Rebirth of science and technology academic master

Edward Witten is definitely a leading figure in string theory and superstring theory, and is the most authoritative expert in this field. He has become an inescapable figure for researchers of string theory and superstring theory, and is regarded by many researchers as their ancestor. Worship.

It can be said that it was Edward Witten who made superstring theory a popular frontier of theoretical physics and an important branch of theoretical physics.

Among the three major research results that set off the first superstring theory revolution, Witten participated in and led two of them, laying a solid foundation for the development of superstring theory.

During the first superstring theory revolution, Witten believed that if the nine-dimensional superstring theory was compacted and the extra six dimensions were reduced, it would become a three-dimensional space theory. At that time, many people questioned or even opposed Witten's theory, but Witten did not back down, but fought back one by one, thus establishing his academic status as the first person in superstring theory.

Moreover, Witten directly led the second superstring theory revolution and proposed five different versions of superstring theory.

These five superstring theories exist at the same time and are compatible with each other. Witten named them ‘M theory’. In the 1990s, Witten proposed an M theory with an 11-degree space. He and other scholars found strong evidence to prove that many different versions of superstring theory at that time were actually the results of different limit setting conditions of M theory. These The discovery led to the second innovation of superstring theory.

The academic community was shocked by this, and IUM was particularly excited and decided to award the Fields Medal to Witten.

Witten, who wanted to win the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on superstring theory, accidentally won the Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics, and directly became the world's top mathematician and also the world's top physicist. Home.

Then, the third superstring theory revolution arrived, and British scientists proposed the concept of a ten-dimensional supergravity theory.

But the problem is that no matter which school of thought, no scientist, including Witten himself, can give convincing evidence to explain the basic degrees of freedom of the theory.

The key question is that the theory contains five compatible superstring theories. Which version of superstring theory describes the universe? What is the ultimate secret of cosmic mathematics?

Hawking's intervention caused research in this field to enter a state of chaos. The heroes were divided and each expressed his own opinion. The situation became more and more complicated.

Because of the theoretical status of the Yang-Mei equation in high-dimensional space, Yang Lao and Mills also made some remarks.

Superstring theory is not only a theory that unifies gravity and quantum mechanics, but also a theory of elementary particles.

There are electromagnetic force, strong force, weak force, and gravity between elementary particles. So what kind of convincing theoretical system is needed to integrate the common principles behind these four forces?

Even Einstein was dug out. Almost all of the most famous physicists of the 20th century were directly or indirectly involved in the century-long debates on the superstring debate, the unity of action, and the mysteries of the universe.

Although Witten sits on the throne of the first person in superstring theory, there are many scientists who are dissatisfied with him. Scholars who question his theory will always question it.

So far, superstring theory is in a stagnant stage of development. In the past thirty years, superstring theory has actually not made any substantial breakthroughs and is stuck in the same stalemate.

And what’s very interesting is that superstring theory, an important branch of theoretical physics, is in chaos internally, with various forces standing around, and no one can convince anyone. There are two most important superstring theory forces in the world.

One is the American school headed by Princeton University, which led the first and third superstring theory revolutions, and Witten is the leading figure carrying the flag.

One is the British School with Paul Townsend as the core. At the beginning of the third superstring theory revolution, it actually denied most of the research results of the first and second revolutions. For example, this school of thought discovered that the ten-dimensional supergravity theory is self-consistent not with one-dimensional strings, but with two-dimensional membranes.

For this reason, Witten and Townsend have become representative figures in the physics community who are in love with each other. There is no bickering when they meet, and it is simply big news in the physics community.

Superstring theory itself is a chaotic situation in which heroes compete for hegemony, and the outside world has never stopped questioning this subject.

Because many people have questioned why the first superstring theory revolution chose the ‘Kabila-Yau space’ with an absolute value of Euler number 6!

And this was the biggest thorn in Witten's heart. He couldn't explain this very critical issue in his theory. He even put down his dignity and asked Qiu Chengtong for advice. In the end, Qiu Chengtong looked innocent. This is none of my business. In the year when I proved the Kabila-Yau Space, I had never heard of Edward Witten and the theory of dimensionality reduction.

Witten was unable to explain why he chose the ‘Kabila-Yau space’ with an absolute Euler number of 6, which naturally represents the flaws in the first superstring theory revolution. Naturally, the second superstring theory revolution, which was built on the same basis, has flaws.

Therefore, many theoretical physicists do not recognize superstring theory or string theory at all.

Therefore, it is not that the Nobel Prize committee has any deliberate prejudice against string theory and superstring theory, nor is it against Witten, but that the current string theory and superstring theory cannot award the Nobel Prize in Physics. .

Unless someone can completely solve the contradictions in superstring theory that are difficult to explain at the theoretical level, making the superstring theory perfect and impeccable, or it can be confirmed by instruments and equipment.

Such a profound pure theory is difficult to be confirmed by existing instruments and equipment. Otherwise, with the strength of CERN and the influence of Witten, how could it not be confirmed for so many years.

So there is only one way left, which is to perfect the self-consistent parts of superstring theory and M theory.

However, Witten has been doing this work for decades, but has always gained nothing. Now that he is 65 years old, he can basically declare that he cannot solve it on his own.

Looking at the entire world, only Qin Yuanqing can resolve these contradictions theoretically.

There may be some of the world's top physicists who can understand superstring theory and M theory, but if they are not good at mathematics, they will naturally be unable to solve them. And the world's top mathematicians can't understand superstring theory and M theory. After all, they are physical theories.

The only person who can solve it is the world's top physicist and the world's top mathematician, and currently, only Qin Yuanqing is the only one.

So Qin Yuanqing wrote an invitation letter and sent it to Witten. As an old friend, Qin Yuanqing naturally had Witten's email address.

"I don't know whether Witten loves Princeton more or the career he has worked hard for his whole life more!" Qin Yuanqing muttered to himself after sending the email.

In fact, he was not sure of winning. In fact, he was betting that Witten would choose to come to China for his lifelong dream.

America, Princeton, Witten got up early in the morning as always. As he got older, his sleep became lighter. He got up at 6 o'clock. As usual, Witten took a walk around and chatted with old friends when he saw them. , this kind of life for the elderly, Witten was still not used to it at first, but after a few years, Witten had to accept that he was already a little old man.

"Deligne, how are you back from Paris? Is Mr. Grothendieck okay?" Witten met Deligne and greeted him with a smile.

As the most accomplished of Grothendieck's disciples, Deligne would go to Paris every three or four months to visit Grothendieck.

"Fortunately, the teacher said that he still wants to take a leave of absence from God for a year or two, watch Qin solve the Hodge conjecture, and then go to see God." Deligne said.

Grothendieck's health was not very good before, not because his life was not good and his medical care was not guaranteed, but because Grothendieck believed that he had no hope for the world and it would not be a bad thing to see God early.

As a result, the Qin Yuanqing Dynasty came out of nowhere and rose strongly, which aroused Grothendieck's interest. Although Qin Yuanqing's current achievements cannot be said to exceed Grothendieck. But Qin Yuanqing is already well-deserved as the greatest mathematician of this era in the world today. If nothing else happens, Qin Yuanqing will be the greatest mathematician of the 21st century. Even if any mathematician makes great achievements in the future and can equal Qin Yuanqing, then Qin Yuanqing will at least be the greatest mathematician in the first half of the 21st century, dominating for half a century.

So Grothendieck wanted to see if Qin Yuanqing could solve the Hodge conjecture, so that he could also solve his past regrets and truly meet God with a smile.

"I didn't expect Mr. Grothendieck to have such confidence in Qin." Witten sighed.

When he was first born, Grothendieck was already a world-famous scholar. He had just started to understand. Grothendieck had already established himself as the number one person in mathematics in the world, shining like a bright pearl. The entire mathematical community.

By the time Witten began to emerge, Grothendieck was already semi-retired and had little investment in academics. Instead, he invested a lot of energy in environmental protection and pacifism. By the time Witten became a world-famous physicist, Grothendieck had already retired and was unwilling to see anyone. Even the Fields Medal winner found it difficult to see Grothendieck.

The only ones who could see Grothendieck were his disciples. And Deligne is one of them.

"I have to admit that this era belongs to Qin. In just a few years, he has made amazing achievements. What's even more terrifying is that he is only 27 years old now and has just ushered in his golden period." Deligne He said with a smile, his words full of appreciation and gloating.

As a senior, he is happy to see a brilliant genius, but you must know that such a genius is not necessarily a blessing for mathematicians of the same era. On the contrary, it may also be a sad thing.