Chapter 205 The Nobel Prize in Mathematics
Looking around the world, when talking about top international awards, many people will think of the Nobel Prize.
However, in fact, in addition to the Nobel Prize, there are many top awards in the world.
Among them, the Wolf Prize is one of them.
In 1975, R. Wolff initiated the establishment of the Wolff Foundation with the purpose of "promoting science and art for the benefit of mankind", and received donations of 10 million from members of the Wolff family. USD, led by the Board of Directors and the Council, has an Awards Committee responsible for awarding matters. The Awards Committee consists of 3-5 people in each field and is replaced year by year.
The Wolf Prize is mainly awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to promoting human science and art civilization. It is selected once a year and awarded to people who have made outstanding achievements in art, mathematics, physics, chemistry, agriculture, and medicine.
This award is of a lifetime achievement nature and is one of the highest achievement awards in the world.
In 2004, China’s Yuan Shennong won the Wolf Prize for Agriculture.
As for the Mathematics Prize, it is one of the highest international awards in the field of mathematics. It is known as the 'Nobel Prize in Mathematics'. According to statistics, the Wolf Prize in Physics, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, One-third of the recipients of the Wolf Prize in Medicine have won the Nobel Prize in this field. In these fields, the Wolf Prize is second only to the Nobel Prize in authority and influence.
As of 2013, only six Chinese have won the Wolf Prize.
Among them is Mr. Wu Jianxiong, who is known as the "Marie Curie of China". In 1978, when the Wolf Prize first established the Physics Prize, it was awarded to her, which shows her scientific achievements.
Yuan Shennong, known as the 'Father of Hybrid Rice', under the leadership of this Shennong, global rice production has generally increased by 20%, while China's rice production has increased by 50%.
Professor Yang’s research on ethylene has delayed the aging process of agricultural products, allowing people today to enjoy fruits that are kept fresh for a long time.
In medicine, the only Chinese winner is Professor Qian Yongjian, who is a descendant of the famous Lin'an Qian family and the cousin of Mr. Qian Xuesen.
In terms of mathematics, Chen Shengshen predicted that Qiu Chengtong would "change the face of mathematics" very early, and this pair of masters and apprentices both won the Wolf Prize in Mathematics.
In terms of chemistry, Professor Deng Qingyun created the two most active fields in organic materials, namely organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) and organic photovoltaics (OPV).
From 1978 to 2013, in 35 years, only six people in China have won this award, which shows how difficult it is.
So, when two Chinese people appeared in the nomination list for the Wolf Prize this time, it not only caused a shock within China, but also attracted international attention.
Yes, there are two Chinese nominated this time.
One is Dean Weng of the Central Research Institute of Baodao, and the other is Wang Donglai.
If Wang Donglai was just a Chinese on the list, it might not be a big deal, but having Dean Weng accompanying him immediately put a halo around Wang Donglai.
How embarrassing it would be if people from the island could win awards, but people from the mainland did not.
Fortunately, Wang Donglai came.
After the list came out, Wang Donglai’s phone calls were inundated with calls.
Calls come from all over the world.
The first person to call was Professor Deligne from Princeton. After all, he was also the winner of the Wolf Prize in Mathematics.
"Wang Donglai, although I knew you would win this award sooner or later, I didn't expect it to come so soon."
Professor Deligne was very direct and did not use any false politeness. .
“If I can’t win this award, then I don’t think it deserves to be called the ‘Nobel Prize in Mathematics’!”
Holding the phone, Wang Donglai said confidently Said to Deligne.
"I like your confidence very much. You Chinese have many geniuses, but I always feel that they lack a kind of confidence. Now that I see this kind of confidence in you, I feel good!"
"The Wolf Prize in January, the Abel Prize in March, and the Fields Medal in July this year. You won't win all three awards this year, right?"
Who said this? At this time, Deligne's tone was quite serious.
Because he really thinks so. Looking at Wang Donglai's achievements in the field of mathematics, no one can compare with the younger generation.
Although Schultz has talent, compared to Wang Donglai, he is older and his talent is obviously inferior.
The ABC conjecture, Hodge conjecture and the proof of Mersenne prime numbers all prove Wang Donglai's talent.
What's more, Deligne knew better and knew that Wang Dong came to prove that Zhou's guess was only a few days old and was still influenced by him.
So, when he said this, Deligne really thought so.
It took me decades to complete the three grand slams. Maybe Wang Donglai can do it in just one year.
Deligne did not feel unfair or uncomfortable.
The field of mathematics is not like other fields. If you are strong, you are strong. If you are not good, you are not good. There is no middle ground at all.
"It may not be impossible!"
Hearing what Deligne said, Wang Donglai's eyes lit up, he thought for a moment, and then said aloud.
Based on his ability level, he actually meets the selection criteria for the three major awards.
This year’s competitors are not very strong.
Thinking of this, Wang Donglai asked aloud: "Professor Deligne, Peter Sarnak from your school is also nominated this time. Don't the professor think that Peter Sarnak will win the award?"
This time's nomination list Inside, there are names of candidates for various awards.
The nominees for the Wolf Prize in Mathematics are Wang Donglai and Peter Sarnak.
“Peter Sarnak’s mathematical achievements are indeed good, but he has one biggest shortcoming, that is, he is not as young as you. So I personally think that this award will not be given to him. Who made you come into being? , I didn’t give it to you last year. If I don’t give it to you this year, how can the Wolf Prize in Mathematics compete for the Nobel Prize in mathematics?”
Deligne saw it very clearly and did not play charades. He gave his own analysis and judgment.
In fact, after seeing Peter Sarnak's name, Wang Donglai specifically searched for Peter Sarnak's achievements.
After a quick look, I found that Professor Peter Sarnak is indeed qualified to be nominated and even win the award.
In a series of foundational works in the field of analysis, he studied the characteristic functions of the quantum mechanical Hamiltonian operator corresponding to the classical chaotic dynamic system, and elaborated on the support for the quantum unique ergodicity conjecture, which asserts The characteristic functions of the Laplacian operator on all negative curvature manifolds are uniformly distributed in the phase space.
Then the tools in number theory were introduced into this field, which not only obtained some seemingly unreachable results, but also paved the way for further research.
Especially the work in collaboration with E.Lindenstrauss and N.Anantharaman, in terms of the L function, by calculating the correlation function of the Riemann zero point, there is a gap between the automorphic behavior of the random matrix theory and the Riemann hypothesis. Takes the study of modern relationships to a new level.
And the work on Ramanujan had a huge impact on combinatorics and computer science, making surprisingly important progress.
The information about Peter Sanak flashed through his mind, and Wang Donglai had an idea.
"Thank you very much for Professor Deligne's blessing." Wang Donglai smiled and thanked Professor Deligne.
“By the way, if you have time, you’d better go to see my mentor as early as possible, he doesn’t have much time!”
After thinking about it, Deligne still faced Wang Donglai said this.
Hearing Deligne's words, Wang Donglai thought of Alexander Grothendieck, the emperor of algebraic geometry.
“Okay, I will go after a while!”
Wang Donglai is still somewhat interested in Alexander Grothendieck, the emperor of algebraic geometry. .
After all, the life of this big man is too legendary, and his attainments in algebraic geometry have impacted the world. How could he not meet such a big man.
After hanging up Professor Deligne's call, it didn't take long for Qiu Chengtong's call to arrive.
"Congratulations, in my opinion, this time the Wolf Prize in Mathematics, if nothing else, is probably yours!" Qiu Chengtong concluded with great certainty as soon as he opened his mouth.
"We will know next month whether we win or not. In fact, the impact is not big."
Wang Donglai said lightly, as if he really didn't care about this award. It's the same in my eyes.
Hearing Wang Donglai's words, Qiu Chengtong was silent for a moment, seemingly speechless.
After a pause, he said aloud: "I have already negotiated with Tsinghua about the competition. I will leave the domestic affairs to you. This competition will not start until you win the Fields Medal. It will be held in September." When the game starts, how about you and I attending together?"
"Okay!"
Wang Donglai agreed simply and did not refuse.
The starting point of the Qiu Chengtong Competition is good. Having such a mathematics competition is also a great thing for the country.
He has already thought about the prize money for this competition.
Five million plus a house.
If there is a chance in the future, he even wants to give live lectures every day, and he can receive red envelopes just by listening to the lectures.
Domestic education is extremely uneven, the teaching materials are even different, and the quality of teachers is uneven.
In a country with a population of more than one billion, only more than 10 million people take the college entrance examination every year. A large number of people have become a low-end labor force, which is undoubtedly a huge waste.
Wang Donglai has [Preaching and Instructing]. If the live broadcast is started, it is probably the best way to use this ability.
Just when Wang Donglai was thinking so far, Qiu Chengtong spoke on the other end of the phone.
“I didn’t expect that your talent in number theory is so strong, and your ability in practical application is not bad at all. I have also heard about artificial intelligence medical treatment. It is indeed a very promising technology.”< br>
Qiu Chengtong actually did not expect that Wang Donglai would have such a strong talent in applied mathematics.
Proving and guessing mathematical puzzles is one aspect of ability, but being able to actually apply it is another innate ability.
“I am honored to receive such high praise from Professor Qiu. Mathematics is the foundation, but it cannot be just the foundation. I hope that with the help of the competition, we can select a few geniuses in the field of mathematics and carry forward mathematics.”
What Wang Dong said is true. Times are progressing, science and technology are developing, disciplines are becoming more and more subdivided, and more and more talents are needed.
A few more geniuses in the field of mathematics can greatly improve the domestic level.
"It is estimated that a genius like you is unlikely to appear, but it would be good if there are a few more people who can get started with mathematics."
Qiu Chengtong behaved very calmly, regarding this The expectations for the competition were not high.
Because mathematics requires too much talent and requires sufficient training.
And many people have missed the prime time before they have even discovered their talents.
"It all depends on human effort. If you can find someone, you will earn it."
Wang Donglai thinks very clearly and is very free and easy.
This competition is only held to cultivate the Chinese people's concept of attaching importance to mathematics and reverse the concept of futility.
One or two years may not have much effect, but as time goes by, it will definitely have a big effect.
...
The phone calls came one after another, either to congratulate Wang Donglai in advance or to express goodwill.
At this time, Wang Donglai discovered that he had unknowingly met so many academic leaders.
At the same time, after the nomination list came out, Wang Donglai, who was originally an Internet celebrity, returned to the public's attention again.
This time, he has an additional aura of winning glory for the country.
Although Qiu Chengtong also won the Wolf Prize in Mathematics, he is not a pure Chinese after all.
Wang Donglai is a college student who grew up completely receiving domestic education. He has never studied abroad, so the meaning of it is naturally different.
If Wang Donglai wins the award, it will prove that domestic education has no problems and can cultivate geniuses who win international awards.
Even if Wang Donglai does not win, it is already a huge breakthrough to be nominated.
So, both the education department in Tangdu and the higher education departments are looking forward to the Wolf Prize next month.
Once awarded, this will be an improvement in China's international image, and it will also be a proof of achievement.
Time passes slowly.
The last month of 2013 has passed, and January of 2014 has come.
In 2014, Wang Donglai was only 20 years old.
There are many incidents on the Internet, and hot spots appear one after another.
The shock caused by last month's Wolf Prize in Mathematics has long since faded.
Only those who care about Wang Donglai will care about the information on Wolfe’s official website.
Finally.
January 17th.
Wolf's official website announced a list, which is the list of winners for this session.
Seven scientists and one artist from Treasure Island, Bald Eagle, Sweden, Canada and Denmark received awards.
The winner of the Painting/Sculpture Prize is Olafur Eliasson from Denmark.
The winner of the Chemistry Prize is Dean Weng from the Huaguobao Island Central Research Institute.
There are three winners of the Medicine Prize who share this honor, namely Gary Ruvkun and Victor Ambros, both professors at the University of Massachusetts, and Nahum Sonenberg, a professor at McGill University in Canada.
The winners of the Agriculture Prize are Professor Jorge Dubcovsky from the University of California, Davis, and Professor Leif Andersson from Uppsala University in Sweden.
The most important Wolf Prize in Mathematics has only one Chinese name, which is Wang Donglai.
As soon as the news appeared, it was immediately forwarded and reported by the domestic news media that had been watching.
For a time, the attention that had been silent suddenly reappeared.
Countless spotlights and flashlights shone on Wang Donglai, and even Tangdu Jiaotong University became the most famous university during this period.
Even Anshui County, Wang Donglai’s hometown, a poor county in the country, has also come into the eyes of many leaders.
After the list of winners came out, Wang Donglai's phone calls were immediately flooded with calls.
There are classmates, colleagues, and even strangers who don’t know where they got the phone number.
At this time, Wang Donglai was conducting experiments in the laboratory.
The research object is the reward previously obtained through the system.
A thing and technology that can change the world!
(End of this chapter)