From University Lecturer to Chief Academician

Kakutani conjecture, also known as hail conjecture, Kratz problem, 3X+1 problem, the content of the conjecture is any natural number x, if it is an odd number, calculate 3x+1, if it is an even number, divide it by two.

Counting like this, you will eventually fall into the 4-2-1 cycle at the bottom.

The content of this conjecture is very simple, and because of this, it has become widely known. There has always been a strong interest in solving the Kakutani conjecture in the mathematical community.

It is probably for this reason that Kakutani's conjecture has become very valuable, even more valuable than the seven mathematical conjectures of the millennium.

The earliest reward for the Kakuya conjecture was 70 years ago, a man named Paul Endos, who was willing to provide $500 to the prover of the Kakuya conjecture.

Later, many people in the fields of mathematics, business, and even other fields offered rewards for Kakutani's conjecture. Although the amount was not large, it was enough to prove that people were interested in Kakaya's conjecture.

The current highest prize for the Kakutani conjecture comes from a Japanese company called Baku Times. They announced that they will provide 120 million yen to the certifiers of the Kakutani conjecture.

According to the exchange rate at that time, it was equivalent to 1.2 million US dollars.

In addition, some scientific institutions also set bonuses for the proof of Kakutani's conjecture. There are 20,000, 50,000, 100,000...too many to count.

At the same time, there are related rewards in China.

The Kakutani Conjecture was selected into "10,000 Scientific Problems (Mathematics Volume)" jointly published by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Academy of Sciences, and the Natural Science Foundation of China. It was listed as the fourth problem in the mathematics volume. One million RMB is collected.

With so many individuals, scientific institutions, and companies announcing a reward for solving the Kakutani Conjecture, it is enough to see the attraction of the Kakutani Conjecture.

If someone can complete the proof of Kakutani's conjecture, they can get all the above bonuses.

Wang Hao is very motivated to complete this research even if it is just for a large bonus, which is one of the reasons why he put the proof of Kakutani's conjecture before the summary of mathematical methods.

After confirming that the proof of Kakutani's conjecture could be completed, Wang Hao began to immerse himself in research.

at the same time.

Wang Hao completed the proof video of the built-in square in the curve on the spot, which also aroused heated discussions on the Internet. Many people watched the video and could only praise it highly, "Wang Hao, it's too cruel!"

"Students ask questions and answer them immediately, which is still an unproven problem in the mathematics world."

"This is called a top mathematician. Read those reports saying how good a certain math genius is, and how good it is. Let's compare?"

Many professional scholars feel that the completion of Wang Hao's research is simply unreasonable logic, a problem that has not been solved in the mathematics world, and he solved it after a little thought?

This is too buggy!

Only professional scholars will watch all the videos. They find that Wang Hao's speech is indeed very good and smooth, and to a certain extent doubt whether it is the proof made on the spot.

"Perhaps it has been proven, just explain it?" Someone raised doubts.

When the news broke out, many scholars did doubt it. The main reason was that they could not understand that someone could temporarily unravel the uncompleted proofs in the mathematics world. Similar problems, even if they do careful research, there is a high probability that there will be no results.

But there are also authoritative mathematicians who stand up and say, "You can't doubt it just because you can't do it. In the mathematics world, the gap in doing basic research is much bigger than imagined."

This is the talent gap.

Scholars from several domestic universities have discussed this.

Some old mathematics professors can understand why Wang Hao can easily complete the proofs that the mathematics world has not completed, while others can't get results after hard research.

This is the gap between people, and the gap in mathematics is even greater.

Those mathematicians who can achieve results in the field of basic mathematics research must be the kind of extremely outstanding and intelligent people.

This kind of person cannot be understood by ordinary people.

For example, Terence Tao.

Terrance Tao is not famous because he obtained Fields. It can even be said that most people do not know what field of research he relied on to obtain Fields.

Terence Tao is best known for his "prodigy resume".

When he was only 8 years old, he had entered secondary school and was still studying mathematics and physics at Flinders University not far from home.

At the age of 13, he won the gold medal in the Mathematical Olympiad, a record that has not been broken until now.

He entered the Mathematics Department of Flinders University at the age of 14 and received an honorary science degree at the age of 16. A year later, he obtained a master's degree and was admitted to Princeton University to study for a doctorate.

With this resume, even other Fields winners would feel ashamed.

It sounds like going to university at the age of fourteen is not a big deal, but it must be considered that he won an international Olympic gold medal first, setting the record for the minimum age for an Olympic gold medal.

In the two years before he won the gold medal, he won the silver medal and the bronze medal respectively. In other words, he has participated in the Olympic competition since he was 11 years old and was able to win awards, while children of the same age have not yet graduated from elementary school.

Another example is Pete Schultz.

Schulz went to university much later, but he only took one year to get a degree in mathematics from the prestigious University of Bonn.

Famous foreign schools are strict in admission and strict exit. It is not easy for every student to graduate. Pete Schultz completed all subjects in one year, and achieved excellent results in mathematics courses.

Obviously.

This is beyond ordinary people's comprehension.

Many old professors of mathematics are very clear that in the field of basic mathematics research, results cannot be achieved through hard work. Talent is more important than hard work. They have worked hard all their lives, but they can only do some research work on leftovers of mathematical theory, while some young Before the age of thirty, a person can win the Fields Medal for his contribution to a certain field.

How does this compare?

The gap is too big, and it is impossible to catch up with hard work. It is normal for a mathematical genius like Wang Hao to not understand.

The hot public opinion on the Internet has no effect on Wang Hao, at most it is just more people talking about it, and Ding Zhiqiang is more affected.

Ding Zhiqiang became famous.

Behind some videos, a little fat man who Wang Hao favored appeared. Wang Hao also took out two books for the little fat man, and very enthusiastically wanted him to learn to increase his basic knowledge.

So many people know that Wang Hao is optimistic about a student named Ding Zhiqiang.

This has not been discussed much on the Internet. After all, Ding Zhiqiang is just a student. A college teacher will have many students. It is normal to be optimistic about a certain student.

But it was different at Xihai University, especially in the Department of Physics where almost everyone knew about Ding Zhiqiang, and that he was a student favored by Wang Hao.

Ding Zhiqiang became a celebrity in the physics department.

When some teachers are in class, they pay special attention to Ding Zhiqiang to see what is special about him.

In some courses, teachers subconsciously think of Ding Zhiqiang when they call students to answer questions, which makes it impossible for Ding Zhiqiang to skip class, and even has to listen carefully in class.

This is not the most painful.

On the weekend, Ding Zhiqiang was finally able to rest easily, and he picked up his mobile phone to play a game.

The roommate next to me saw it, and immediately reminded, "Ding Zhiqiang, what are you doing? How can you waste time playing games? Uninstall it quickly!"

"Reading, reading, Mr. Wang Hao is so optimistic about you, you can't let him down!"

The other two roommates also looked over in full agreement, "Ding Zhiqiang, you can't play around like us, read more books when you have time!"

"You are the hope of our dormitory, and we expect you to become a mathematician!"

"When you become a mathematician in the future, not to mention getting Fields, as long as you get a small prize, I can go out and brag..."

"Hurry up and read, don't play games."

"..."

Ding Zhiqiang put down the phone with a dark face.

A few minutes later, a roommate called others to join the hacking session. Ding Zhiqiang immediately picked up his mobile phone and entered the hacking room aggressively, "Add me!"

He was T out immediately.

The roommate reminded Ding Zhiqiang not to play games again, and then said to the others, "Come on, let's go to the next dormitory, we can't affect Ding Zhiqiang's study!"

"Yes, let's go!"

"Ding Zhiqiang, read carefully."

"..."

Seeing his roommates walk out of the dormitory together, Ding Zhiqiang suddenly felt the urge to cry, why did he do that?

He wants to play games and hack, but he doesn't want to read books!

"Ah~~~"

Looking at the contents of the book, he felt like he was going crazy.

...

During a weekend, Wang Hao stayed in the teaching and research room most of the time.

On weekends, the teaching and research room was relatively quiet, and one person was bored in it patiently doing research, and the progress of the results was relatively remarkable. He had already completed most of the proofs.

The Kakutani conjecture is not a small problem in mathematics. The entire proof needs to use the entire method it studies, and it takes a long time to carefully consider, calculate, and derive.

Even if he has a general idea and knows the overall process, it still takes a long time. He feels that the entire proof process will take about 20 pages.

Twenty pages does not sound like too much. In fact, compared to the proof of a problem, the content is already very much. Every step of the proof needs to be studied carefully. It can be said that each step is very effective. difficulty.

Wang Hao devoted 100% of his energy to doing research, and would take a break when he felt tired in the middle, and then he saw the mobile phone communication message sent by Cao Dongming.

"Professor Wang Hao, how is your research going?"

"Is there any progress?"

Cao Dongming sent several similar messages, and they were sent at different times.

It was only then that Wang Hao remembered that there was still a research for 'Task 1'. He glanced at it and found that the inspiration value had reached '130' points, so the research could be said to have been completed.

But he really didn't have the heart to make a summary of the material data mining content, so he simply replied, "I'm very busy recently, I will definitely summarize it when I have time."

Just as he was about to put down his phone, he saw a reply, "What are you busy with?"

Two seconds later, the message was retracted.

Another message came, "Thank you, excuse me, you are busy."

"??"

Wang Hao didn't understand, and didn't care too much.

In fact, Cao Dongming wanted to urge Wang Hao, but he was afraid of arousing Wang Hao's dislike. The project in his hand is progressing smoothly recently. Just an adjustment of the smelting temperature has made the two projects have made considerable progress. It is expected to be faster than normal. The progress is fast for more than two months.

The speed of progress is astonishing.

The most important thing is that I feel that the goal is clear, instead of carrying out clueless experiments like before, I can only use continuous experiments and accumulated experience to improve the progress, not to mention spending a lot of money, and there may not be results.

Using the data analysis method researched by Wang Hao, scientific analysis of the process can greatly reduce the consumption of funds and quickly achieve the goal.

Cao Dongming fell in love with this feeling after only experiencing it once.

Many people in the Institute of Aeronautical Materials were also shocked when they heard the news. They immediately paid more attention to Wang Hao's research. Many material calculation and data mining experts began to study Wang Hao's data analysis method carefully.

It's just that the content of the method is too complicated, and it takes a long time to fully understand it. If the understanding is not clear, it may not be accurate in application.

The Institute of Aeronautical Materials still hopes that Wang Hao can give another explanation, especially how to apply his method.

opposite.

Cao Dongming felt a little lost when he saw Wang Hao's reply.

Qu Shigang immediately asked, "How is it?"

Cao Dongming said dejectedly, "Professor Wang Hao said that he is very busy and will help tidy up when he has time."

"This is obviously unwilling to help!" Qu Shigang frowned vigorously, "It must be the last report. We didn't have enough people to listen, and we didn't entertain well."

"Now he is not willing to invest energy in it."

"Do you want to think of a way?" Qu Shigang thought about it and said, "Let's go to Xihai University and ask Wang Hao to talk about it? It's okay to make an apology, his method is too important to us!"

A professor next to him thought about it and asked, "This method is good, but in what name? Can't it be said to be an apology?"

Several people in the office were lost in thought.

Cao Dongming suddenly said, "How about we join forces with several departments to go to Xihai University in the name of inspecting Navitas Laboratory?"

"The nano-micro laboratory of Xihai University is very unique in the research field of nano-micro materials. There are many materials in aviation, and nano-micro technology is also needed. We will go in this name..."

"good idea!"

Qu Shigang's eyes lit up when he heard this, "We are doing materials research, so we will go in the name of inspecting the laboratory. It will be fine to apologize in person then!"

"Face is small, research is big!"

"Yeah……"

...

Complex office.

Wang Hao's crazy mode is finally over, he has completed the main part of the proof, and the next job is to add some steps and improve it carefully from beginning to end.

If you want to submit a paper, you need to go through it again carefully and list the main proof process.

Today is Tuesday.

In the morning, the office was very deserted, only Zhang Zhiqiang and Wang Hao were there.

Zhang Zhiqiang noticed that Wang Hao was busy all the time, so he asked, "What are you busy with? What kind of 'small research' is it?" The last few words were a bit ironic.

Wang Hao's so-called small research may become a big problem that cannot be solved for others.

Wang Hao nodded and said, "It's still a proof of conjecture, but it's not a small research."

"What is it?"

"Kakutani's conjecture."

"Oh~~"

Zhang Zhiqiang nodded calmly, and suddenly realized, he stood up from the chair with a 'bass', "Really? Kakutani's conjecture?"

"yes?"

"How is the research going?" Zhang Zhi asked impatiently.

"It's okay." Wang Hao said hesitantly, "It's not finished yet."

"Oh~~"

Zhang Zhiqiang sat down again, and breathed a sigh of relief. It is normal that it is not completed. Kakutani's conjecture is not a small problem, and it is definitely a big problem that will shock the world when it is proved.

At this time, I heard Wang Hao add, "It will probably be tomorrow."

"—?"

Zhang Zhiqiang was stunned when he heard this, and looked at Wang Hao without moving his eyes, his mouth was half-open, as if time had no effect on him, and it took a long time before he asked definitively, "Aren't you here?" Just kidding, right?"

"no……"

"I'm X!" Zhang Zhiqiang spat a mouthful of obscenities, and immediately reacted and covered his mouth forcefully. He also glanced at the door of the office and found that there was no one else at the door, so he quickly closed the door.

After walking back again, he whispered, "Is it really proven?"

"Didn't you lie to me? Right? This is amazing, Kakutani guessed..."

"Should I still post it on the blog this time?"

His sneaky appearance made Wang Hao feel very strange.

how?

Can't see anyone anymore?

Wang Hao didn't say anything, but looked at Zhang Zhiqiang with a puzzled expression, as if looking at a fool.

Only then did Zhang Zhiqiang come to his senses, "Of course it's impossible to post it online. How are you going to publish it? Are you going to participate in an academic report or submit a manuscript?"

"Not ready yet."

Wang Hao shook his head and said, he went to make a cup of coffee, and then checked his phone when he came back, and found a message from overseas, which was Bruce Pulitzer, the editor-in-chief of "New Advances in Mathematics".

Bruce Pulitzer sent a message to make an appointment with Wang Hao.

The four major journals of mathematics must not worry about manuscripts, but they also need to establish a good relationship with mathematicians in order to maintain high-quality submissions.

Bruce Pulitzer noticed the content Wang Hao posted on his domestic blog. He didn't understand the explanation in Chinese, but it didn't affect his understanding of the content, because some news had already spread abroad.

The proof of the counterexample of palindromic numbers and the shaping of squares in curves are both nice little studies and very meaningful.

The first proof completely denies the palindrome conjecture.

The second is a problem that many mathematicians have studied for a long time but have not been able to prove.

Both of these two small studies can be published in "New Advances in Mathematics", which occupy a small space, but the content is very classic, and there must be no problem in quality.

Wang Hao noticed the message from Bruce Pulitzer, and immediately asked, "Submit now, can it be published in the next issue?"

The next issue he said was early March, but now it is the end of February.

After waiting for a long time, he received a reply from Bruce Pulitzer, "The next issue has been scheduled, and now the manuscript can only be published in April at the earliest."

Wang Hao quickly replied, "What if it is the proof of the hail conjecture?"

This time the wait was longer.

Bruce Pulitzer replied, "For famous math problems, we will consider reprinting temporarily, and the website will also be published simultaneously."

Wang Hao replied with two letters, "OK."

across the ocean.

Bruce Pulitzer was sitting in the office drinking coffee leisurely. When he saw Wang Hao's question, he felt that the other party must be joking.

"Unexpectedly, Wang Hao is also very humorous..."

Bruce Pulitzer shook his head thinking about it, and then saw Wang Hao replying with two letters, and then continued to drink a sip of coffee. He suddenly realized that he stared at the screen with wide eyes, "OK?"

"He won't come, will he?"

"!!"