Great Country Academician

Just two steps away, Xu Chuan suddenly thought of another question.

He stopped and looked at Pashia Miris, who was standing still, and asked curiously, "I remember you just said that you studied under Professor Marianne Mirzakhani?"

Pasia Miris thought that there was room for turning things around, her eyes lit up, and she walked over quickly.

"Yes, my mentor is Mirzakhani."

"You said you are a doctoral student at Princeton? But if I remember correctly, Professor Marianne Mirzakhani seems to be working at Stanford University, right?"

Xu Chuan asked strangely, why did the students of Professor Marianne Mirzakhani come to Princeton?

Are you an exchange student?

It shouldn’t be. For most people, if they can learn from the Fields Medal winner, this is almost the best choice, and there is no need to switch to Princeton to study.

Hearing this, Pasia Miris shook her head, and said in a somewhat disappointed voice, "Professor Mirzakhani was my mentor during my graduate studies. I came to Princeton when I was 12 years old."

Xu Chuan suddenly understood that the girl in front of him was really unlucky.

She followed Professor Marian Mirzakhani during her postgraduate period, and went to Princeton for further study in 12 years, but only two years later, Professor Mirzakhani won the Fields Medal.

Although it is a very good choice to go to Princeton for further studies, and you can learn a lot, but correspondingly, following a Fields Medal mentor, you can get more resources, status and other things.

Not everyone can compare with himself, and he can learn from two Fields Medal winners after entering Princeton.

Thinking about it, the girl named Pashia just missed this opportunity.

Back in the dormitory, Xu Chuan cleaned the dormitory and sorted the luggage he brought over.

The resources of Princeton University are still quite sufficient, such as dormitory rooms and so on. There are five residential colleges for accommodation alone.

Each residential college includes a series of dormitories, a dining hall, and other facilities including study rooms, libraries, stages, darkrooms, and more.

But there are quite a lot of single rooms like his, but not everyone can apply for them.

Even if you are a doctoral student at Princeton, if you apply for accommodation without the help of your supervisor, you will most likely only be able to apply for a double or triple room.

Xu Chuan doesn't have high requirements for accommodation, he can accept double room or multi-person room, but single room is obviously better.

After all, sometimes he often stays up late or even all night when he is delving into problems or studying. If he lives with others, it will definitely affect others.

There is no such trouble in the single dormitory, and he can do whatever he wants.

After simply cleaning the room and sorting out the luggage he brought, Xu Chuan got up and went downstairs to the eating club outside the school to have dinner, and then went to sleep to adjust to the jet lag.

Princeton University is the only school among the eight Ivy League schools located in a town famous for food. This school is famous for its unique celebrity chef visits to the school. Every week, you can taste the special food cooked by well-known chefs in person.

But unfortunately, these well-known chefs are basically chefs of all kinds of Western food, and they don't know Chinese food.

If you want to eat Chinese food in Princeton, you have to go to some special 'restaurants' near the campus, or special 'eating clubs', which only serve Chinese food.

He has stayed here for more than ten years, so he knows where the food tastes best for him.

However, Xu Chuan underestimated his influence a little bit. When he appeared in the Daqian Cuisine Restaurant outside Princeton and was recognized, the whole restaurant suddenly became agitated.

Xu Chuan far underestimated the allure of an 18-year-old popular candidate for the Philippine Prize to a professor of mathematics at Princeton University.

Especially when these professors basically knew that he would come to Princeton to study, they had already confessed to their assistants or students. If they met him, they must recruit them.

So while eating, Xu Chuan encountered people who kept coming up to chat with him, handing over business cards, and recommending tutors.

After a meal, he received more than ten business cards.

One of them was handed to him by the owner of Daqian Cuisine Forest Restaurant.

The boss is a Chinese, tall and thick, but he is very good at cooking. He is very good at cooking fish, whether it is freshwater fish or sea fish.

Especially boiled fish fillets, it can be said to be the authentic taste of hometown.

But unfortunately, the vast majority of Princeton students basically don't eat boiled fish made with freshwater fish such as grass carp, silver carp, and snakehead.

In the eyes of most foreigners, Chinese food is either too spicy, too salty, or too bland, which is not suitable for the stomach at all.

In this regard, Xu Chuan can only say that you really only deserve to eat hamburger sandwiches and French fries.

Politely declined all the students and assistants who came to recommend a tutor, and after publicly stating that he already had a tutor, the following time was much quieter, and there were no longer an endless stream of people coming to strike up a conversation.

After adjusting the pace of life and jet lag for a day or two, Xu Chuan has almost completely adapted to the Princeton way of life, and incidentally received invitations from various clubs at Princeton University.

It is worth mentioning that in Princeton, the various clubs established around the entire campus are quite a beautiful cultural landscape.

In Princeton, a "pocket" university, there are only a thousand new students every year, but there are more than 300 student organizations, 38 sports clubs, and more than a dozen pastors and campus centers that are convenient for students to pray.

These student organizations and clubs constitute many of Princeton's campus cultures, and they are clearly stratified, and many of them have strong exclusion, or contempt chains.

Like eating clubs.

There are 11 eating clubs in Princeton, 5 of which are free to join and 6 of which need to be screened.

Compared with fraternities and sororities, or other social organizations, the eating club has a unique selection process called the "bicker" process, and the students here get to know each other with the members of the eating club through academic "arguments".

Obviously, the eating clubs that need to go through a lot of screening, such as the Ivy League eating club, have top-level students.

But don't simply think that this is a structure similar to the domestic student union.

Here, the top clubs can provide student members with help and free guidance in various aspects such as studying abroad applications, career planning, academic exchanges, etc., and regularly hold lectures and salons for studying abroad, and invite students from Harvard, Yale and other famous schools and workplaces Elites share valuable experience in studying abroad application and job hunting for members.

This is a platform for high-end social networking and DIY resource sharing, so it will be heavily screened and filtered step by step.

Of course, these multiple screenings are completely non-existent rules for real top talents.

Just like the Ivy League Club, the top club in Princeton University, Xu Chuan hadn't applied for it in his life, and the other party sent him the invitation letter on his own initiative.

In comparison, the situation in the previous life where you went through the steps of application, traditional and ancient debates to join the membership is simply incomparable, the two are completely different.

It can only be said that geniuses or capable people are welcome everywhere.

After dealing with invitations from clubs, student organizations, etc., Xu Chuan retreated to his dormitory, preparing to concentrate on completing the data calculation of the "Proton Radius Mystery" problem.

But at this moment, he received a call from his mentor Deligne.

Putting down the manuscript paper in his hand, Xu Chuan came to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Most of the time, his two mentors, Deligne and Witten, are basically doing research at the institute. As for the classes at Princeton University, if they are in a good mood, or if there is a big class, they will go there, and the rest of the time they will be there. Basically hand it over to your assistant or student.

For a boss of their level, this operation couldn't be more normal.

Knocking on the door of the office, Xu Chuan walked in. In the office, an old man in long sleeves was sitting at the desk.

"tutor."

Xu Chuan said hello, Deligne looked up and put down the ballpoint pen in his hand.

"How are you getting used to these two days? Has the jet lag been adjusted?"

Xu Chuan: "Thank you teacher for your concern, the adjustment is almost done."

Deligne: "That's good, get used to the life here as soon as possible, enter the state of study and research as soon as possible, Weiteng is still waiting for you."

Xu Chuan nodded: "I will do my best to speed up and perfect it."

Hearing this, Deligne smiled and said, "Don't be so anxious. Study and research should be combined with daily life. There are still many interesting clubs and student organizations in Princeton, such as rugby, football, and ice skating. You can touch it, after all, the body is the most important."

Deligne persuaded with a smile, he is not worried that the student in front of him is not working hard in study and research.

Whether it is him, Witten, or other professors at Princeton, they have all brought students from China.

Apart from other things, in terms of diligence and hard work, there is no student from any other country in Princeton that can compare with students from China.

Sometimes they hardly have any other recreational activities except eating, sleeping and studying.

Such students cannot be said to be bad, but they lack the spirituality and communication necessary for academics.

And sometimes, it is often this bit of spirituality and communication that can push a person further on the academic path.

Engaging in academics and research behind closed doors is unacceptable. Except for that "eccentric" Perelman, there are almost no research scholars who have produced major achievements behind closed doors.

Inspiration and sparks are born in communication and collision, and a person's thinking is always limited.

So Deligne hopes that Xu Chuan can go out for more activities, make some friends, and keep absorbing external knowledge.

Xu Chuan was naturally aware of this, and nodded in agreement.

Although his way of learning and research is a bit like Perelman's ascetic research style, he never denies the importance of communicating with top peers.

"By the way, this is for you."

After a brief chat, Professor Deligne took out a certificate-like paper from the drawer, put it on the table, and pushed it to Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan picked up the paper from the table curiously, and glanced at it.

"Student award?"

Deligne nodded, and said: "Well, when I went through the admission procedures for you before, I applied for a full scholarship for you by the way, and you can take it to the Academic Affairs Office later, and your tuition fee can be waived and accommodation expenses, and a living allowance of 100,000 meters in gold, which can be used for daily living allowances.”

After a pause, Professor Deligne added: "Of course, with your grades, you can apply for it yourself."

Holding the student award in his hand, Xu Chuan thanked Professor Deligne.

But neither he nor Deligne cared about this thing.

Princeton's student award, that is, the full award that includes bursary + scholarship + tuition and miscellaneous fee exemption is difficult to get, especially the full award at the doctoral stage, where the competition is fierce.

After all, tuition at Princeton University is ridiculously expensive.

Not to mention the doctoral degree, the tuition fee for the undergraduate degree alone exceeds 50,000 mijin per year, which is 350,000 per year in conversion.

In addition to tuition fees, there are accommodation fees, meals, and other miscellaneous fees.

All in all, the annual tuition fees for studying alone are at least 70,000 to 80,000 meters, or almost 500,000 CNY.

Ordinary families simply cannot afford such high tuition fees.

And the full scholarship can reduce all tuition and miscellaneous fees, accommodation fees, and give you an extra living allowance, so it will naturally be scrambled by countless people.

However, the application for the full award is also based on the individual.

As far as Xu Chuan is concerned, he is qualified to be a full professor at Princeton directly. Anyone who can write applications and letters of recommendation for other students is now enrolled as a doctoral student with a full scholarship. As long as he applies, Princeton will definitely pass it. , no matter how strict the review system is.

For a prodigy who can prove a world-class mathematical conjecture at the age of eighteen, no matter which school he goes to, scholarship or something, he is almost doomed.

Even if he doesn't want it, the school will stuff it into his arms.

After dealing with these trivial chores, Xu Chuan settled down at Princeton University, and began to devote himself to perfecting the calculation method of the "Proton Radius Mystery".

If it is an ordinary doctoral student, after paying homage to a supervisor, there will definitely be teaching assistants, scientific research and experiment assistants, etc. jobs.

Xu Chuan was no exception. Professor Deligne arranged for him to be a teaching assistant, but he didn't insist on the teaching assistant's time. He was given priority in fulfilling Professor Witten's requirements.

Deligne was not worried that this student would waste his knowledge of mathematics. Although the problem of the "proton radius mystery" belonged to the physics world, since Xu Chuan's research started from mathematics, it ultimately belonged to the research of mathematics.

The days passed day by day like this, and in the blink of an eye, the time came to the beginning of July.

During this month, Xu Chuan not only perfected the calculation method of the "mystery of proton radius" every day, but also learned other mathematical knowledge from Professor Deligne.

Focusing on number theory and differential equations that Xu Chuan wanted to learn, the old professor would occasionally teach him some mathematics in algebraic geometry.

After all, Pope Grothendieck, who studied algebraic geometry, algebraic geometry can be said to be a compulsory course.

This more than a month of study has given Xu Chuan a deeper understanding of his math tutor.

There is nothing wrong with his choice.

Although this mentor has been the name of the pope's student all his life, it is an honor, but also an inescapable tragedy. But the old man's knowledge is really broad and boundless, giving people a kind of unfathomable depth with no end in sight.

Over the past month, almost all the various problems he encountered in the process of learning number theory have been answered and inspired by this old man.

Xu Chuan was surprised by Professor Deligne's knowledge, and Professor Deligne was also surprised, even shocked by Xu Chuan's talent.

During this month, Xu Chuan mainly learned analytic number theory from him, without any cover in front of him.

At the beginning, this young genius still had a lot of misunderstandings and incomprehensions about analytic number theory.

But in just one month, he has been able to use multiplicative number theory in analytic number theory to study the properties of product generating functions with him, and to explore the distribution of prime numbers.

Although multiplicative number theory is only a part of analytic number theory, it still shocked him greatly.

It is worthy of being a young genius who solved a world-class conjecture at the age of eighteen. His terrifying learning speed and mathematical talent can be said to be the first person he has encountered since he has been teaching in Princeton for decades.

Even Tao Zhexuan, known as the "Mozart of Mathematics", when he was studying in Princeton, showed a talent for mathematics that was inferior to this young man.