Chapter 1008 Fiction Is More Famous than Learning

Corinthia Hotel lobby.

I handed the passport to the check-in staff at the front desk, glanced at Professor Fefferman in the direction of the door, and suddenly asked in a chatty tone.

"The security level here seems a bit unusual... Apart from the International Congress of Mathematicians, are there any other activities here?"

"No, sir." After completing the registration of the check-in information and handing back the passport to Professor Fefferman, the front desk staff patiently explained, "The highest-level meeting within thirty days will be held at The International Congress of Mathematicians will be held two days later, and the Corinthia Hotel will provide the highest standard of services for the conference during the duration of the conference, I wish you a happy mood in the next week."

"...I see, thank you."

Putting away the passport, Professor Fefferman nodded to the front desk with a smile on his face, and then walked towards Professor Deligne who was standing aside and kept looking at his watch.

"Sure enough, he is here! As I said, he will definitely not miss such an interesting meeting!"

Speaking excitedly, Professor Fefferman's face was full of excitement that did not match his age, as if he was watching a football game where he didn't score the first goal until the last ten minutes, talking about him happily I have said countless times along the way, "I don't know where his research has progressed, so I look forward to it!"

Looking at his old friend blankly, Professor Deligne, who was about to complain about his slow movements, sighed and changed his words.

"Didn't you read the paper he posted on the official website?"

Fefferman: "Look, what's the matter?"

Deligne: "Then why do you still ask such a question? If he has made any new achievements, you must be able to see it in that paper. If not, then there is no, I don't know if you are What to look forward to."

Fefferman: "Because my intuition tells me that his research results this year are definitely more than just that."

Professor Deligne raised his eyebrows.

"So you know him well?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in that tone without any malice, just like most Princeton professors have more or less a little Princeton-style arrogance.

But I don't know if he didn't hear it, or he was used to the character of this old friend so he didn't take it to heart at all. Professor Fefferman just nodded and said with a confident smile.

"Of course, we have worked together before, after all, I still have this confidence."

Hearing the confident speech of his old friend, Deligne smiled faintly and said disapprovingly.

"Then you probably have to be disappointed because of your overconfidence. I have paid attention to all the papers he published this year. The quasi-Riemann conjecture and the hyperelliptic curve method are his only research results on the Riemann zeta function. , and later he even went to study economics with that old man Krugman, which seems to be called the L-Z model... anyway, it’s something similar.”

Generally speaking, the research direction of a scholar can be found in some clues from his recently published papers.

From the end of last year, or the beginning of this year, from the discussion of the Sullivan conjecture of manifold classification in differential topology to the L-Z model in economics, no matter which research results it is, it has nothing to do with the Riemann zeta function .

No matter how optimistic he is, Professor Deligne can't imagine that in the past half a year, there is still a slight possibility that he is still studying propositions related to the Riemann Hypothesis, rather than having chosen to give up...

To be honest, Deligne was actually a little disappointed with this result.

His disappointment did not stem from Lu Zhou's achievements. After all, as far as Lu Zhou's current achievements are concerned, they are already quite impressive, and there is no fault at all.

However, this is only for ordinary people.

For a scholar like him, only by truly taking off the crown standing on Mount Everest, and only by truly solving the propositions that plague the vast majority of scholars in the world, can he make his academic achievements move forward.

Therefore, the research on the conjecture inside has achieved such fruitful results, but in the end he chose to give up. This is what really makes Professor Deligne feel sorry.

If even he can't solve this problem, maybe this conjecture can only be solved until the end of the century, waiting for a scholar who is more talented than him and has a sharper mathematical intuition...

From Professor Deligne's expression, he sensed some of his concerns, but Professor Fefferman just smiled lightly and said in a relaxed tone.

"I think you're overthinking."

Lifting his eyebrows, Professor Deligne said in apparent disbelief.

"Oh? You know what I'm worried about?"

Fefferman: "Of course I know. After all, we have cooperated more than once. You are always so confident in your own analysis, but what you have to admit is that sometimes when a person cares too much about one thing, his gaze is often narrow minded."

"You mean I'm narrow-minded?"

"Yeah, especially the way you look at it, didn't you consider the possibility that maybe he found connections in these few questions that we didn't? That's not uncommon. "

Reaching Professor Fefferman's words, Professor Deligne said sharply, "But this possibility is very small. I have carefully studied several of his papers. It is not easy to say anything other than mathematics, but as far as mathematics itself is concerned. , the mathematical methods used in it are not very meaningful for the study of the Riemann zeta function, and even several papers have no linear or progressive relationship with each other in the mathematical sense."

Professor Fefferman: "Maybe it's just that we can't see... It's useless to say more, do you want to make a bet?"

Professor Deligne frowned: "What bet?"

Professor Fefferman said with a confident smile: "I bet, his research results are definitely more than those at the beginning of the year, and he has never given up on the research on Riemann's conjecture."

"if not……"

"He will not arrange his 60-minute report meeting as the last one before the closing ceremony."

...

The two old men in front of the elevator were still arguing about whether Lu Zhou was still studying the Riemann conjecture. Lu Zhou and Schulz, who were sitting in a taxi to the suburbs of St. Petersburg, happened to be talking about Riemann guess body.

"...You haven't made any new progress in the past six months?"

"Maybe not just half a year, maybe more than half a year." Lu Zhou made a helpless expression on his face, leaned on the back seat of the taxi, shook his head and said, "I have tried the super elliptic curve analysis method I have made improvements and tried to find the answer from the theory of group structure method, but it still doesn't help. I even sometimes have some thoughts that even I feel terrible. Maybe the Riemann conjecture is correct with a high probability, but it is unprovable."

"It's not just you who think so, but I think you can be a little more optimistic," Schultz continued, patting Lu Zhou on the shoulder, "At least, you can create an excellent mathematical method like hyperelliptic curve analysis." tools, and even the Quasi-Riemann Hypothesis, which has been elusive for a century, you are already better than most people.”

"But it doesn't make sense to me," Lu Zhou said with a sigh, "I believe you should be able to understand this feeling."

Schultz: "No, I can't, thank you."

Lu Zhou: "...?"

After nearly 40 minutes of driving, the taxi finally arrived at the outskirts of St. Petersburg, and the nearby buildings gradually returned to simplicity from the bustling and prosperous.

According to the taxi driver, this area is a famous sacred place for mathematics. The Steklov Institute of Mathematics is located on this ancient stone step road, and a certain mathematician who rejected the Fields Medal also lives here. nearby.

At the same time, the Fontanka Canal that flows through the center of St. Petersburg, as well as the stone brick roads, street lamps and benches beside the river, are exactly the characters in Dostoyevsky's novel "White Night". The place where the protagonists meet.

After getting out of the car, Schultz took Lu Zhou to the nearby residential area.

Most of the houses in the vicinity are similar to the type of single apartment in China, which is very suitable for young people to live in, but it is really hard to say how many young people will live in such a remote suburb for comfort.

After walking for a while behind Lu Zhou and Schultz, Wang Peng suddenly said.

"...You've already come full circle here."

Hearing this sentence, Schultz showed a helpless smile on his face, stopped and scratched the long hair scattered behind his head with some trouble.

"Actually, it's been a long time since the last time I came here. This kind of apartment building with dense windows is very tricky. If you don't come here often, you can't remember where it is at all..." Seeing the expression on Lu Zhou's face, The expression gradually became speechless, and Schultz stopped talking, and coughed lightly in embarrassment, "I'd better find someone to ask."

Schultz happened to have a photo of Perelman on his phone, but it didn't matter if it wasn't there, and it was easy to Google.

I have to say that being handsome still has some advantages. No matter men, women, young or old, in front of that sunny smile, most people will be very enthusiastic to help after hearing his request.

As for looking shabby...

There are of course benefits.

At least when you live in seclusion, you don't have to worry too much about being disturbed.

"Excuse me, do you know this person?"

Staring at the photo on Schultz's phone, the Russian girl who was smiling brightly suddenly frowned subconsciously with a little disgust.

"Who is this? A terrorist? Or some kind of performance artist?"

It's no wonder she showed a disgusted expression, after all, the image of the man in the photo is really not flattering.

The shaggy beard covered the chin, and the sparse curly hair drooped back like a dog's tail. Although the shape was somewhat similar to Schultz's hair, it showed two completely different styles.

Just like a plaid shirt, some people can wear it like an idol, but some people look like programmers no matter how they wear it.

Sighing, Schultz said with some nerve-wracking: "Sorry, I'll go to the side and ask."

The Russian girl smiled and said, "I wish you luck, but I think it's better for you to give up. I've lived here for two years and haven't seen this person."

After asking around, no one knew this photo.

Occasionally, although a few people recognize him, this person seems to be a well-known mathematician and has been in the news, but when they heard that he lived nearby, only a few people who recognized him shook their heads.

To not deny the possibility of him living here.

It's just pure, there is no impression of seeing it at all.

Just when Lu Zhou couldn't help but began to wonder if this lonely hermit had moved, finally an old man not only recognized the photo in Schultz's hand, but also was very familiar with his appearance, touched his chin and said .

"I know him. He used to work at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. He is a well-known mathematician..."

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "How long ago?"

The old man let out a dry laugh, and said as if recalling something, "About ten years ago, when I was still working as a guard at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, I often saw him wearing a worn-out jeans and shirt to work. Besides being a mathematician, this guy is one of the weirdest people in the Institute."

Lu Zhou: "..."

a decade ago……

He must have been in high school then.

Is it already so far away?

Following Lu Zhou's question, Schultz continued to ask, "Then do you know where he lives?"

"If he didn't move or died, he probably lived there," pointing to an apartment building next to him, the old man continued, "I only know which building he lives in, but where exactly, You'd better trouble yourself a little, and start asking his neighbors."

Seeing the direction the old man was pointing at, Schultz and Lu Zhou both heaved a sigh of relief, with thankful expressions on their faces.

"Thank you! It was a great help."

After all, Schultz took Lu Zhou and Wang Peng and walked in the direction pointed by the old man.

Soon they arrived at the apartment building. When Lu Zhou and Schultz were discussing about which floor to ask, they happened to see two people with foreign faces standing by the entrance of the apartment building.

Coincidentally, one of them, Lu Zhou, also knew each other.

It was Professor Paul Krugman whom he met in Shanghai some time ago...

The two obviously didn't notice him, they were standing in front of the entrance of the apartment building, whispering to each other.

"I wonder if we've gone the wrong way," Albert muttered as he looked at the apartment building in front of him, "Does this seem like a secluded place?"

"It can't be wrong, this is the address given to me by the secretary-general of the IMU." Glancing at the small note in his hand again, and confirming that the address is here, Krugman said in a positive tone, "No matter what, I won't Admit the wrong way."

Albert continued to ask: "But what if he doesn't want to open the door for us? If he doesn't open the door, we can't even be sure whether he is inside or not."

Krugman: "You don't know him. Although he seems like an unapproachable guy, just ask him some math problems, and he will answer you very patiently and surprisingly well."

Albert raised his eyebrows and said, "Have you had contact with him?"

"No, but I know a beautiful lady who used to work at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics and she told me so," Krugman continued after a pause, "Listen, my friend , we must not be discouraged. If there is any good man who can help us other than the arrogant Princeton, it is only here."

Albert sighed, muttered and continued: "Actually, I tend to find Professor Lu to cooperate. His Lu-Bewley model and LZ model are simply magical strokes, especially the research ideas of analyzing macroeconomics through calculations. , It coincides with my research!"

"Don't think about it, if I can, I would like to invite Faltins, but is it possible? I only met that guy at the beginning of the year. He is obviously a young man, but that guy is sometimes even more stubborn than those old men in Princeton. , not to mention our plans—”

Just as Krugman was chattering about the landing boat with his companions, a familiar voice suddenly came from the side.

"I wish I could hear my name and it still seems to be saying bad things about me."

The two who were talking were startled by the sudden sound.

Especially Krugman, he jumped to the side as if he saw a ghost, looked at Lu Zhou and said.

"Where the hell did you come from?"

"I came to St. Petersburg to attend the IMU conference," Lu Zhou answered the question truthfully, then glanced at Schultz next to him, "It happened that this gentleman invited me to visit his old friend, so I came over. "

After staring at Schultz for a while, but did not recognize the young man, Professor Krugman said with a frown.

"You are……"

"Schultz," took the initiative to extend his right hand, and shook hands with the two old people respectively. Schultz smiled and nodded and continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you two."

"... Krugman, professor of economics at Princeton University, and next to me is Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, a physicist more famous for his fiction than his scholarship."

"Hey, wait, what do you mean that novels are more famous than learning? You old man, are you sure you're not blind—"

Ignoring Albert who was protesting next to him, looking at Professor Schultz's Krugman, he continued with piercing eyes, "Are you familiar with Perelman?"

Hearing this question, Schultz's expression became a little subtle, and he shrugged and said.

"I think he and I should know each other quite well, but... I don't know what he thinks about our friendship—"

"What are you doing here? Having a party?"

A sudden voice from the side interrupted Schultz's speech.

It was exactly the same as what happened to Krugman and Albert just now. I saw a tall and burly man in worn-out jeans and a shirt, holding two plastic bags stuffed with cheap ingredients. Already walked to the side of a group of people.

It has to be said that with his slovenly attire, his sense of presence is indeed low enough, and no one is aware of his existence even after walking to such a close place.

But when he found him, Professor Krugman immediately showed a bright smile on his face, and stretched out his right hand to him.

"Hi, dear Professor Perelman...I'm Krugman, and I made an appointment with you in the email."

"I'm no longer a professor," muttered in Russian, Perelman glanced over several people, and suddenly stopped on Lu Zhou's face.

After a while, he spoke abruptly.

"You are Lu Zhou?"

"It's my lord," Lu Zhou nodded and said friendly, "Nice to meet you."

"Me too," although he wanted to raise his arms to shake hands with Lu Zhou, but both hands were carrying something, and Perelman had to give up after shrugging.

"...If you have something to say, go to the house and you will block the passage."

Before Schultz and Lu Zhou had time to speak, Professor Krugman showed a bright smile on his face and hurriedly agreed.

"Thank you for your invitation. I also think it would be better to talk in the room."

Not bothering Professor Krugman, Perelman glanced over the faces of several people one by one, and finally stared at Wang Peng for a while.

"You don't look like a scholar, and you don't look like you came here with questions."

The tone of his speech didn't look like a welcome.

Wang Peng nodded, ready to explain the nature of his work, but was interrupted by Lu Zhou's light cough.

"Just wait for me here for a while, I'll be down soon."

The expression on his face was somewhat hesitant, but after glancing at the look on Perelman's face, Wang Peng finally nodded.

"OK."

"Call me if you need anything."

Of course, this so-called phone call is not the kind of dialing a number, but an alarm device triggered by keywords that Lu Zhou set on his mobile phone.

Seeing the worried expression on his face, Lu Zhou smiled and patted his arm.

"It's okay to be careful, but don't get too jumpy."

"Wait here for me, I'll be down in a while."

After finishing speaking, the group left Wang Peng where he was and walked upstairs.

-

(There are some things in reality, I am not busy, so I will not divide them into chapters today. Although there is only one chapter, it is actually the same as two chapters~)