April 30th, the last working day and study day before the May Day holiday.
"Shen Qi, you participated in the Peking University Golden Autumn Camp, so you're familiar with Peking University. You can have fun by yourself. I'm going to SJS to meet up with my best friends and old classmates. Call me if you need anything." After giving these instructions, Mu Rong went off to have some fun by herself.
"Business trip paid for by the company, personal time wasted... You, you, then go ahead and have your fun." Watching Teacher Mu's departing figure, Shen Qi felt relieved.
In just a few short days, Mu Rong couldn't possibly teach Shen Qi too much, so it was better for them to go their separate ways and travel light.
Upon arriving at Yenching University, Shen Qi was indeed quite familiar with the place. He wandered around the campus alone, and the first thing he did was call Professor Sun Erxiong of the Mathematics Department. It would be impolite not to greet Professor Sun while at Yenching University.
"Professor Sun, I, Shen Qi, am back!" Shen Qi said excitedly on the phone.
"So what if you're back?" It sounded very noisy on Sun Erxiong's end.
"This..." Shen Qi was speechless. Yes, this was Peking University, a place King of Show Offs roamed freely. What was so special about a Mathematics Department pre-enrollment student like me?
"I'm busy right now and don't have time for you. Come to the auditorium in an hour for a lecture." Sun Erxiong hung up after saying that.
"This... Old Sun, you've changed." Shen Qi thought to himself, "Last autumn, Old Sun, you treated me to dumplings and steamed buns, gave me directional advice, and were so good to me. How come you've become like this this May Day? People can change so easily, so cold."
Who is this mysterious figure giving a speech in the auditorium today, making Old Sun too busy to pay attention to me? Let's go take a look. Shen Qi walked towards the auditorium.
Walking to the auditorium, Shen Qi saw a large sign at the entrance that read, "Welcome internationally renowned mathematicians Yun Wei and Gong Changwei back to the school to give lectures."
"So it was God Yun and God Wei who returned. No wonder Old Sun didn't have time to deal with me!" Shen Qi had been a little resentful towards Sun Erxiong just now, but now he felt relieved.
Who are the God Yun and the God Wei?
They are the pride of Yenching University's Mathematics Department and the most promising Chinese mathematicians of our time to win the Fields Medal.
Mathematical super grand slam winners like Jean-Pierre Serre, Deligne, John Milnor, John Thompson are too far removed from Shen Qi. He doesn't know if he will ever meet these living super giants in the Mathematics Community in his lifetime, after all, they are all old men, and age catches up with them.
(F = Fields Medal, W = Wolf Prize, A = Abel Prize)
Shen Qi had met Andrew Wiles, a slightly younger F+W+A Grand Slam winner, once.
Even though he had met Andrew Wiles once in London, Shen Qi felt that Sir Wiles was still too far removed from him.
Unlike Yun Wei and Gong Changwei, they are both Chinese, very young, in their thirties, and both graduates of the Mathematics Department of Yenching University. Both of them won IMO gold medals when they were in high school... This made Shen Qi feel very connected to them.
After entering the auditorium and finding a seat, Shen Qi looked around. There was still nearly an hour before the lecture began, and the auditorium was already about half full of audience members, most of whom looked like university students.
So Old Sun was busy entertaining the God Yun and the God Wei, right? Shen Qi it out and waited for the speech to begin.
Those who can give speeches in the Yanjing University Auditorium are not ordinary people. Clinton, Chirac, Gates, and many other big names in the scientific community and well-known young scholars have all given speeches here.
At 3:00 PM sharp, the auditorium was packed, and the speech began.
The host proudly introduces. "Please welcome Yun Wei, winner of the Breakthrough Prize and the Ramanujan Prize, and the youngest professor at Yale University, to the stage to give a speech!"
Clap clap clap!
A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience, and Shen Qi clapped along, genuinely cheering for the God Yun.
The host succinctly summarized Yun Wei's achievements in just three sentences.
The Breakthrough Prize was founded by business leaders such as Zuckerberg, Jack Ma, and Sergey Brin, who own technology-based companies like Facebook, Alibaba, and Google.
The Breakthrough Prize includes awards in life sciences, fundamental physics, and mathematics, with a single award prize of up to $3 million, far exceeding that of the Nobel Prize.
The Ramanujan Prize is a prestigious award known to mathematicians, second only to the F+W+A (French, W+A) Math Prize internationally.
Yun Wei is in his early thirties and is a professor in the Mathematics Department at Yale University. He is the youngest full professor in Yale University's centuries-long history.
Yun Wei, wearing glasses and looking rather refined, began by saying, "I'm a bit slow-witted, so I chose mathematics."
Hehe.
A knowing laugh rippled through the audience. "You think you're stupid? Then we're all idiots, okay?"
Yun Wei briefly introduced his experience: he has loved mathematics since childhood, won a gold medal in the IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) in his second year of high school (he won a perfect score), and was then very fortunate to be admitted to the Mathematics Department of Yenching University without taking the entrance exam...
Up to this point, Shen Qi was really getting into it. "My experience is so similar to God Yun's... well, my experience in the last year or two."
Yun Wei casually recounted that when he was an undergraduate in the Mathematics Department of Peking University, he received the title of "Three Good Student" every year and basically got full marks in the mathematics exams. The only subject he failed was number theory, which he was particularly afraid of.
"That's why I was hesitant to delve into number theory. When I was pursuing my master's and doctoral degrees in the Princeton Mathematics Department, I chose Algebraic Geometry..."
After completing his undergraduate studies in the Mathematics Department at Yenching University, Yun Wei pursued further studies in the Princeton Mathematics Department, where he earned his doctorate. He then worked as a lecturer at MIT and Associate Professor at Stanford University before becoming a professor in the Mathematics Department at Yale University.
"The field I'm currently researching is called the Langlands Program, which can be understood as a new program combining number theory and Algebraic Geometry. It has historical significance, and I hope to achieve a breakthrough so that the names of Chinese mathematicians can shine on the world stage."
Clap clap clap!
Yun Wei's speech was interrupted by thunderous applause from the audience, most of whom were faculty and students from Yenching University and knowledgeable about the subject.
"Amazing! If you, God Yun, can master the Langlands Program, the Fields Medal will be a piece of cake. This program is enough to unify the international mathematical world!" Shen Qi clapped enthusiastically. Of course, he knew the significance of the Langlands Program.
In the Mathematics Community, research fields known as "programmatic fields" are considered exceptionally advanced.
To date, there are only three programs in Mathematics Community: the Erlangen Program, the Hilbert Program, and the Langlands Program.
The first two programs emerged in the 19th and early 20th centuries, guiding the development of Mathematics Community for nearly a century.
The Langlands Program was proposed in the mid-to-late 20th century. In simple terms, the Langlands Program is a programmatic guiding document that integrates number theory, Algebraic Geometry, and Group Theory.
To put it more simply, if a mathematician cannot solve a problem in one field, then they will try to solve it in another.
There is no mathematical problem that cannot be solved by the Langlands Program; if there is, then try again... Theoretically speaking, if the Langlands Program is thoroughly proven, it will possess this universal, Grand Unification power.
Since the 1990s, three mathematicians have partially solved some conjectures in the Langlands Program and have won the Fields Medal. One of them is the contemporary mathematical giant, Drinfeld.
In fact, Andrew Wiles, the F+W+A Grand Slam winner, proved Fermat's Last Theorem, providing crucial support for the Langlands Program.
Wiles is a master of number theory. He has an exceptional sensitivity to numbers. Do you think it's easy for a British person to quickly perform mental calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division up to 40? No, it requires extremely high arithmetic talent, which Wiles possesses. That's why he won the Fields Medal and became one of the leading figures in the Mathematics Community today.
The existence of a program is very attractive. Shen Qi set a lofty goal in his mind: the Langlands Program. He hoped that before God Yun could handle it, he could also get involved in it.
"I am especially honored to be able to return to my alma mater this time. I would like to thank my teachers in the Department of the Mathematics Department at Yenching University, Teacher Zhang Yuxin, Teacher Su Weilong, and Professor Sun Erxiong. Their kindness will always be in my heart and I will never forget it. Thank you for your guidance!" Yun Wei bowed deeply to the audience, which once again drew thunderous applause.
The two teachers mentioned earlier, Teacher Zhang and Teacher Su, are both renowned professors in the Mathematics Department of Yenching University. Sun Erxiong is not as famous as them, but he did teach God Yun's undergraduate mathematics courses.
"Hey Fatty Sun, not bad, you're a famous teacher too?" Shen Qi looked around. Professor Sun must be in this auditorium, such an obvious target weighing over 200 pounds, where is he sitting?