I Just Want to Be a Quiet Top Student

An academic delegation composed of more than ten people including Shen Qi arrived in the United States for a friendly visit to the United States.

The members of the delegation are all from Yanda University. Under the leadership of Shen Qi, everyone went to Princeton University, which was the first stop of their visit to the United States.

Puda grandly welcomed Shen Qi and his party. Students in black and orange attire held a sign in front of Nasu Building, with words on it: "Welcome back, Qi!"

After coming to Puda after five years, Shen Qi had a lot of feelings. He waved frequently with a smile on his face, and communicated enthusiastically with the teachers and students.

Princeton is as calm and peaceful as ever, academically paramount. Students are busy going to the library and bars, and scholars are displaying their talents in their professional fields.

Shen Qi, Zhou Yu'an, and Li Zhenqiang came to the lawn in front of the mathematics building. Shen and Tuesday graduated from the Department of Mathematics of Pudong University. Li Zhenqiang came to Princeton, the sacred place of mathematics for the first time when he went abroad. He couldn't hold back his excitement and took a selfie with his mobile phone.

"Calm down, Lao Li, just take a picture, don't make your expression too exaggerated?" Zhou Yu'an said.

"Fan's Building, the Temple of Mathematics." Li Zhenqiang took pictures one after another and asked, "Can we go in and visit?"

"Head Shen said that we are here for academic exchanges this time, not tourists." Zhou Yu'an was relatively calm, after all, he graduated from Pudong University and is familiar with this place.

"You two well-known mathematicians are here for academic exchanges. I'll just follow along and study." Li Zhenqiang smiled and looked at the gate of the mathematics building with a strong desire to explore.

At this time, a person came out of the building, dressed in a suit, full of energy, about the same age as Shen, Zhou, and Li, a white man with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, Professor Shen!" The white man approached Shen Qi enthusiastically and shook hands with Shen Qi.

"Long time no see, Ralph." Shen Qi smiled, and introduced Ralph to everyone: "This is Ralph, the professor of the Department of Mathematics."

Ralph has already become a professor in the Department of Mathematics of Pudong University, which can be said to be very fast.

Zhou Yu'an knew Ralph, he knew that Ralph was Shen Qi's student: "Ralph, I have read your paper on automorphic functions, it's great."

"Professor Zhou, you are the mathematician who solved the Navier-Stokes equation. I respect you." According to international practice, Ralph and Zhou Yu'an came to a wave of business exchanges, and the atmosphere of the meeting between Chinese and American mathematicians was very good. harmony.

Finally, Ralph shook hands with Li Zhenqiang: "Professor Li, welcome to Princeton."

Li Zhenqiang was not as comfortable as Shen Qi and Zhou Yu'an. He was a little restrained, and said in English with a heavy accent: "Nice to meet you, Ralph."

"Please." Ralph accompanied the three Chinese scholars into the mathematics building.

Shen Qi, Zhou Yu'an, and Ralph are all full professors, and Li Zhenqiang is an associate professor. According to the ranking of international popularity, Shen, Zhou, Ralph, and Li Zhenqiang are.

Shen Qi is Ralph's doctoral supervisor, while Zhou Yu'an, Li Zhenqiang and Shen Qi are from the same generation, and the three of them are classmates. In terms of seniority, Ralph had to call Zhou Yu'an and Li Zhenqiang his uncles.

The mathematics circle is both simple and complex. If seniority is ranked according to age, it can sometimes confuse people. The doctoral students under the supervision of mathematics may be older than the supervisor.

Although Shen Qi has not been to the United States for five years, he has been paying attention to Princeton all the time.

The mathematics building is still the mathematics building, but things have changed.

Within five years, the Mathematics Department of Pudong University changed three directors. Director Fefferman was followed by Director Beckman and Director Knox.

Shen Qi and Director Fefferman are old friends, but he is not very familiar with Director Beckman and Director Knox.

The rest of the old friends, Faltings, the former editor-in-chief of "Annual Mathematics", returned to Germany, Zhou Yu'an's doctoral supervisor Figali returned to his motherland Italy, Ouye's doctoral supervisor Linden Strauss returned to Israel.

In addition to Andrew Wiles, the former dean of the Department of Mathematics who has already returned to the UK, Terence Tao, who has flourished on the west coast, and Mirno, who has gone to an overseas island to spend his later years in peace, almost all the winners of the Philippine Prize in the Department of Mathematics of Puda University are gone. By the way, Shen Qi is also among the Philippine Award winners who left PSU.

Not counting the Pugao Institute, there is only one Philippine Prize winner in the Department of Mathematics of Puig University, and it is the Russian-born mathematician Okunkov.

The previous dean of the Department of Mathematics, Beckman, and the current dean of the department, Knox, did not win the Philippine Award.

"By the way, where's Professor Muller?" Shen Qi asked. He and his Ph.D. supervisor, Professor Mueller, have been in email contact, but for the past six months, Professor Mueller hasn't replied to Shen Qi's email, as if the world has disappeared.

"It's really unfortunate that Professor Muller was plagued by illness and he returned to Germany. God bless him." Ralph said regretfully.

"May he be healthy." Shen Qi felt anxious, after all, Old Mu Le was his master.

In the past five years when Shen Qi was away from Princeton, the Department of Mathematics of Pudong University experienced a lot of personnel changes.

Old friends go away, get sick, and some even pass away.

After World War II to the early 21st century, the peak period of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton, where the number of Fields Medal winners has remained at more than a dozen for a long time, and these Fields Medal winners were in the golden age of academics at that time, and they ruled most of the mathematics world century.

As the golden generation of the Department of Mathematics of Pudong University is getting old, sick, and job-hopping, the former mathematics king has encountered a period of weakness.

The method used by Princeton or famous American schools is to dig out whoever is famous, give money, power and status, and the American dream is beckoning to you.

However, times have changed, and now some well-known scholars have left the United States, and the newly promoted big cows and small cows have more choices, and they don't have to go to the United States to realize their dreams.

"Actually, in the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind, it doesn't matter where the scholars work, what matters is..." Shen Qi's eyes lit up as he spoke, and he found an old friend: "Mary! "

There was a mature and plump woman in front of her. She was holding a cardboard box. After seeing Shen Qi, she was unexpectedly happy: "Qi, you are here."

The woman is Mary, she and Shen Qi both worship Professor Muller as their teacher, and they are regarded as brothers and sisters of the same school.

Mary is Shen Qi's senior sister, so Ralph has to call Mary an aunt. The seniority relationship in Princeton's mathematics department is too complicated. Ralph, a professor of mathematics, studies the most esoteric automorphic functions, but he can't figure it out. Such a complicated seniority relationship.

"Professor Schultz, I'm sorry to see that you are about to leave Princeton. I wish you all the best in Germany." Ralph said to Mary as a colleague.

"I will, thank you." Mary nodded with a smile, her face brimming with happiness.

"Professor Schultz?" Shen Qi was a little puzzled. Seeing Mary holding the box, he immediately started to speculate.

Mary is resigning, right? Returning to her native Germany?

When I first met Mary, her name was Mary-Schulz-Schmidt. At that time, Mary was married, and her husband was named Schulz, so her name included her husband's surname.

After Marie divorced, she changed back to her single name, Marie-Schmidt.

Now, Mary has changed her name again, and her name is Mary Schultz.

What does this say, what does it mean?

"Mary, are you remarried to Professor Schultz? It's that Schultz, right?" Shen Qi made some guesses before reaching a general conclusion.