Chapter 834 Millennium Mathematics Conference
Almost at the same time Chang Haonan walked out of the computer room and met Tang Lintian.
France, Paris.
A conference that has attracted almost all the attention of mathematicians from all over the world is being held at the Collège de France.
People all like a sense of ceremony.
Mathematicians are no exception.
The last millennium, or in other words, the last century starting from 1900, was undoubtedly the golden age of scientific development.
It is hard not to look forward to where science will lead mankind in the new century and millennium that is about to begin.
Mathematics, as the "Queen and Servant of Science", has naturally become the center and focus of this great discussion.
This Millennium Mathematics Conference is exactly the response of the mathematics community to this.
However, compared with common academic conferences in the past, today's situation is slightly different.
In addition to mathematicians, there are hundreds of thousands or even millions of people around the world who are also paying attention to this place.
But what they focused on was not the meeting itself.
It is a list that will be announced at the meeting.
"Seven major mathematical problems of the millennium".
Since this reward was first disclosed by several media outlets a month ago, it has quickly aroused heated discussions around the world.
With the subsequent series of guidance, the popularity of the topic has not even dropped but has risen.
Now it has faintly overshadowed the momentum of the Millennium Mathematics Conference itself.
In fact, when the Clay Institute of Mathematics proposed to announce the "reward list" at the meeting, the conference committee refused at first.
Although many mathematicians were already gearing up to win a million-dollar bounty at that time, we were all scholars, so we still had to be more reserved.
However, in the end, it still failed to withstand the effect of Qian's ability.
Considering that the research direction of several members of the conference group is number theory, and the field of number theory involves a series of well-known names such as Goldbach’s conjecture, Riemann hypothesis, and BSD conjecture that are likely to be shortlisted. Math problem...
This result does not seem surprising.
In short, after the opening ceremony and the opening speech titled "The Importance of Mathematics", what is currently going on is the much-anticipated announcement of the list.
……
In the audience, Maxim Kontsevich, who was about half an hour late, quietly sat next to the British mathematician Andrew Wiles:
“Maybe I haven’t missed the critical moment?”
"No."
Wiles shrugged:
"They are still advertising their institute."
Koncevich is closer to a theoretical physicist than a mathematician, and his research direction was obviously impossible to make the list from the beginning.
And Andrew Wiles studied number theory, and all his life's study was to conquer Fermat's last theorem.
Originally, this should be one of the popular candidates today.
The only problem is that Wiles had already completed the proof and publication of Fermat's Last Theorem from 1993 to 1995.
Suffered the loss of moving too quickly.
So, as two people with no hope of participating in this competition, last night they each made a list of their guesses for the seven mathematical puzzles of the millennium and made a bet.
Get ready to see who has a higher accuracy rate.
And soon, the result will be announced.
“By the way, where is the student you brought here?”
Konsevich suddenly asked:
"This is the one who told you yesterday that he was studying the ABC conjecture."
"You mean Rastegar Arash?"
Wiles' eyes were still fixed on Arthur Jeff is speaking on the stage.
The latter is still introducing content about the history of mathematics at this time, but compared to the naked propaganda just now, this part is closely related to the theme of today’s conference, and it is also used by many mathematicians, especially senior mathematicians. Home areas of interest.
“Because he forgot to submit the report yesterday, I punished him by watching the live TV broadcast in the hotel room this morning, so he did not come to the scene...”
When Arash's name was mentioned, Wiles couldn't help but smile.
Obviously, he is very optimistic about his student.
Perhaps it is for this reason that particularly strict requirements are put forward.
According to the meeting schedule, there is no substantial academic content in today’s morning session.
Even if I don’t come, it will be a pity at best and it won’t really delay anything.
In fact, Koncevich just asked casually, and at this time, he had already turned his attention to the curtain in front of the venue...
...
At the same time.
In a hotel about a few kilometers away from the venue.
Rastega Arash, who was just mentioned by the two men, was looking at a TV and a laptop at the same time with a grimace on his face.
On the TV, naturally, there was a live broadcast of the Millennium Mathematics Conference.
On the computer screen, there are several websites open at the same time——
Like many doctoral students, he is also responsible for helping himself and his supervisor keep track of the latest research progress of his peers.
In fact, it was because he failed to submit a progress report yesterday that he lost the opportunity to enter the venue this morning. So now he can only do two things at once.
Of course, the main focus is still on TV.
“The first of the seven major mathematical problems of the millennium... the NP-complete problem!”
“Now let’s invite Professor Alexander Rezpolov to come to the stage to introduce the basics of NP-complete problems. The situation..."
"Ah——"
Arash grabbed his hair hard and let out a cry:
"The opportunity to witness history... just slipped away..."
Watching this kind of thing through a TV screen and watching it in person are two completely different feelings.
So, Arash turned down the TV sound slightly and prepared to divert his attention through work.
He first made himself a cup of coffee to refresh himself, and then sat back in front of the computer.
“Next… let’s take a look at arXiv…”
Arash decided to do some light work first.
Since arXiv does not have a peer review mechanism, the articles on it are mixed, ranging from pre-printed versions released by big guys before publishing formal papers to garbage that civilians cannot tolerate.
But in general, the level is still not as good as serious mathematics journals.
It also looks relatively easy.
Sometimes you don’t even have to use your brain at all.
He thought this while opening the website.
The first thing that comes into view is——
"Proof: Any simply connected, closed three-dimensional manifold must be homeomorphic to a three-dimensional sphere"
"Why do I feel like I've seen it somewhere..."
Although his research direction is number theory, this title still feels a bit familiar to Arash.
"Wait..."
He stopped drinking coffee:
"Isn't this...an expression of Poincaré's conjecture?"
Thinking of this, The corners of Arash's mouth turned up involuntarily:
"Let me see which civil science department claims to have solved it again..."
However, he was only halfway through his soliloquy when he saw the author's name.
CHANGHaonan.
Never heard of this.
But...
Grigory Perelman.
I've heard of this before.
“Isn’t it civil science?”
“Or is it just the same name?”
“Or is it a fake name?”
In an instant, thousands of people Thoughts rushed through Arash's mind.
To be fair, he really can't be blamed entirely.
Number theory, because it is relatively less abstract, has always been the most popular field in civil sciences, almost no one.
Especially for those who claim to have solved Goldbach’s conjecture, they have to do hundreds if not thousands every year.
In this environment, Arash, who studies number theory, first reacted to encountering Minke, which is really normal.
But in the field of topology where the Poincaré conjecture lies, the situation is much better.
After all, most people don’t even understand the basic concepts and have no room to develop.
But no matter what, Perelman’s name is on it after all.
Arash still clicked on the author's details to take a look.
Then I discovered...
"WTF...is that really Perelman?"
The remaining half cup of coffee was spilled with a shake of his hand.
However, it is not necessary.
When it comes to refreshing yourself, this paper is much better than coffee.
In an instant, Arash's tiredness disappeared.
After being stunned for a few minutes, he turned his attention back to the TV.
At this time, Arthur Jeff has revealed the name of the second item of the seven puzzles.
Hodge’s conjecture.
But this time, Arash no longer felt any pain or envy at all -
What kind of history can a small thousand-year mathematics conference count?
I am the one who really witnessed history!
(End of this chapter)