A Friendly Exchange
Back at Yenching University, Shen Qi threw himself back into his intense and well-organized scientific research work.
Ou Ye returned to China with Shen Qi almost a year ago, and she has finally found her footing in research, preparing to work on a valuable mathematical project.
Before going to Europe to receive the award, Shen Qi convened a mid-year summary meeting with all front-line researchers at the center.
Shen Qi expressed satisfaction with the research achievements of the center in the first half of the year. The center produced four important research results, including one PRL paper and two Science papers in physics, and one high-quality paper in mathematics by Xiao Junlong.
Although the remaining six Mathematical Research have not yet published their research findings, their projects are all progressing.
Shen Qi predicts that the center will experience a full-scale boom in the second half of the year, and hopes that all colleagues will work together to create a brilliant future.
Shen Qi's top priority was the 973 Physics project that he had assigned Yang Ding Tian to follow up on. During the project's progress, Yang Ding Tian encountered some difficulties.
"Professor Shen, the first paper on this project has been published and recognized by the Physics Community. The difficulty we are currently facing lies in the research on Amorphous Alloy." Yang Ding Tian was at his wit's end, feeling worried, distressed, and helpless.
Amorphous Alloy, also known as metallic glasses, are a special type of amorphous material composed of basic chemical elements. Their unique microstructure exhibits special physical properties that differ from traditional materials, making them an important member of the high-performance materials application field and a favorite in defense, aerospace, energy, and information industries.
These fields are the lifeblood of a nation; whoever can master them to a high degree will gain an advantage internationally.
Shen Qi had seen a document while he was in the United States; it was a strategic plan from DARPA.
DARPA, or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was a strategic planning agency that Shen Qi had always thought was the official U. S. Strategic Deception Bureau. However, after seeing the strategic plan with his own eyes, he changed his opinion of DARPA. He realized that DARPA is actually a very powerful strategic planning agency with strong technical and professional capabilities.
Shen Qi's information indicates that the US military has been focusing its research and development on Amorphous Alloy as a new generation of aircraft carrier deck coatings.
He saw not only a strategic plan, but also some technical details.
Shen Qi has been paying close attention to the US Navy's Ford-class aircraft carrier. It is said that the Ford is coated with a new type of Amorphous Alloy material, whose coefficient of friction, wear resistance, impact resistance, corrosion resistance, and anti-slip performance are far superior to those of other aircraft carriers in the world.
Unfortunately, Shen Qi could only steal glances and dared not openly take them, knowing that the US military attached great importance to the research of this type of Amorphous Alloy material.
Shen Qi said, "It was quite a coincidence that day. I happened to have some business to discuss with a physics professor at Princeton. I peeked at some US military documents and figured that the coating technology for the USS Ford was just a guess. We can definitely do better."
"Professor Shen, I'm very troubled about the technical direction."
"My summary of the current state of Amorphous Alloy is that they have applications but lack theoretical foundations. Due to the disordered structure of Amorphous Alloy, the corresponding theoretical models are also incomplete. The core issue in current Amorphous Alloy research is how to establish a basic theoretical framework based on microscopic characteristics or structures, so as to accurately describe the microscopic mechanisms of Amorphous Alloy properties. Aircraft carrier coatings are only a small part of their applications. Once the theory matures, applications with wider coverage and deeper technology will emerge on a large scale." Shen Qi paced back and forth in his office, deep in thought.
Walking to the blackboard, Shen Qi wrote some information:
"First, we need to solve the theoretical problems. I can think of four steps."
"First, find suitable parameters. Second, establish accurate relationships between various inhomogeneity parameters. Third, establish an effective and precise bridge between experiments and simulations. Fourth, find unified parameters to describe the inhomogeneity characteristics of Amorphous Alloy, and ultimately establish a microscopic material-property theory framework based on inhomogeneity characteristics."
"Got it? If you do, I'll erase it." Shen Qi took the blackboard eraser and wiped the information off the blackboard. He said, "I'll give you a direction. First, find the parameters. The specific experimental operation requires a magnetron sputtering device, which we have at our center. If you put in some effort and think it through, you can do it."
After giving instructions to Yang Ding Tian, Shen Qi packed his bags and flew to Europe.
The Italy city of Trieste is located on the Mediterranean Sea. This is Shen Qi's second visit here; the first time was a few years ago when he received the Ramanujan Prize.
ICTP stands for International Centre for Theoretical Physics. This organization also has a mathematics department, and the Ramanujan Prize is awarded by ICTP.
Shen Qi had dealt with ICTP before, and they became familiar with each other after a few encounters.
The ICTP awarded Shen Qi the Castler Prize and a prize of one thousand US dollars.
A prize of one thousand dollars is perhaps the lowest-paying scientific award in the world.
Shen Qi receives more than a thousand US dollars in government and school subsidies every month.
A small gift carries great meaning; money is a minor matter, achievement is the most important thing, and the Castler Prize is, after all, a prestigious award in the Physics Community.
The ICTP officially announced, "Effective immediately, the Shen Qi Phase Transition Rule and Shen Qi Equation in Condensed Matter Physics are in effect. We Shen Qi Mr. Shen Qi for his contributions to physics."
System: "New achievement! The host has won the Castler Prize in Physics, rewarded with 800,000 Academic Excellence Points."
"Two physics rules/equations named after the host have taken effect, rewarding you with 1.6 million academic points."
After the award ceremony, Shen Qi gave a brief physics report, mainly discussing his future research directions.
During his stay in Italy for a few days, Shen Qi had friendly exchanges with renowned physicists and mathematicians in the country.
During the Renaissance and for hundreds or even thousands of years before the Middle Ages, Italy had strong scientific research capabilities and produced many outstanding scientists.
With the country's economic downturn, Italy's scientific research level is improving slowly, and its football level is declining instead of rising. Without money, nothing can be done.
Shen Qi was invited to visit the University of Bologna, Italy's top-ranked national comprehensive research university.
The University of Bologna is ranked in the 150s globally, which is lower than Yenching University.
In fact, Yenching University's latest ranking is quite high, ranking 29th globally and entering the top 30.
The University of Bologna's ranking falls between Nanjing University and Wuhan University. Some of its programs are quite famous, such as physics, archaeology, and law. Its academic strength is quite good, at least ranking among the top in Europe.
The mathematics program at the University of Bologna is terrible, according to Shen Qi's on-site investigation.
These Italy are slow-paced and enjoy life. They can't work without coffee and wine, and they can spend an entire afternoon drinking coffee, followed by wine.
A research group at the University of Bologna has been working on Partial Differential Equations project for seven years, but has yet to produce any results.
Shen Qi told the research group leader, "You don't need to produce any results. Professor Faltings's team solved this type of problem last year."
Zhou Yu'an solved this type of problem; it was part of his doctoral research project, and Faltings was Zhou Yu'an's Doctoral Supervisor.
The Mathematics Department at the University of Bologna requested that, through Shen Qi's connections, a long-term friendly exchange mechanism be established with the Mathematics Department at Yenching University.
"No problem. Italy-China friendship is an important part of the development of EU-China relations today. I will take care of this when I get back." Shen Qi used academia as a bridge to promote the healthy and harmonious development of Italy-China relations.
The Chinese Embassy in Italy highly praised Shen Qi for his image as a peace envoy through academic degrees.
Times have changed. Now, some Western monks are genuinely seeking advice from Chinese monks on how to chant scriptures in certain scientific fields.
After concluding his friendly visit to Bologna, Shen Qi departed from Milan Airport on the morning of August 1st, local time, and flew to St. Saint Petersburg, Russia, to attend the International Congress of Mathematicians.
As luck would have it, in the first-class cabin of the plane, Shen Qi discovered that the guy next to him was an acquaintance, Professor Faltings Alessio Figari.
Faltings was Italy, but his personality was unlike that of Italy. He produced mathematical results very quickly, and his team published more than ten high-quality mathematical papers or other types of mathematical works a year.
"Alessio, this year's Fields Medal is definitely yours." Shen Qi and Faltings were colleagues in the Princeton Mathematics Department. Four years ago, Shen Qi won the Fields Medal, while Faltings missed out.
Faltings said, "You know what, Qi, I've gone back to work in Italy. Since you left, Princeton's math strength has dropped by half."
Shen Qi laughed and said, "Really? You're gone too. Princeton's math strength has dropped by half again. But the thing is, in the latest math program rankings, Princeton Mathematics Department is still ranked number one in the world."
"Ha ha!"
The two renowned Chinese and Italian mathematicians burst into laughter, bringing this round of mutual flattery to an end. The aircraft, which had been violently shaking due to changes in airflow, finally stabilized and continued its northward journey, safely arriving in Saint Petersburg.