You Are My Master
While engaging in popular science, Shen Qi also worked with Yang Ding Tian to advance the second project of Condensed Matter Physics under the 973 Program.
After nearly half a year of research, verification, and investigation, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics suggested that the disorder-order phase transition rule in Shen Qi's first Condensed Matter Physics paper, "Disorder-Order Phase Transition Rules and Basic Equations of a Class of Compounds," be named "Shen Qi Rule," and the corresponding basic Mathematical Physics equation, ∫+∞-∞dux/dx/x-ζdζ=(1-v)b/2asin4πux/b, be named "Shen Qi Equation."
ICTP sent an invitation to Shen Qi:
"Mr. Shen Qi, in recognition of your contributions to Condensed Matter Physics, complexity, Earth Solid State Physics, astrophysics, and other fields, the ICTP has nominated you as a candidate for the Castler Prize and invites you to attend the Castler Prize award ceremony to be held at the ICTP this July. We hope you will attend."
The Castler Prize, established in 1982 and named after the French physicist Alfred Castells, is a prestigious international Physics Community award presented every two years by the ICTP organization. It is awarded to nationals of developing countries who live and work in their home country and are under the age of 40.
Finally, an international physics organization presented Shen Qi with an award, and Shen Qi accepted the invitation from ICTP.
A few days later, IMU sent Shen Qi an invitation:
"Mr. Shen Qi, in recognition of your unparalleled contributions to the Riemann Hypothesis, Goldbach Conjecture, Hodge conjecture, the SLW system, Shen's twin matching method, the Wash Conjecture, and the Muller -Shen theorem/ Shen Proximity Theorem in Banach space, the IMU has decided to award you the Chern Prize and invites you to attend the International Congress of Mathematicians this August. We hope you will attend."
Good things come in pairs.
This year is the Fields Medal year; the Fields Medal will be awarded at the International Congress of Mathematicians, held every four years.
Over the past four years, Shen Qi has made new and significant research achievements in mathematics, establishing the SLW system and proving the Hodge conjecture.
However, IMU did not make an exception and once again listed Shen Qi as a candidate for the Fields Medal; instead, IMU nominated Shen Qi as a candidate for the Chern Prize.
The Chern Prize and the Chern Prize in Mathematics are two different awards; the former is awarded by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMU), and the latter by the Chinese Mathematical Society.
Shen Qi had already received the Chern Prize in Mathematics while studying at Princeton, while the Chern Prize awarded by IMU is a Lifetime Achievement Award.
A mathematician can only receive the Fields Medal once in their lifetime. The IMU has stated that it will absolutely adhere to this principle and will not waver for a hundred years.
After Shen Qi proved the Hodge conjecture again after winning the Fields Medal, IMU didn't have any awards to give to Shen Qi. After thinking it over, they could only make an exception and nominate Shen Qi as a candidate for the Chern Prize.
The Chern Prize is usually awarded only to retired or soon-to-be-retired the Boss, but Shen Qi is 26 years old this year.
Shen Qi accepted the IMU's invitation and will attend the International Congress of Mathematicians this August.
The Castler Prize is awarded in Trieste, Italy, while this year's International Congress of Mathematicians is being held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One is at the end of July, and the other at the beginning of August. Shen Qi made plans in advance to travel to Europe at the end of July or the beginning of August and bring back both prizes.
With nearly two months to go before the trip to Europe, it was the peak season for exams and thesis defenses at Yenching University.
Shen Qi, a graduate of the School of Mathematical Sciences, has been invited to serve as a defense judge. He will participate in one undergraduate defense and one doctoral defense in the School of Mathematical Sciences.
Five undergraduate theses and two Doctoral Thesis were delivered to Shen Qi ahead of schedule. Shen Qi read the undergraduate theses first, and after reading one of them, he slammed his fist on the table in anger. "The attitude is extremely improper. How can Peking University still have students like this?"
The two Doctoral Thesis were quite good. One of the authors was Li Zhenqiang, an old friend of Shen Qi and his undergraduate classmate.
In early June, undergraduate students from the School of the Big Mathematics Department were defending their graduation theses.
This morning, five senior students from the Mathematics Department took turns entering the defense meeting room to present their undergraduate theses and answer questions from the professors.
The first four undergraduates performed reasonably well; their papers were so-so, lacking both highlights and fatal flaws.
Shen Qi's assessment was that you had written a mathematics paper that barely met the undergraduate graduation standards of the School of Mathematical Sciences at Yenching Big Mathematics Department. He personally agreed that you should graduate with your bachelor's degree and wished you a bright future.
The fifth undergraduate graduate to enter was a young man with a trendy perm.
The young man bowed upon entering, displaying impeccable manners. "Hello, Professor Shen, Dean Lu, Director Sun!"
The boy was quite sensible and had done his homework beforehand; he knew very well the different levels of the three examiners.
Shen Qi is Yanjing University Zhengting Professor. This professorship is only awarded to one person at a time. At the same time, Shen Qi also serves as the director of the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center, which is on the same level as the School of Mathematics. Therefore, Shen Qi's rank is no lower than that of the dean of the School of Mathematics.
Lu Guozhen is the vice dean of the Vice Dean of Mathematical Sciences, and Sun Erxiong is the director of the teaching and research office. Therefore, the order in which the male students greeted the defense examiners is correct, from highest to lowest: Professor Shen, Dean Lu, and Director Sun.
The School of Mathematical Sciences places great importance on undergraduate thesis defenses. The three defense examiners are all prominent figures in the field. The chief examiner, Lu Guozhen, said, "He Yuming, please begin your presentation."
"Okay." The young man named He Yuming began his presentation, speaking fluently and confidently, "I am He Yuming, a senior Mathematics Department student. My graduation thesis is on the Hypercontinuity of Function Spaces. The concept of hypercontinuity was first proposed in the 1980s. The core idea of my topic is to prove that the Hypercontinuous Lattice Category lattice in which a continuous function is a morphism is Cartesian Closed Category ..."
He Yuming spoke fluently for about ten minutes straight, demonstrating excellent eloquence and expression. "My presentation is finished. Please feel free to offer your critiques and corrections, teachers."
"He Yuming, we've reviewed your graduation thesis beforehand. This thesis is quite difficult for an undergraduate, as it incorporates topological research on the basis of function spaces. Your thesis has reached the level of a graduate student. Did you write this yourself?" Sun Erxiong asked, seemingly doubtful.
He Yuming answered firmly, "Of course, I completed this graduation thesis independently. I consulted a large number of documents and frequently had in-depth exchanges with my supervisor, Professor Qian. Under his guidance, I completed this thesis."
"I know Old Qian very well. He went to the University of Manchester in the UK as a visiting scholar after the Spring Festival this year and will stay there for one to two years. Professor Qian has not been in China since the Spring Festival. How did you have in-depth exchanges with him?" Lu Guozhen asked sharply.
He Yuming explained with great confidence, "This topic was drafted in the first semester of my senior year. In fact, I had a rough idea in my mind during the summer between my junior and senior years. Professor Qian visited and exchanged ideas at the University of Manchester in February this year. In the second half of last year, I received guidance from Professor Qian, which enlightened me and inspired me. The subsequent work was just to follow the steps and complete the paper based on mature deductive logic."
Sun Erxiong immediately flipped through some materials and said without revealing his true feelings, "He Yuming, you failed Advanced Algebra twice in your freshman year. I taught Advanced Algebra before I became the head of the teaching and research office. You failed even the most basic introductory course for the Mathematics Department twice. How can I believe you can complete a thesis design equivalent to the level of Mathematical Research?"
"I was indeed a terrible student in my freshman year. I was too busy having fun and failed not only Advanced Algebra but also Mathematical Analysis," He Yuming confessed without hesitation.
"Oh? Really? Before I became the head of the teaching and research office and the Vice Dean, I taught mathematical analysis." Lu Guozhen flipped through the materials. Wow, this kid really is a math whiz.
He failed both Advanced Algebra and Mathematical Analysis, and barely passed Analytic Geometry with a score of 61. This student used to be a terrible student.
Faced with the examiner's questions, He Yuming straightened his back and said loudly, "But I have a good foundation. I got a perfect score in the college entrance examination mathematics. After my sophomore year, I turned over a new leaf and rediscovered the vigor and ambition I had in the college entrance examination. As the saying goes, 'A scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation.' I'm not bragging here, but I firmly believe that the bigger your heart, the bigger your stage!"
He Yuming, with his upright and honest demeanor, delivered the most inspiring presentation and defense of all the undergraduate students this morning.
Lu Guozhen and Sun Erxiong exchanged a glance and said nothing more.
At this moment, Shen Qi, who hadn't spoken until now, smiled and said, "Classmate, I've been away from Peking University for many years and I'm not too clear about your past academic experience. I can only evaluate you from a professional perspective. Let me ask you a question: Who was the first mathematician to propose the concept of supercontinuity?"
"It was the British mathematician Lawson. I mentioned this in my paper and cited some of Lawson's theories." He Yuming answered fluently, showing his familiarity with his paper and demonstrating that he had put thought into it.
"What about Lawson before?" Shen Qi asked, maintaining his smile.
He Yuming's body trembled slightly, then he regained his composure. "No, the earliest one was Lawson."
Shen Qi tapped the table lightly. "Really? But as far as I know, Lawson's 11th citation in his 1981 paper on hypercontinuity comes from a German mathematician. Of course, Lawson was the first to develop a systematic theory, but we cannot ignore the contributions of that German mathematician, Muller, who was my graduate advisor."
"This..." He Yuming was speechless for a moment; this was the first time he had ever been stuck today.
"Oh?" Lu Guozhen and Sun Erxiong were also quite surprised. They were so busy that they hadn't paid attention to a citation in a paper from 1981.
Snap!
Shen Qi picked up He Yuming's paper and slammed it on the table. "He Yuming, you're amazing, you're the best! It turns out you proved that the Hypercontinuous Lattice Category of continuous functions as morphisms is the Cartesian Closed Category. I have to call you master. Teacher He, please sit down, please take a seat!"
"I... I... I..." The once extremely confident He Yuming was suddenly so scared that he wet himself. It was hard to tell if it was real urine or sweat, but his pants were wet anyway.
"What do you mean, 'you'? You copied my mentor Muller's research! Muller's paper, published in 1980, was written in German and not in an English journal. It didn't attract much attention at the time and has been forgotten over the years. People only remember Lawson's success; who cares about the mathematicians who quietly laid the foundations? He Yuming, you're quite knowledgeable, aren't you? You even know German." Shen Qi revealed the truth. He couldn't possibly remember every single citation in every mathematical article in the world. He Yuming just happened to walk right into the trap; he copied Shen Qi mentor's early research.