Chapter 175 won both the Crafford Prize in Mathematics and the Astronomy Prize
Speaking of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, many people may not know what kind of organization it is.
But when it comes to another award related to it, more than 99.99% of people know about it.
Nobel Prize!
The famous Nobel Prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Moreover, the announcement of the Nobel Prize begins in October.
Of course, Xu Chuan never thought that he would win the Nobel Prize now. Although he has made some achievements in mathematics and physics this year, he can even be said to have pioneered a master-level calculation method in the astrophysics world and gained a lot. Recommended by Nobel Laureate Professor Sal Perlmutter.
I never thought I would win the Nobel Prize now.
However, he had thought about the 'Crafford Prize', another award awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that is as famous as the Nobel Prize.
The Crafford Prize is a world science award established by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1980. The fund comes from a donation by Holger Crafford and his wife Anna-Greta.
The awarding disciplines include mathematics, earth sciences, astronomy, biological sciences and arthritis, and are awarded annually to reward outstanding achievements in one of the disciplines.
The scope of its awards is in scientific fields not covered by the Nobel Prize.
Although the Nobel Prize is the most influential award in the world today, it is recognized as the highest honor for researchers, especially in the fields of natural sciences (physics and chemistry).
However, the fields of natural science covered by the Nobel Prize are extremely limited, only physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine.
Mathematics, which is very important to the natural sciences, is not included in this list (there are many rumors about this, and I will wait for a writer who does not write about it). Of course, earth science, astronomy and other disciplines that have made a series of major breakthroughs in the 20th century are not included in this list. .
In order to make up for this shortcoming, in 1980, another Swedish rich man, Crafford, decided to establish a Crafford Prize. Its award scope was in these scientific fields not covered by the Nobel Prize.
Unlike the almost fixed award month date of the Nobel Prize every year, the award time of the Crafford Prize occasionally changes.
Under normal circumstances, the award ceremony is held on "Crafford Day" in September or in May. Only one field is awarded at a time, and the prize reaches 500,000 US dollars, plus an award certificate.
The number of winners is also similar to the Nobel Prize, with no more than three people awarded at a time.
In addition, the Crafford Award may sometimes be moved to other dates in addition to these two months.
For example, the announcement of this year’s Crafford Award was postponed from May to November.
This is related to the work efficiency of the subject committee organized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for awarding awards, and whether the scientific research results of previous years have sufficient value.
In some ways, the Craford Prize is even more difficult to win than the Nobel Prize, because the selection of the Craford Prize in previous years was almost one person per discipline per year. There are basically two or three Nobel Prize winners in each subject every year.
Especially the two subjects of mathematics and astronomy, before 2012, these two subjects were summarized together.
In other words, four years after the reincarnation, mathematics and astronomy will compete for a piece of the Crafford Prize, which will be even more difficult.
In addition to these natural subject areas, the Crafford Prize has another special award.
That's research in the field of arthritis.
If there are enough major breakthroughs in this field, you can also get the Craford Prize. This is something in the medical field. In fact, it slightly overlaps with the Nobel Prize, but no one will mind.
This is because in his later years, Mr. Crawford, the great scientist who established the award, suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis.
However, it is worth mentioning that the Polyarthritis Award is the sole responsibility of a special committee, and awards and bonuses will only be awarded when it is proven that the progress in this field is worthy of award.
It aims to vigorously promote the medical development in the field of polyarthritis and reduce the number of patients.
Since its establishment in 1980, the Craford Polyarthritis Award has been awarded only four times. This shows that the selection of candidates for the Craford Award is strict and there is no abuse.
This is a world-class award. Although it has not been established for a long time, its popularity is gradually rising and it is respected by the world's scientific community.
Compared with the Nobel Prize awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Xu Chuan hopes to win the Crafford Prize because he has never received this award even in his previous life.
Yes, in his previous life, he won top mathematics awards such as the Fields Medal for solving the seven millennium problems, but he did not win the Crafford Medal.
The selection of candidates for this award is extremely strict and famous.
If a candidate has ever engaged in nuclear energy research, weapons research, war research, etc., no matter how outstanding his achievements are, he will be directly excluded from the Crafford Award.
The Nobel Prize does not have this restriction. Many nuclear energy researchers have won the Nobel Prize, but no nuclear energy researcher has ever won the Crafford Prize.
After receiving a call from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Xu Chuan's eyes brightened a bit. After confirming the other party's intention, he quietly waited for the other party's announcement.
"Dear Mr. Xu Chuan, for your great contribution to the Weyl-Berry conjecture, as well as the actuarial celestial parameter calculation method completed using the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem, and the complete analysis of celestial bodies in the Betelgeuse hydrogen envelope. Observation of information, you won this year's Crafford Prize in Mathematics, and the Crafford Prize in Astronomy"
"The award ceremony will be held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden on December 25, 2016. You are welcome to come"
The voice of Professor Anri Rodling, organized by the Academic Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was transmitted to Xu Chuan's ears from thousands of miles away along the mobile phone, causing his heart to skip half a beat.
Even after experiencing the grand scenes of the Nobel Prize award, Xu Chuan couldn't help but swallow his saliva, so much so that he thought he had heard wrongly.
The Crafford Prize in Mathematics and the Crafford Prize in Astronomy were awarded to one person at the same time?
This thing that no one would believe actually happened to him?
Historically, it has never happened that the Crafford Prize in Mathematics and the Astronomy Prize were awarded to the same person in the same year.
This is so incredible and crazy that it’s no wonder that the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has postponed the awarding of the Crafford Prize from May to December.
This significance is no less than winning two Nobel Prizes in the same year.
When the news is officially delivered in two days, the heat will explode.
After repeatedly confirming that the winning information was correct, Xu Chuan put down his phone and stared out the window.
The Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences made a really bold decision, which made him feel a little unconfident.
Not everyone is willing to do this kind of thing that breaks history and unspoken rules.
What's more, he is only eighteen years old this year and will not turn nineteen until December.
Awarding a world-class grand prize to such a young scholar is already under a lot of pressure. On this basis, awarding the mathematics prize and the astronomy prize to him at the same time can be said to be a direct burden. .
Even Xu Chuan, who won this award, couldn't help but lament the boldness of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. I am afraid that no one will be able to break his historical record in the future.
The awarding of the Crafford Prize in Mathematics and the Crafford Prize in Astronomy to Xu Chuan at the same time was the result of a debate organized by the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for more than half a year.
Although this is bold and breaks past rules, it makes sense.
It has been four years since the Crafford Prize in Mathematics was awarded to Terence Teru in 2012. Although a Fields Medal was awarded in 2014, to be honest, in these four years, outstanding In fact, there is no result that will definitely win the Crafford Prize in Mathematics.
The results of the 2014 Fields Medal winners did not completely solve a certain problem. Compared with the problems solved by the winners, their previous contributions to mathematics are key.
But compared to the Fields Medal, the Crafford Medal pays more attention to complete results.
On this basis, Xu Chuan, who completely solved the Weyl-Berry conjecture, undoubtedly fell into the eyes of the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
There is no doubt that this is a ‘big’ mathematical conjecture.
Although its reputation is not obvious, it is far less famous than the weak Goldbach conjecture, the twin prime conjecture, Hilbert's twenty-three questions and other similar conjectures.
But in terms of difficulty, the difficulty of the Weyl-Berry conjecture can be ranked in the top three among these problems.
Professor E.B. Davies, a member of the Royal Society where the sun never sets, and others once called this problem an "extremely difficult" problem, which shows that its difficulty is well-deserved.
Compared with those previous mathematical contributions, the complete Weyl-Berry conjecture undoubtedly attracted more attention from the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
But it has to be said that Xu Chuan's age is so young that the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences continued to debate until May and June after the Princeton exchange meeting in February.
When the Crafford Mathematics Prize was decided in May and June, Xu Chuan’s research in the astronomy community came out.
He observed and calculated that there was another companion star in the red supergiant Betelgeuse.
This was undoubtedly the most explosive news for the astronomical community at the time.
Although this is not impossible according to the judgment of the astronomical community in the past, no one has ever observed this type of star.
Because massive stars will expand in their later years, even if there are companion stars around them, they will be swallowed up and fall into the core of the parent star.
Theoretically speaking, the probability of the existence of this kind of companion star that is swallowed up by the star in its later years but still maintains its own orbit is too small.
And more importantly, after the companion star is wrapped by the massive star in its later years, it becomes countless times more difficult to observe it through ordinary astronomical observation methods.
If Xu Chuan had not completed the calculation using the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem to calculate the celestial parameters, I am afraid it would have taken who knows how long it would have taken for humans to discover this companion star.
Maybe it won't be discovered until Betelgeuse's supernova explosion.
This is normal.
Because the volume and diameter of Betelgeuse in its later years are still expanding, and as the outer hydrogen envelope expands, the companion stars will be hidden deeper and deeper.
Some of the abnormal data and astronomical phenomena that can be observed now may not be observed in the future.
This discovery instantly confused the professors on the scientific committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which is responsible for reviewing the astronomy prize.
How come this war suddenly spread from mathematics to them?
This year's astronomy prize has actually been decided long ago.
Professor Roy Kerr from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and Professor Roger Blandford from Stanford University in the United States share astronomy for their research on "rotating black holes (black holes with angular momentum) and their effects" award.
This is this year's Crafford Astronomy Prize.
But now, the weight of rotating black holes (black holes with angular momentum) and their effects is far less than the discovery that there is a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope.
Of course, if this is just the case, this high probability will not affect the selected result.
At most, the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which is responsible for judging the Astronomy Prize, will confirm in advance the Crafford Astronomy Prize four years later.
But a close second was the method used to discover the presence of a companion star within Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope.
As soon as the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem method of actuating celestial parameters came into being, it amazed the entire astronomy and astrophysics circles.
No one had ever thought before that a general mathematical method could be used to calculate information about stars that are hundreds, thousands or even trillions of light years away.
Not just calculations, but more accurate than those ancient methods.
That's what matters most.
To quote Professor Sal Perlmutter, a reviewer of the journal "Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics": "This is the moment when the old king abdicates and the new king ascends the throne."
A new, more accurate method of calculating distant celestial bodies is undoubtedly extremely important to the astronomical community.
This is like how important calculus is to mathematics.
Under such circumstances, if the Crawford Astronomy Award is delayed for another four years to be awarded to Xu Chuan, I am afraid it will cause dissatisfaction in the entire astronomical community.
Therefore, the professors of the Astronomical Science Committee, who had already completed their tasks, were busy again, discussing whether to revise the Crawford Astronomy Award.
Anyway, because of the delay in mathematics, this year's Crafford Prize has not been announced yet. It is not a big deal to change the winners.
Moreover, these two research results, whether they are the discovery of companion stars in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope or the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem's method of actuating celestial parameters, are better than the previous 'rotating black holes (black holes with angular momentum) and its impact' is more important.
However, there is another problem that comes with it.
That is, the Mathematics Jury, which has determined that this year’s Craford Mathematics Prize will be awarded to Xu Chuan.
If they award the Craford Astronomy Prize to Xu Chuan again this year, this year's Craford Prize in Mathematics and Astronomy will both be his.
This is really scary.
But if it is not given, the dissatisfaction of the astronomical community may greatly impact the credibility of the Crafford Prize.
Therefore, the Crafford Award, which was supposed to be announced in September, has been delayed again and again, until early November.
(End of chapter)