princeton University. That's amazing, Little Yezi."
"Professor Shen, you're the best."
"Alright, alright, let's stop with the mutual flattery and turn off the lights to sleep."
"Qi, have I been holding you back?"
"Then surpass me. I believe you can do it."
"What I mean is, I'm not feeling well, and I'm taking up your energy taking care of me... I... I..." As she spoke, Ou Ye sobbed, feeling extremely guilty.
"So you need to get better quickly. I refuse to believe that there isn't a single doctor in the world who can cure your illness. I'll give them a few years to study medicine thoroughly. If they still can't cure your illness after a few years, then I will."
Shen Qi had long ago noticed that the system didn't include a medical subject. He wondered if chemistry plus biology equaled half of medicine.
Top-tier chemistry and biology skills might help Ou Ye regain her health. She still needs to grind for academic points, just in case.
"Come and cure my illness..." Ou Ye's health wasn't good, but she had a strong desire to seek treatment. She had a boyfriend, she had everything, and she wanted to live a few more years.
"Don't look down on me, Ou Ye. I got a perfect score on the Science Comprehensive of the college entrance exam. Do you know what a perfect score on the Science Comprehensive means? It means I got perfect scores in chemistry and biology."
Shen Qi recommended several professors from the Princeton Mathematics Department to Ou Ye, instructing her to apply for a Mathematics Department in the Princeton University through the standard procedure.
While waiting for Ou Ye's medical examination results, Shen Qi returned to Princeton to accelerate his research in Condensed Matter Physics.
Mathematics is the fire that ignites the lamp of physics.
Physics is the lamp that illuminates the path of chemistry.
Chemistry is the road that leads to the pitfalls of biology.
Biology is a trap... Shen Qi couldn't remember what the next sentence was.
Through months of in-depth research, Shen Qi discovered that the research trend in Condensed Matter Physics has been quietly changing over the past decade. Simple materials complicated by artificial microstructures or Nanostructure have become fashionable. This trend covers chemically complex materials such as complex oxides, organic materials, polymers, and biopolymers.
Condensed Matter Physics is highly interdisciplinary; in this field, physics, mathematics, and chemistry intersect and are intertwined.
The intricate and interconnected nature of Condensed Matter Physics perfectly aligns with the development philosophy of the Shen School.
As his research progressed, Shen Qi also encountered some bottlenecks in Condensed Matter Physics.
His physics and math levels are more than sufficient; Shen Qi's bottleneck is chemistry.
My girlfriend has health problems; she's been taking medication for years, but it hasn't cured her.
It must be a problem with the medicine.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shen Qi appropriately adjusted the level of chemistry.
Chemistry: Level 3 → Level 4, Level 4 → Level 5, Level 5 → Level 6.
First, advance your Chemistry skill to level 6, which is a rank between Professional and Elite.
The urgency to heal his girlfriend is understandable, but the pace of the process must not be disrupted.
Shen Qi's personal experience told him that at the Level 6 stage, one should gradually supplement their theoretical knowledge.
After the college entrance examination, Shen Qi basically didn't touch chemistry. Compared to physics, which he had a fairly solid foundation in, he needed to brush up on chemistry.
To catch up on chemistry, you should start with the four fundamental branches: organic, inorganic, analytical, and physical chemistry.
All four branches of chemistry are important supplements and aids to Condensed Matter Physics, but Shen Qi chose to start with the most fundamental branch of chemistry— Inorganic Chemistry.
No matter how theoretical Condensed Matter Physics becomes, it studies real matter, and ultimately needs to serve reality and be tested by reality.
Shen Qi may not conduct experiments, but he must understand the physical and chemical properties of the objects studied in Condensed Matter Physics.
Crystal structure is an important research topic in Condensed Matter Physics.
Most inert elements, such as Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe, have a face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure.
The crystal structures of metallic elements are mainly divided into three types of packing. The close-packed structure of Cu, Ag, Au, Al, Pd, etc. is fcc.
Co, Ru, Os, Sc, Y, La... are hcp (hexagonal close-packed structures).
Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs... form a bcc (body-centered cubic) lattice. Its nearest-neighbor coordination number z=8 is relatively low, yet it has 6 ligands at slightly larger distances. Its Wigner-Seitz unit cell is a truncated octahedron with 24 identical vertices...
Shen Qi needs to be familiar with these theories, as physics and chemistry are inextricably linked in the crystal section of Condensed Matter Physics.
After studying Inorganic Chemistry on his own for a few days, Shen Qi's understanding was rather superficial due to limited time, but he had a sudden realization.
Shen Qi chose "Topological and Geometric Properties of Defects" as the direction for his master's thesis in Condensed Matter Physics. The intervention and assistance of chemistry helped him see the direction of the crystal problem that had once troubled him. The Homotopy Group theory requires the use of complex topological methods to optimize the definition of defects in continuous media and crystals.
Mathematics, physics, and chemistry are closely intertwined in this research project, which greatly tests the researcher's comprehensive science ability. Fortunately, Shen Qi scored Science Comprehensive marks in the comprehensive science exam, with grades of 13, 10, and 6 in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, respectively. He has entered a completely new academic stage.