Cheng Che!
Cheng Che was staring at the deduction calculations in his notebook, his palms sweating with excitement, when he suddenly heard someone calling him from outside the door.
He paused, stunned. Wasn't that his father's voice?
He sounds a bit angry. Who upset him?
He went over and opened the door.
When the door opened, he froze.
A line of people stood outside the door.
His dad, his mom, his grandpa, his grandma, and --
Yan Ruanning and Su Qingyue.
Cheng Che looked at them in surprise, then at his father, then at them again, and blinked. "What brings you all here?"
Cheng Jianguo looked at him and laughed in exasperation.
The kid's hair was a mess, his eyes were red, his lips were a little dry, and he was wearing a hoodie he hadn't changed in three days. He looked like he had just crawled out of a hole in the ground.
But the question, "Why are you here?" was asked with such confidence, as if they had no idea what was happening outside.
" Let's Eat," Cheng Jianguo said in the end.
First floor.
Cheng Che sat at the dining table, wolfing down his food.
He was indeed hungry; he had survived on instant noodles and a few mouthfuls of cold rice for three days, and now his stomach felt completely empty.
Jiang Xue felt heartbroken seeing the way he ate.
"Eat slowly, this whole table of food is for you, take your time."
Cheng Che looked up, still chewing rice, and mumbled, "You all eat too. Grandpa, Grandma, have some vegetables."
Cheng Qingshan and Zhou Lan sat opposite him, looking at him, and smiled with satisfaction.
Zhou Lan picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his bowl.
Cheng Jianguo sat beside him, watching him eat half a bowl of rice to fill his stomach, before speaking, "What have you been doing in there? You haven't come out for three days."
Cheng Che said while eating, "Writing a thesis."
"Paper?"
Cheng Jianguo was taken aback.
Jiang Xue also put down her chopsticks and looked at him.
Yan Ruanning, who had been sitting silently to the side, also looked up at this moment.
Su Qingyue sat opposite her and looked over as well.
Cheng Che swallowed the food in his mouth, his tone casual, but the smugness in his voice was impossible to hide:
"I have proven the [ Integer-Coefficient Polynomial Root Distribution Conjectures ], and I have completed it."
A moment of silence fell over the dinner table.
Cheng Qingshan and Zhou Lan exchanged a glance, not understanding.
Cheng Jianguo and Jiang Xue exchanged glances, but neither of them understood.
Yan Ruanning frowned slightly. She vaguely felt that the word "conjecture" was very powerful, but she didn't know exactly why.
Only Su Qingyue.
The chopsticks in her hand froze in mid-air.
She stared at Cheng Che, her eyes slowly widening.
" The Integer-Coefficient Polynomial Root Distribution Conjectures?" she repeated, her voice slightly strained. "You... you've finished proving it?"
Cheng Che nodded.
Su Qingyue put down her chopsticks and took a deep breath.
She is a student at Beijing Normal University. Although she is not a mathematics major, she still has a solid foundation from the college entrance examination and knows more about the mathematics world than the average person.
"That conjecture..." she hesitated, "Was proposed in 1965 by Schinzel of Poland and Zassenhaus of Germany. It concerns the distribution of the roots of polynomials with integer coefficients in the complex plane. It states that the roots of a polynomial with integer coefficients cannot all be concentrated near the unit circle; at least one must be far away. But how to prove it involves three branches: p-advanced number theory, complex analytic potential theory, and algebraic number theory. For a long time, no one could provide a complete proof."
She paused for a moment. "Later, several mathematicians worked on partial results, but a complete proof has never been found. How did you—"
Cheng Che said, "It's already been sent to Professor Liu, please ask him to be the corresponding author."
"Why?"
"Undergraduates submitting to international academic journals as sole authors are too easily rejected. Professor Liu being the corresponding author significantly increases the acceptance rate," Cheng Che said, taking another bite of rice. "Besides, Professor Liu has been good to me; he wouldn't do something like that to me."
Cheng Che, of course, didn't tell the truth.
Professor Liu gave him a 60 out of True Heart Value; he is someone who can be trusted.
Moreover, he possesses the [ Gu of the Heart ] talent, so he has no worries about Professor Liu tricking him.
Moreover, he has a backup plan; even if his talent inexplicably fails, he won't be taken advantage of.
Su Qingyue opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.
She looked at Cheng Che as if he were a complete stranger.
After listening to Su Qingyue's explanation, Cheng Jianguo still didn't quite understand the specifics, but he grasped the key words.
His son solved a problem that had remained unsolved in the mathematical community, and within three days.
He put down his chopsticks.
"You mean..." his voice was a little unsteady, "... you made a big commotion?"
Cheng Che thought for a moment, "I guess so."
Jiang Xue's eyes immediately reddened.
"We've brought honor to our family," she said softly, her voice trembling slightly. "Our Cheng family has produced a scientist."
Cheng Qingshan remained silent, but his fingers tightened around his wine glass.
Zhou Lan's eyes also shone.
Yan Ruanning sat beside her, watching this scene unfold.
She was happy for Cheng Che.
I'm really happy.
But she also had a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on. She watched Cheng Che and Su Qingyue discuss things she couldn't understand at all, and saw the genuine appreciation in Su Qingyue's eyes for Cheng Che's intellect.
She suddenly felt that there was something between her and Su Qingyue.
She is an art student, majoring in singing and acting.
She could play the piano, record songs, and discuss music arrangements with him.
But she couldn't get a single word in edgewise when it came to math, conjectures, and proofs.
Su Miaoyin is also from Peking University, and she understands music theory and composition, so she shares common interests with Cheng Che.
Su Qingyue is from Beijing Normal University and now understands mathematics, putting her on the same knowledge level as Cheng Che.
She lowered her head and clenched the cup in her hand.
Cheng Che ate three bowls of rice before finally putting down his chopsticks.
He was indeed tired.
After three days of intense concentration, I feel completely drained, but my mind is still working.
He glanced up at the clock on the wall and mentally estimated the time.
Professor Liu should see the email soon.
Peking University.
The campus was quiet during the holidays.
Most students have already gone home, and the teaching buildings and library have turned off their lights, with only a few teaching and research buildings still lit up.
In the office area of the School of Mathematics, Professor Liu was still in his office.
A stack of papers lay in front of him, the research proposals of the graduate students he was supervising.
He had just finished a phone call with two students, arranging their project schedules for the holiday.
The first graduate student's research topic was p-advanced L-functions and Iwasawa algebra. He asked that student to read the latest paper on Selmer groups and give a presentation next week.
The second student was studying complex dynamical systems. He asked that student to first review the relevant articles published in the Annals of Mathematics over the past three years and compile a literature review.
After hanging up the phone, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.
He's 62 this year. He doesn't have many students, but he has to keep a close eye on each one.
In the field of mathematics, if you don't keep a close eye on it, it will fall apart.
He picked up his teacup and took a sip; the water was already cold.
As he put down his teacup, he habitually glanced at the email notification in the lower right corner of his computer screen.
A new email.
From: Cheng Che.
Professor Liu smiled.
He really likes this student.
Clever, very clever.
Even at Peking University, he would be considered a top-tier genius.
There are just too many things to do – entertainment, sports, music, and now filming TV dramas – making it impossible to focus on mathematics and scientific research.
He shook his head and opened the email.
Then he saw the title of the attachment.
The full title is. "A Complete Proof of the Integer-Coefficient Polynomial Root Distribution Conjectures: Based on a Unified Framework of p-Advanced Number Theory, Complex Analytic Potential Theory, and Algebraic Number Height Theory".
Professor Liu's finger stopped.
He stared at the title for three seconds, then clicked on the attachment.
The Word document loads. The first page contains only one line of text, which is the title of the paper.
Turn to the second page, the summary.
The main text follows.
He flipped through a few more pages.
Root distribution estimation under the p-entry framework.
Correspondence lemma in complex analytic potential theory.
The lower bound of Weil height in algebraic number height theory.
The convergence of the three branches.
A complete chain of proof.
Professor Liu turned the pages more and more slowly.
At first he skimmed through it, then he read it line by line, and then he stopped, reread a certain passage, and then read it again.
He stood up, walked to the window, and took a deep breath.
Then he went back to his chair and started reading from the beginning.