Great Country Academician

After returning to the dormitory with questions from Deligne, Xu Chuan locked himself in this room of less than twenty square meters.

Although Deligne told him that there was nothing wrong with the core of the proof paper, and that there were only some trivial things that were problematic, he did not dare to relax.

Not to mention him, Wiles, who proved Fermat's conjecture, was troubled by a "little problem" for a full eight months.

And for mathematics, or for science, rigor is the most necessary thing. Any science with problems is unscientific.

Therefore, before submitting the paper officially and holding a mathematics report meeting, he must try his best to make the paper as perfect as possible.

When Xu Chuan revised and perfected the problems that the two tutors checked out in the proof paper, more than ten days had passed since he posted the paper on the arxiv website.

Whether it's my own attention or word of mouth from friends, most of the scholars who pay attention to Hodge's conjecture or the seven millennium problems, or the people who eat melons on the Internet, already know the news.

For the more than 100 pages of papers hanging on the arxiv preprint website, almost all of them have been downloaded.

But unfortunately, not everyone can understand these more than 100 pages of papers.

In other words, the people who can understand these more than one hundred pages of papers are only a very small number of people.

Most people can't even understand the most basic algebraic variety and group mapping tools in it.

Therefore, there are constant debates on the Internet, especially in the mathematics community, on a professional forum:

[Hey, have you read the paper on Arxiv that proves Hodge's conjecture? Is there anyone who knows how to explain it, and whether Hodge's conjecture has been proven. 】

[I read it, but I can't understand it at all. 】

[Unbelievable, is there really hope to solve the Hodge conjecture? 】

[You think too much. This is one of the seven millennium problems. It is only the Poincaré conjecture that has been solved so far. This is the joint efforts of countless people over the past century. Perleman is also standing on the shoulders of giants The three-dimensional Poincaré conjecture is solved only on the top. And what about Hodge's conjecture? Not to mention the shoulders of giants, there is not even a ladder now. 】

[More importantly, if such an important proof paper is thrown on a spam site like arxiv, isn't the implication obvious? 】

[However, the person who proved this thesis is the winner of the Crawford Prize in Mathematics and Astronomy, the genius boy Xu Chuan, who has solved the Weyl-Berry conjecture before. to the habit on the arxiv website. 】

[But the Weyl-Berry conjecture and the Hodge conjecture are not at the same level. The former is not well-known in the mathematics world, while the latter is the problem of the century. More importantly, how long has it been since he solved the Weyl-Berry conjecture today? Less than two years? In two years, one of the seven millennium problems has been solved, do you believe it? 】

[I remember that it took Professor Wiles seven years to solve the Fermat conjecture, and it took Perleman a full eight years to prove the Poincaré conjecture, and the Hodge conjecture was solved in less than two years. is it possible? Perhaps this paper will soon be verified by the mathematical community as having major flaws, and Hodge's conjecture is still high. 】

There is no peer review on arxiv. If the above papers have not been verified, no one knows whether they are correct or not.

Everyone was talking about the proof paper of Hodge's conjecture thrown up by Xu Chuan.

Some people feel that the Hodge conjecture is hopeful to be solved. After all, the person who uploaded it is a genius mathematician and a popular winner of the Fields Medal. It can even be said that he is the winner of the Fields Medal. The Ertz Award is just a matter of waiting for a while.

It is now November of 2017, and there are only eight or nine days before the International Mathematical Conference will be held in August next year.

Of course, more people do not believe that the Hodge conjecture has been solved.

No matter in terms of time, or age, or other aspects, this is a bit unreliable.

It is not that the seven millennium problems have not been solved before, but it took less than two years to solve one of them, which no one would believe.

time is too short.

Also, the prover is unbelievably young.

According to the calculation of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, it will take two months to reach the age of 20. Even if he has solved a world-class mathematical conjecture before that, not many people think that he can continue to solve a millennium problem.

After all, for people who are too young, whether they are scholars or other fields, most people are skeptical.

This is almost the same no matter which country you are in.

In addition, it is confirmed that no journal in the mathematics community has received the submission of this proof paper.

In other words, this young scholar has not formally submitted a paper to a mathematical journal except for throwing his paper on arxiv.

To today's academia, this hardly looks like a formal solution to a major conjecture.

So many people are wondering if this is a joke.

In addition to discussions, many people are looking forward to a response from Princeton or the certifier of the thesis.

After all, this is the Hodge conjecture, the seven millennium problems.

Such a major conjecture, no matter what, the prover should come out and explain it.

At the very least, a press conference should be required.

If you want to thoroughly confirm Hodge's conjecture, the prover is obliged to explain his theory and answer all questions.

Unless, this is just a big joke that this young scholar made to the whole world, with his own reputation and future.

But on this point, many people are still willing to believe this young scholar. After all, he had already solved a world-class problem before.

Therefore, the mathematics community is waiting for the convening of the report meeting, and many mathematicians even contacted Princeton University specifically, hoping that Xu Chuan can stand up to deal with the doubts from the outside world.

It's just that Xu Chuan at this meeting is not clear about these things. At this time, he is revising his thesis and solving the problems raised by Professor Deligne and Professor Witten when they checked the thesis.

After locking himself in the dormitory for a full five days, Xu Chuan finally finished revising his thesis.

In fact, the two mentors, Deligne and Witten, did not raise many questions, only two questions + three suggestions in total.

It's just that in order to perfectly solve these problems, he has repeated each idea many times.

And after solving the problem perfectly, he rechecked the paper twice, which took several days.

To be honest, in a proof paper with a length of more than 100 pages, two top mathematics masters only checked out two problems, which shows how excellent this paper is.

With the revised and completed thesis, Xu Chuan found two tutors. After verification and discussion, the group of three finally confirmed the perfection of the proof thesis.

At the same time, the long-awaited response from the outside world has finally arrived.

In the afternoon, an important mathematics conference information was updated on the official website of Princeton University.

Five days later, that is, next Monday, Princeton University will hold a mathematics report, the speaker is Xu Chuan, and the content of the report is the proof paper of Hodge's conjecture.

With the announcement of this conference information, the entire mathematics community is boiling.

From the appearance of the Hodge conjecture proof paper on the arxiv website, to the relevant report meeting held by the prover, the mathematics community has waited for 20 days.

Such a long period of time was unprecedented in the past, and it also made the outside world's suspicion of this paper reach its peak.

But now, all doubts and discussions will come to an end.

Mathematicians who are interested in this have bought air tickets one after another.

With the updated mathematics conference information on the official website of Princeton University, many mathematicians began to pour into Princeton.

This quiet town gradually became lively.

Xu Chuan didn't really worry about the proof report meeting of Hodge's conjecture.

Whether it is the convening of the report meeting, the arrangement of foreign scholars, or the media reporters, as well as the evening party and dance after the report meeting, Princeton University has helped.

And the only thing he has to do is to prepare his own report materials and think ahead about the questions that many mathematicians may raise at the report meeting.

Even if Deligne and Witten have already helped to prove the thesis in advance, but in the report meeting, facing mathematicians from all over the world, he may still face some fatal or unexpected problems. question.

So he had to make more preparations before the report meeting.

Time passed day by day, and soon came the day before the report meeting.

In the Rockefeller residential college, Xu Chuan put down the ballpoint pen in his hand, got up and went into the kitchen and took out a bottle of yogurt from the refrigerator. Before he had time to take a sip, there was a knock on the door.

A little curious about who came to look for him at this time, he opened the door of the dormitory, and the person standing at the door stunned him for a moment.

"Teacher, Dean Rong, Academician Zhang, why are you here?"

Standing at the door were Chen Zhengping, a tutor from Nantah University, Rong Zhizhuan, the dean of the School of Numerology, and Zhang Weiping from Sun Moon University.

"Why, aren't you welcome?" Academician Zhang Weiping of Sun Moon University asked with a smile.

Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment, and then he came to his senses. He hurriedly opened the door, welcomed the three of them into the dormitory, and said, "Quick, please come in."

"You kid really made a big deal this time, proving Hodge's conjecture, the seven millennium problems, tsk tsk, I've never heard you say you're working on this before."

The three of them stepped into the dormitory, and Dean Rong Zhi Zhuanrong of the School of Mathematics of Nantong University looked at the room, then looked at Xu Chuan with a smile and sighed.

Xu Chuan smiled, and said: "I got an inspiration by chance, so I tried to study this aspect. As for whether Hodge's conjecture can really be proved, we have to wait for the conclusion of the mathematics community."

Hearing this, Rong Zhizhuan shook his head with a smile, and said, "You are still so humble. During the period of living abroad, nothing has changed."

After a pause, he continued: "Before you came here, we went to Professor Deligne, and he spoke highly of your paper. And he and Witten have already verified it, and there is nothing wrong with it. question."

At the side, Chen Zhengping interjected: "How is the preparation for tomorrow's report meeting?"

Xu Chuan: "There must be preparations. I have thought about everything that can be considered here, but I just don't know what questions other people will ask tomorrow."

Nodding his head, Chen Zhengping took out a thin stack of roll paper from his pocket, and landed on it.

"The above are some ideas of some mathematics professors in China after studying your proof paper. There are ideas and suggestions in it, which may bring you some help."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly took the roll of paper, opened it and read it.

He really did not expect that Chen Zhengping would bring him such a gift. There is no doubt that it is quite precious.

Rong Zhizhuan said from the side: "You can thank Academician Zhang Weiping for this. He led a small discussion in China and invited some top mathematics professors at home and abroad to help discuss it."

Xu Chuan was stunned again, looked at Zhang Weiping, and sincerely thanked, "Thank you."

Zhang Weiping waved his hand and said with a smile: "With your current mathematical ability, these ideas and suggestions are nothing to you."

The group of three didn't stay in the dormitory for a long time. After saying hello and delivering a gift, they left without even drinking hot tea.

After all, the report meeting on the proof of Hodge's conjecture will start tomorrow, and everyone knows how busy Xu Chuan will be.

The next day, at two o'clock in the afternoon.

In the Alexander Auditorium of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, there was a sea of ​​people.

In addition to the scholars invited to participate in this academic report, there are also many mathematicians who came here, as well as students who came with their tutors.

In particular, mathematicians and students from Huaguo even accounted for nearly one-fifth of the entire report meeting, and most of them were students who came to see the world with their tutors.

There were so many people attending the report meeting that the Alexander Auditorium, which can accommodate more than 500 people, could not sit down. Many people who did not grab a seat could only sit or stand in the corridor.

Standing behind the scenes in the auditorium, Xu Chuan sat steadily on a wooden chair with a smile on his face.

The stable demeanor made the staff on the side a little curious, and asked with a smile: "You don't seem to be nervous at all."

Xu Chuan joked, "That's because you didn't see how fast my heart was beating."

The staff smiled and said: "This is different. I have worked here for many years and have met many outstanding young talents. No matter who they are, they almost have to rely on various means before they come to the stage to give a report." Suppress your excitement."

"Even Schultz relied on continuous deep breathing to regulate his emotions at the beginning, not to mention the proof report of this major conjecture."

After a pause, the staff member looked Xu Chuan up and down, and then said, "You look much calmer, I don't see much tension from you."

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "It's not more difficult to make a report on stage than to prove a mathematical conjecture, is it?"

Hearing this, the staff member also laughed and opened his mouth. Just as he was about to say something, another young staff member trotted in.

"Mr. Xu Chuan, it's already one fifty-five, and the preparations outside have been made. Do you need to prepare anything else here?"

Xu Chuan stood up and said, "Thank you, I'm ready."

After all, he walked towards the stage outside.