A Major Matter

Shen Qi strolled through the campus of Yenching University, as a light drizzle fell from the sky.

A black sedan pulled up beside Shen Qi. The rear window rolled down, and a person in the back seat waved to Shen Qi, saying, "Shen Qi, get in."

"Dean Ning, where are you going?" Shen Qi recognized the man; he was the dean of the School of Physics at Peking University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Let's talk in the car." Dean Ning opened the car door and eagerly invited Shen Qi to get in.

Shen Qi got into the car, and the car started and left Yanda University.

"You've been back in China for almost a month now. When are you going back to Princeton?" Dean Ning asked.

Shen Qi said, "The plan is to return to Princeton next week, but we can adjust it according to the actual situation. It wouldn't be a problem to leave a few weeks later."

"There's no need to postpone the original plan, otherwise the US side might become suspicious," Dean Ning said.

"Dean Ning, where are we going?" From Dean Ning's serious expression and tone, Shen Qi sensed something was amiss. Was something about to happen?

"On my way to a meeting at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, almost there."

The car soon arrived at the entrance of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Just as Shen Qi was about to get out of the car, he noticed two people outside who looked quite unusual.

One of them, wearing glasses and exuding an air of wisdom, is a renowned figure in Chinese Physics Community and the Chief Scientist of China's Quantum Satellite Project.

"Academician Pan is here for the meeting too?" Shen Qi was a little surprised. Academician Pan is known in the international Physics Community for breaking world records. Not long ago, Academician Pan's team achieved entanglement of 18 qubits, breaking the world record again.

"Yes, Academician Pan learned you were back in China but didn't have your personal contact information, so he asked me to invite you to today's academic symposium." Dean Ning patted Shen Qi on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Shen Qi, the country needs you."

Academician Pan and Dean Ning are both leading figures in the Chinese Physics Community. Shen Qi could guess that today's meeting at the Academy of Chinese Academy of Sciences would definitely be related to physics.

The rain was getting heavier, and the person next to Academician Pan opened a black umbrella to shield him from Academician Pan rain. The two then entered the Chinese Academy of Sciences building.

"Isn't that the man holding the umbrella for Academician Pan a soldier? I remember him; he's been on TV. He's a very young general." Shen Qi had sharp eyes. Even though the man holding the umbrella was in civilian clothes, Shen Qi could still sense the military aura emanating from him. If he remembered correctly, he should be a newly appointed major general.

"Highly educated military personnel, technically skilled generals. Let's go, Shen Qi, get out of the car. One day, these generals will also hold an umbrella for you in the rain," Dean Ning said.

Shen Qi and Dean Ning entered a conference room in the Chinese Academy of Sciences building. The conference room had no windows; it was all walls.

To prevent the indoor atmosphere from feeling too oppressive, some green plants were placed in the meeting room to create a lively atmosphere.

With Dean Ning's introduction, Shen Qi and Academician Pan got to know each other. "Hello, Academician Pan, I've long admired your name."

Academician Pan, whose hair had turned half white from worrying about national affairs, shook hands with Shen Qi and said, "Sit down, Shen Qi. China Key, we need you as our key."

Unauthorized personnel were asked to leave, and the conference room door was closed.

Shen Qi counted, One Two Three... eight, nine, ten. There were ten people in the room: eight physicists, one mathematician with a background in physics, and one soldier.

This academic exchange meeting is certainly unusual in nature, with four of the eight physicists being academicians and the remaining four being well-known scholars in the Chinese Physics Community.

"Colleagues, Officer Nie, let's get straight to today's topic." Academician Pan, who was presiding over today's academic exchange meeting, didn't waste any time and began his presentation by manipulating the PowerPoint slides. "The Micius quantum satellite has been in space for several years now, and the quantum communication project on the ground is progressing rapidly according to plan. It can be said that we are at the forefront of the world in the research and application of quantum information."

Shen Qi was filled with awe. Academician Pan and his team were doing something truly important, something of national importance.

Glancing at the only soldier in the room, Shen Qi noticed a flicker of excitement in Officer Nie's eyes, but also a hint of worry.

Shen Qi didn't understand military affairs, but he had basic military knowledge. Modern warfare is information warfare. Once war breaks out, if our communication system is cut off and monitored by the enemy, what's the point of fighting? The blind and deaf will only be brutally crushed.

"Compared to traditional keys, quantum keys are inherently absolutely secure, which guarantees the reliability of our Quantum Optics Communication system. However..." At this point, Academician Pan slammed his hand on the table with some frustration and annoyance. "However, not long ago, our quantum secure communication project was hacked. The origins of these hackers are unknown, but we have reason to believe that they launched a probing attack against us in an organized and purposeful manner."

"The enemy succeeded?" Shen Qi blurted out, his expression grave, realizing at the same time that this was a state secret!

"They didn't truly succeed, but they opened the first security door we carefully set up. This should raise our awareness and vigilance, and our system needs further improvement. Professor Shen, the reason I invited you here today is to ask you to help us set the world's most secure security door password." Academician Pan looked at Shen Qi, placing high hopes on him.

"But what can I do in the field of quantum communication?" Shen Qi fell into deep thought.

"Shen Qi, it's been two years since you proved the Riemann Hypothesis, hasn't it?" Dean Ning interjected. "You're the person who understands the Riemann Hypothesis best, and Riemann Hypothesis theoretical applications. In these two years, haven't you done any in-depth research into what practical applications the Riemann Hypothesis has after it was proven?"

"Well... of course I've had that thought," Shen Qi said.

Academician Pan, Dean Ning, Officer Nie, and everyone else focused their attention on Shen Qi, waiting for him to share his thoughts.

Shen Qi cleared his throat and said, "Using the product of two 100-bit prime numbers, that is, a 200-bit number, as the key will make the RSA system very secure. However, there is a danger: the method that mathematicians use to factor large numbers is not the same simple trial-and-error search method we use when finding the prime factors of 221."

"The proof of the Riemann Hypothesis and the establishment of the Riemann zeta function prime number distribution system have theoretically provided us with a more secure new method for setting keys to ensure internet security. Of course, this is a double-edged sword; if hackers were to master the application technology of the Riemann zeta function prime number distribution system first, the internet would become extremely dangerous."

"Fortunately, I haven't found any hackers with higher mathematical skills than me yet. If the country needs me, I will try to be the first to complete the application technology setting of the Riemann zeta function prime number distribution system. But the problem is that quantum communication and quantum key distribution are different from traditional Internet systems, so I don't know what I can do?" Shen Qi said, shrugging.

Dean Ning: "Our Professor Shen, you are at the forefront of the world in mathematics, but in physics and Computer Science, it seems that your research is on topics from the 1970s and 1980s?"

"This..." Shen Qi thought to himself, what could he do? He had learned all of physics on his own, and he had never been to a cutting-edge physics lab. His physics mentor, Witten, spent all his time discussing theories from fifty years ago with him, using an experimental setup with two small balls and a spring to tell him that this was the universe, this was the entirety of physics, and that it had been true for the past hundred years and would be true for the next hundred years.

Academician Pan said, "Shen Qi, have you paid attention to the latest research results published by New York University? Their team claims to have found a connection between the Riemann Hypothesis and Quantum Physics. I have extracted the core point of New York University, namely that quantum chaotic systems take all prime numbers as their components. Do you know what this means? I think you should know what this means. I have read your paper 'On Complexity' that you just published in PRL. In this Shen Qi theoretical physics paper, you discussed chaotic systems."

Shen Qi suddenly stood up, and after a long silence, he suddenly realized what was going on. "Academician Pan, Dean Ning, I understand what you mean. If the quantum chaotic system takes all prime numbers as its components, then I should be able to derive a set of equations that define the energy levels corresponding to the zeros of all zeta functions in the quantum chaotic system... In this way, it will be possible to apply the Riemann zeta function prime number distribution system to the field of quantum communication encryption. No hacker on Earth can crack the key of the Riemann Hypothesis + Quantum Physics. The most extreme possibility is that, in the end, perhaps even we ourselves cannot crack it... So it is absolutely secure in essence."