Zhou Yu'an Had Hit a Wall

This is Zhou Yu'an Yu'an's fourth semester of doctoral studies, and he really wants to get his PhD this semester.

Getting a PhD from Princeton means academic success, after which you can go out and show off.

However, Zhou Yu'an's Doctoral Thesis, which he had painstakingly prepared for three semesters, was rejected at the beginning of this semester by his supervisor, Faltings.

Shen Qi asked, "Did you not consult Professor Faltings when you started your Doctoral Thesis?"

"Of course I consulted him, and he approved of my project design. However, as I wrote, I went astray..." Zhou Yu'an said with great frustration.

"Then there's nothing we can do. This is your own problem, and you can't blame your supervisor." Shen Qi understood. Zhou Yu'an's Doctoral Thesis had a stunning opening, but it flopped towards the end.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating! My Doctoral Thesis might need major revisions, which will take me an extra year or two, or even longer." Zhou Yu'an lamented, "A brilliant start but a terrible ending—this is a tragedy that no dissertation author wants to encounter."

"Your situation is common. The sooner you cut it off, the sooner you'll feel at ease. Start a new research project sooner and graduate sooner," Shen Qi offered objective and pertinent advice.

"Do you have to be so cruel?" Zhou Yu'an was speechless.

"This isn't cruel, it's reality," Shen Qi retorted.

"I came to you to confide in you, but you ruthlessly attacked me. Is this what brothers are?" Zhou Yu'an was deeply hurt.

Shen Qi said, "Only a true brother would advise you to cut your unfinished thesis as soon as possible. Zhou Yu'an, let me take a look at your thesis. I'll help you diagnose it and see how to cut it—completely or partially."

Zhou Yu'an took out a USB drive and plugged it into Shen Qi's computer case. His Doctoral Thesis was on the USB drive.

"You brought your paper with you; you came prepared." Shen Qi quickly reviewed Zhou Yu'an's paper by clicking the mouse.

"Differential Geometry and Partial Differential Equations —a magnificent opening that is eye-catching and captivating." Shen Qi highly praised the introduction of this paper.

"Mr. Qiu Chengtong won the Fields Medal with this skill, and my fellow winner, Blund, is also an expert in this field. Your mentor, Faltings, has a good chance of winning the Fields Medal next year." Shen Qi quickly flipped through the pages, spending no more than one minute on each page of the paper.

"Can you be serious?" Zhou Yu'an knew Shen Qi's level, but it would take me several days or even months to complete a page of a paper, and you finished it in one minute?

Shen Qi summarized Zhou Yu'an's Doctoral Thesis: "From the perspective of Partial Differential Equations, this is a highly nonlinear hyperbolic equation. Up to page 37, your work was perfect; I couldn't find any fault with it. However, after page 37, you inexplicably collapsed. The n-dimensional compact manifold on page 63 was the biggest flaw. I don't want to read after page 63; it's meaningless."

"Sigh..." Zhou Yu'an sighed. Shen Qi had hit the nail on the head. His paper was 120 pages long and took a year and a half to write. In Shen Qi's opinion, only the first third was acceptable, and the rest was useless.

"Cut everything after page 37. I'll tell you a method to arrive at the correct conclusion without changing the original premise of your paper," Shen Qi offered his diagnosis.

"This... cutting so much, Professor Faltings suggested I keep the first 50 pages."

"Then revise it according to Professor Faltings's advice; after all, he is your mentor."

"Professor Shen, please share your detailed opinions."

"Your goal is to find the exact solution for Hyperbolic Geometry flow. The first 37 pages actually yielded the first type of solution. You don't need to prove the second type of solution anymore; just give a specific solution and you're done." Shen Qi deleted pages 38-120 of Zhou Yu'an's thesis from his computer.

Zhou Yu'an panicked. "Hey, copy it first before deleting!"

"Forget everything after page 37, Zhou Yu'an." Shen Qi typed furiously on the new page 38, wrote half a page, saved it, and handed the USB drive back to Zhou Yu'an: "My suggestions are all in there. Take it back and study it yourself."

"Only half a page written, stingy." Zhou Yu'an put away the USB drive.

"You should be content, Zhou Yu'an. When I'm a reviewer for math journals, my comments are at most three sentences or three equations. I didn't offer a single comment on Ou Ye's Doctoral Thesis."

Zhou Yu'an asked in surprise, "Is Ou Ye so good that you can't find a single fault with her? Or is her Doctoral Thesis so bad that you don't even want to continue reading?"

Shen Qi: "I haven't read her Doctoral Thesis, I only know that the general direction of her research is related to the Yesmanovich Conjecture."

"You two are really funny, sleeping in the same bed and still not wanting to look at each other." Zhou Yu'an shook her head and left.

Late January, Lunar New Year's Eve.

Academician Pan, Lu Guozhen, and Director Wu all called Shen Qi to wish him a Happy New Year.

Lu Guozhen reported good news: the Hodge conjecture Mathematical Analysis section he was in charge of had made significant progress, and his team would have a holiday on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month and return to work on the 8th of the first lunar month.

Director Wu reported a worrying situation. He said that the topology section he was in charge of had encountered a major obstacle that was difficult to overcome, and his team was still working overtime on New Year's Eve and would only return to work on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

Academician Pan didn't report good news or bad news; he just complained that the gift Shen Qi gave him was too profound. He and his team studied it for nearly two months, and their preliminary conclusion was: they couldn't understand it!

Difficulties are inevitable on the road of academic research. When difficulties arise, they should be overcome. After settling everything at Princeton, Shen Qi returned to Nangang City on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month in China. He ate some glutinous rice balls at home and then headed to the capital after the Lantern Festival.

First stop, Yenching University.

Shen Qi listened to Lu Guozhen's team's special report on "Mathematical Analysis Methods of the Hodge conjecture". This report lasted for three days, and the dean of the School of the Big Mathematics Department and four academicians of the School of Mathematical Sciences attended the entire report meeting.

This 973 Program, led by Shen Qi, received high attention from Yenching University and its departments. Mathematicians understand the importance of the Hodge conjecture.

In particular, the academic status of this mathematical Millennium Prize Problem has continued to rise after physicists proposed a close cross-disciplinary relationship between the Hodge conjecture and quantum entanglement.

Hodge conjecture that Mount Everest, already situated at 8,848 meters, was so high that it offered a panoramic view of all other mountains, and any further increase in altitude would have meant breaking through the heavens.

Shen Qi acknowledged the preliminary research results of Lu Guozhen's team and also offered some suggestions and opinions, hoping that the Yenching University team would continue their efforts to achieve final results as soon as possible and successfully join forces with his Princeton team.

The second stop was the Morning Star Mathematics Center.

Shen Qi listened to Director Wu's team's special report on "Hodge conjecture Topology Method". The report lasted half a day, and Director Wu's team's preliminary research results were only enough for half a day of reporting.

Shen Qi summarized and gave instructions. "The results are gratifying, but problems also exist, Director Wu. I understand. How about this, our team will have two days off, which, including the weekend, gives us four days of rest... Sorry for not taking a break? Don't do that, brothers. I know you were all working overtime on New Year's Eve to tackle difficult problems. You really need to rest and clear your minds. Next Monday, I will work with you to solve the problems, and for the next four days, I require you to completely relax."