Chapter 230 Retreat Research

The so-called fellowship (Fellowship) is the full award in the usual sense. Different from the scholarship (scholarship), the bursary not only waives the tuition and accommodation fees of the award-winning students, but also gives the award-winning students a certain amount of living expenses as personal consumption expenses.

It is precisely because of this that the competition for grants is particularly fierce during the application process. Generally, in addition to higher paper grades, foreign applicants also need to provide a beautiful domestic school transcript, recommendation letter and study plan.

For different schools and even different individuals, the amount of the full award is different, and even the payment method is divided into one-off payment on an annual basis or monthly or quarterly payment, etc.

Princeton's full scholarship application difficulty is undoubtedly the most stringent among many universities in North America, especially the full scholarship at the doctoral level. But for a Cole Prize-level doctoral student in number theory, there doesn't seem to be any problem.

After all, Lu Zhou himself is qualified to write letters of recommendation for others, not to mention that his mentor is old Deligne.

The stipend that Lu Zhou received included exemption from tuition and accommodation fees, a free medical insurance, and a one-off bonus of 40,000 US dollars.

After opening a card at the bank next to Princeton University and cashing out the checks for the Cole Award and the Princeton Grant, Lu Zhou looked at the string of numbers in the balance and couldn't help but feel emotional.

Others spend a lot of money to study abroad, but not only did they spend no money on studying abroad, but they also made a fortune.

This feeling is really indescribably subtle.

...

After finishing the bursary and tuition and miscellaneous expenses, Lu Zhou has settled down temporarily at Princeton University.

For undergraduates here, the academic work is indeed very heavy, but for doctoral students, if the tutor is not too tight, it will be more relaxed.

Although Professor Deligne arranged for him to work as a teaching assistant, the first class will be in April, which is still one month away. Lu Zhou even took a few days out to go to a nearby town to take his driver's license test.

In addition to the long-term research topic of Goldbach's conjecture, his current task is mainly to learn the knowledge of algebraic geometry under the guidance of Professor Deligne.

What made Lu Zhou ecstatic was that this old man from Belgium had what he had dreamed of - the original manuscript of the "Draft Program" written by the late Mr. Grothendieck, and it was accepted by an American Ph. Raw translation to three-quarters English translation.

Different from the Bible of modern algebraic geometry, "Fundamentals of Algebraic Geometry (EGA)", since the millennium Grothendieck took back all the copyrights of his works, the "Draft Program" has only been circulated among some mathematicians. Many of the ideas in it, Even today no one fully comprehends it.

Lu Zhou has never been invited by the late Mr. Grothendieck to go to France to search for the legacy of the pope of modern algebraic geometry. On the one hand, it is because he knows nothing about French, and on the other hand, it is because Mr. Grothendieck The work has not been an in-depth study.

For Lu Zhou, the original manuscript of the "Draft Program" plus the English translation can be said to be of great help. Coupled with the personal guidance of Grothendieck's mentor, Professor Deligne, many obscure things have become much easier.

Sure enough, choosing a good tutor can save a lot of time.

In addition to completing the study of algebraic geometry under the guidance of Professor Deligne, Lu Zhou spent almost all his spare time on Goldbach's conjecture.

Once the inspiration came suddenly, he didn't even go out for several days, shut himself in a single room of ten square meters, conceived how to improve the theoretical framework, the "group construction method" originated from Goldbach's conjecture, Return to the proposition of Goldbach's conjecture.

In the end, he didn't expect that this retreat lasted for a week, and he even missed a lecture that he shouldn't have missed.

For this matter, Professor Deligne made a special call to ask him what was going on.

However, after learning that Lu Zhou was not wandering around in New York or Philadelphia next door these days, but locked himself in his room and buried himself in Goldbach's conjecture, Professor Deligne didn't tell him about his absenteeism. What, just silent for a while, and said in a warning tone.

"Studying mathematical problems requires deep study, but being a major doesn't mean working behind closed doors. If you feel that your research is stuck in a bottleneck, my suggestion is that you can temporarily put aside the problems you encounter, go out to play football, or watch a few A movie...Inspiration requires you to actively seek it out, rather than waiting for inspiration to find you."

Lu Zhou: "I will seriously consider your suggestion... By the way, can I ask for a leave?"

Deligne: "How long?"

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, "Two weeks."

Deligne: "Then there is no need to ask me, you can arrange your own time freely. But if within a year, your subject still does not make any progress, I will arrange other research work for you. The golden age of studying mathematics is After so many decades, I will not watch you waste a whole year on a dead end."

After speaking, the old professor hung up the phone.

Putting down the phone, Lu Zhou smiled helplessly and turned the ballpoint pen in his hand.

Is it only one year?

It seems that although Professor Deligne didn't say anything, in fact, his heart was similar to what Molina thought, and he was not optimistic that he could complete this task.

But this also shows that the old professor cares about him. If it was someone else, maybe even if he planned to change his career to make a movie in Hollywood on a whim, the old gentleman might not have much reaction.

"You can't hesitate here, you have to hurry up." Shaking his head, Lu Zhou picked up the pen that was thrown away by him again, and began to calculate on the draft paper.

...

Although he said he would seriously consider it, the habits formed over the years cannot be changed in a short while.

Moreover, Lu Zhou didn't think there was anything wrong with his habits?

In the world of mathematics, there are old pedants like Chen Jingrun who are always thinking about problems while walking, there are hermits like Perelman who are so withdrawn that they would rather gnaw their old age than travel to receive awards, and there are people like Kolmogorov who love outdoor sports "Amateur boxer" (most famously at a Soviet academic conference, violently shaking his fist at his mentor because the debate was nothing more than...).

Lu Zhou feels that he is not a lonely researcher. When necessary, he will listen to the lectures of his peers to broaden his thinking, and he is also willing to stand on the podium to share his research success with his peers. But most of the time, he is still used to closing the door and studying alone.

In this way, a few more days passed.

On a Saturday morning, the sky outside the window was hazy and bright.

Lu Zhou, who fell asleep on the table at some point, moved his stiff arms, leaned against the back of the chair and stretched.

"Maybe I should hire a nanny..."

I don't know how the robotics technology in Silicon Valley is developing now.

If possible, he really thought about customizing a robot body for Xiao Ai, so that the artificially retarded man could be used for purposes other than checking emails.

For example, electronic dogs that can take express delivery or something.

As for the work that is too complicated, he doesn't expect it to have that ability.

While thinking about some unrealistic things, Lu Zhou rubbed his sore brows, looked at more than a dozen pages of draft paper spread out on the table, selected a few useless ones, crumpled them up, and threw them aside wastebasket.

Feeling a little hungry, he stood up and walked into the kitchen.

I took out slices of bacon and fresh vegetables from the refrigerator, drained them after a few passes with boiling water, put them in two thick slices of bread, drizzled them with salad dressing, and stuffed them into the oven together.

It's a pity that cooking is not popular here in the United States, and the occasional barbecue party is usually outdoors. Although this single room has a kitchen, it lacks a natural gas stove and a range hood, leaving him with no good cooking skills. There is no use for it.

Although Lu Zhou also approached the apartment manager and asked if he could install a range hood and a stove in the kitchen, he was looked at with surprise and refused without hesitation.

Think about it too, this is a building with a history of more than 90 years, and there have been many famous scholars. Maybe in a few decades a great man will emerge from here, and this apartment may become a museum just like the former residence of Einstein not far away.

It would be a pity if it accidentally caught fire...

Lu Zhou could only express his understanding of what the apartment manager said.

Anyway, he mainly went to eating clubs to eat, and only used the things in the refrigerator to deal with it when he was particularly busy or in the morning.

After finishing his breakfast, Lu Zhou made himself a cup of coffee, drank it slowly while standing next to the refrigerator, and sorted out his previous thoughts while staring at the ticking clock.

At this moment, he suddenly received a call from Brother Luo.

"Hey, didn't you agree to go to see the car with me today? I'm already at the school gate, when are you going to leave...don't tell me you haven't gotten up yet?"

Only then did Lu Zhou realize that he seemed to have been in seclusion for a long time.

(Thanks to the leader of blue sky 202 for the reward! I will make up for the update as soon as possible!... It seems that the debt is getting more and more QAQ)