Chapter 234 The Last Puzzle

There is a well-known joke in the mathematics world, which is used to ridicule physicists. It talks about how physicists use experiments to prove that "odd numbers are prime numbers".

First start the experiment, 1 does not need to be proved according to the definition, 3 is a prime number, 5 is a prime number, 7 is a prime number, 9 is an error, 11 is a prime number, 13 is a prime number...

OK, enough experiments have been done, odd numbers are prime numbers, perfect!

Then, after a few years, the experimental equipment was updated, and finally it was possible to verify numbers with more than a hundred digits. It was found that the statistical confidence of the "experimental error" finally exceeded the threshold, and it could no longer be explained by experimental error, so this theory was patched again. , redefining physics above the hundreds digit.

It sounds a bit like the evolutionary history of the theory of relativity.

But in fact, the essence of theoretical physics is such a thing that lacks mathematical beauty.

The position of the characteristic peak of 750GeV is probably similar to "9 in odd numbers". When it repeats many times, it is a "sign", or even a "discovery". But when it suddenly disappears, then it becomes an error.

It is a pity that even the upgraded Hadron Collider can only do work similar to "retrieving odd numbers below a hundred digits".

At the end of the meeting, Professor Frank disbanded the research group.

What Lu Zhou gained was just two journal papers co-signed by Professor Frank and his doctoral students.

For him, this is definitely bad news.

However, Lu Zhou did not intend to give up on this.

Even if Professor Frank chooses to give up, he will continue this subject.

Mathematics is the language of God. Although Lu Zhou does not believe in God, he believes that mathematics cannot deceive people.

Through rigorous calculations, he predicted the appearance of the characteristic peak. Although he did not know why it disappeared, he absolutely did not believe that there was nothing there.

Otherwise, how to explain the simultaneous errors on the ATLAS and CMS detectors?

Just quantum fluctuations?

Then the fluctuations observed by these two detectors at the same time are too big.

Originally planned to spend two days in New York, but because of this incident, Lu Zhou lost his mood.

That afternoon, he drove back to Princeton from New York.

When he returned to the apartment, it was already night, and he happened to meet Molina who had just returned from a late run. At this moment, she was wearing a black sportswear, her blond hair was wet with sweat, exuding a charm that was completely different from her usual dignified elegance.

The eyes swept over Lu Zhou's face, as if to see something, Molina teased in a teasing tone.

"It can be seen that you are not in a good mood."

"Yes."

Molina raised her eyebrows, her smile gloating: "Dumped?"

"That's right."

Lu Zhou replied perfunctorily, took out the key to open the door, and went back to his room.

Molina stared blankly at his back, at the closed door, and after a long time, she murmured something to herself.

"I was really dumped..."

...

Mining the characteristic peak of 750GeV requires a hadron collider, a detector with a higher brightness, and many, many things...

He can predict the appearance of characteristic peaks through calculations, but he cannot prove the existence of a certain particle through simple calculations. All he can do is keep refining the physical model and wait for CERN to verify his theory.

Sadly, it seems like most people have lost faith in the 750 number.

As Molina puts it, he was "dumped", physics pushed him aside.

Lu Zhou didn't think of any better way at the moment, so he could only seek comfort in the embrace of mathematics.

At least, the perfection of the group structure method has reached the final step. Perhaps this temporary frustration can be turned into motivation to help him find the last piece of the puzzle on the Dragon Slaying Sword.

After taking a shower in the bathroom, Lu Zhou fell asleep early.

Waking up early the next day, he regained his energy and went to the mathematics department building with the lecture notes downloaded and printed from the Internet.

Among all the buildings of Princeton University, the building of the Department of Mathematics is the tallest building, and it also symbolizes the extraordinary status of the Department of Mathematics here.

However, Lu Zhou who came here did not listen to any profound lectures, but an elementary number theory class for undergraduates.

As for the winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, why did he sit here and spend time listening to these basic things? Gein, when he was lying in bed last night, suddenly recalled that when he was studying in the library of Jinling University, he watched it in his spare time. a book I've read.

That book is the autobiography of Mr. Yang Zhenning, and there is a whole chapter in it, which is about the memories of a generation of master Fermi.

In his autobiography, Fermi advised him not to stay too long at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton because it was like a monastery.

As for Mr. Yang himself, the biggest impression of Fermi is that he likes to communicate with students very much. He is not only keen on lecturing, but even organizes seminars himself, and even won six Nobel Prizes for this.

Moreover, he mentioned more than once that his ideal plan is to teach physics in a small Ivy League college in the eastern United States after retirement, and write a book that contains all the difficulties in physics, and these difficulties are often referred to as "well known" Such words cover up the past.

From Vera's letter, Lu Zhou suddenly realized that when he was delving into Goldbach's conjecture, he ignored some "well-known" things.

Helfgott's paper is very illuminating, but too jumpy in itself. Although for Lu Zhou, those skipped things are "obvious", but many details are missing in these "obvious".

Abstraction should follow meticulous work, but never before solving it.

Lu Zhou hopes that by recalling some basic things, he can pick up those things that he has been away from for a long time and re-examine them. Maybe he can bring some inspiration to himself.

Quietly walked into the classroom from the back door, Lu Zhou did not attract anyone's attention, and found an empty seat in the last row of the classroom.

The professor who gave the lecture was Charles Fefferman, the current dean of the Department of Mathematics. It is said that he finished calculus at the age of 12, received a Ph.D. from Princeton at the age of 20, and is a super genius who is a full professor at the University of Chicago at the age of 22.

Charles looked up at the classroom, and his eyes stayed on Lu Zhou's face for two seconds. He obviously recognized him, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he was writing on the whiteboard as usual, while using his slow-moving words. Voice lectures.

The high level of Princeton is not only in the classrooms, but also in the emergence of a large number of students. There are strong players in the IMO competition, as well as talents from all over the United States and the world.

Lectures to these geniuses are obviously not as easy to fool as general university lectures.

Especially for those professors who are often sloppy.

When it came to the proof of the prime number theorem, Charles, who had his back to the classroom, just wrote down the twentieth line of calculations, and someone in the classroom raised his hand.

"Professor, the value of the Φ(s) function should be 2, not 3!"

Apparently, someone has previewed various proofs of the prime number theorem.

Charles turned around, smiled calmly, seemed to have a well-thought-out plan, and said slowly: "What you said is correct, but believe it or not, even if I made a mistake in writing this step, I can still come to the same conclusion."

The student was stunned, and there were whispers in the classroom.

From the voices of the whispered discussion, Lu Zhou could feel the disbelief of these students.

Not only these students, but Lu Zhou himself also felt this way.

He has the highest requirements for rigorous calculations, and even if his thinking sometimes goes to a dead end, he will definitely not make mistakes in calculations.

However, Lu Zhou didn't say a word, but waited for the professor to finish all the process.

Charles didn't speak, turned around, and continued writing on the blackboard with his back to the classroom.

Fifteen minutes passed, and when he wrote the last line of calculation, everyone in the classroom was stunned.

Especially the student who stood up and pointed out his mistakes, his face was full of doubts about life.

That mistake was clearly there, but in the end...

He really figured it out!

"As far as I have studied, there are probably more than ten methods of proving the prime number theorem. The rigor of calculation is very important, but when we explore frontier fields, what is more important is logical self-consistency. One point is not just the basis of mathematics, but the basis of all science. As for why I can come to the same conclusion, because after trying many methods, I found that many methods lead to the same goal..."

Then, Charles smiled, gently erased the 3 behind the Φ(s) equal sign, changed it to 2 and continued, "Of course, this is just my sophistry about mistakes. Our Smith classmate said That’s right, the calculation result here is indeed 2. It’s just that whether it’s 2 or 3, it satisfies the interval defined by the function ζ(x).”

Obviously, the professor is familiar with the process to the point of knowing it by heart.

Lu Zhou even suspected that he made a typo on purpose to make fun of these little rookies.

Of course, this is not the point of concern.

"Are different routes leading to the same goal..."

Chewing this sentence repeatedly, Lu Zhou fell into deep thought.

Gradually, his eyes brightened.

Indistinctly, Lu Zhou suddenly felt it.

The puzzle piece he was looking for is already in his hands...