Chapter 240 The Bustling Town of Princeton

It has been a week since Lu Zhou posted the paper on the Arxiv website, and most people who are concerned about Goldbach's conjecture have already heard the news.

Regarding the fifty-page paper, some people were overwhelmed by the "group structure method" in it, some expressed disbelief, and some dismissed the fifty-page paper because they wanted to understand all of it. The proof process is indeed not an easy task.

Except for those civil scientists who are proficient in the method of "two appearances, four images, five elements and eight trigrams", many scholars in the direction of analytical number theory, even if they study Goldbach's conjecture, few people have understood more than two methods at the same time.

For example, those who study the great sieve method may not necessarily be proficient in the round method, and vice versa. In addition to the mainstream choice, there are also some methods such as the density rate method and the triangular summation for solving, which are even more unpopular.

In the group theory method used by Lu Zhou, not only can you see the shadow of the sieve method, but you can also see the round method, and even the idea of ​​​​group theory, which is not too broad.

It is precisely because of this that, let alone testing the correctness of the paper, there are certain thresholds for understanding this paper.

Of course, the general opinion in the number theory circle is quite optimistic. After all, Lu Zhou has already won the Cole Prize in Number Theory, and has solved many problems in number theory, especially in the direction of prime numbers.

Because many professors mentioned this matter in their lectures, the discussion gradually spread from the academic circle to some campus bbs.

Now not only scholars who pay attention to this direction are discussing this matter, even students from the mathematics departments of major universities are also discussing this paper.

On a foreign mathematics forum famous for predicting the Philippine Prize, a discussion started.

[OK! I know that he has already solved the twin prime number conjecture and the Polignac conjecture, but our professor said in class that Goldbach's conjecture is not at the same level as them. Just like the Ivy League and the Super Bowl, although they are both football, they are not a heavyweight at all. To put it bluntly, I don't believe his thesis is correct, there must be something wrong, and it will probably be overturned in a short time. 】

【So who are your professors? 】

[James Maynard! 2014 SASTRA Ramanujan Award Winner! Candidate for Fields Medal in 2018! I think his opinion is more authoritative. 】

【Oh, that Maynard, I've heard of it, seems to be the British guy who studies the distance between prime numbers? I heard that after Zhang Yitang calculated 70 million, he has been challenging the twin prime number conjecture and prepared for a whole year, but he was outnumbered by others and burned all the manuscripts in anger? (laugh)】

【Ha ha! 】

[My point of view is exactly the opposite of yours. Our professor spoke highly of this paper, and believed that the group construction method in it would become a very potential research tool in analytic number theory. 】

【Oh? Who is your professor? IMHO, when it comes to analytic number theory, especially in the field of prime numbers, not everyone has the ability to review manuscripts. 】

[Tao Zhexuan. 】

【…】

...

There is no peer review on Arxiv, and the correctness of the paper cannot be determined. Whether this mathematical problem can be proved or not, there are different opinions for a while.

Everyone knew, however, that the mathematics community would not wait long for this dazzling research success.

In the second week after Lu Zhou uploaded the paper, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton updated a meeting information on its official website.

Next Monday, Lu Zhou will give a one-hour report on Goldbach's conjecture proof in Lecture Hall 1 of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

As soon as this announcement came out, all the debates on the correctness of the paper turned into discussions on the report itself.

Many people's doubts about the correctness of the paper are mainly due to the ignorance of the group structure method and the lack of peer review of the articles on Arxiv. If it is posted in the form of a report meeting, and it is still in a place like the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, many problems will undoubtedly be resolved in the questioning session.

It is precisely because of this that Lu Zhou prepared very seriously these days, and did not take it lightly because of the approval from the system.

The key to the proof of a mathematical conjecture is logical self-consistency, but in the final analysis it still needs to be recognized by peers. This is fundamentally different from subject tests, and there is no standard answer for reference that can be tested. As the claimant who proves the conjecture, he is obliged to explain his theory and answer all doubts.

Even if it is a small detail, Lu Zhou dare not let it go easily. Many traps are often hidden in some "obvious" problems.

Not to mention him, Wiles, who proved Fermat's last theorem, has been tricked by these small problems, and has been stuck in an "obvious" but problematic place for almost a year. If it weren't for the encouragement of my friends, I even planned to admit failure for a while.

When completing this work, Lu Zhou couldn't help but feel emotional.

He didn't feel it before, but now he realizes how useful it is to lead a student.

The things that are going to be reported on stage are first thrown to the students as the test center and taken back to look at them. Draw all the places that are not understandable. Basically, the places that will be picked up by colleagues to make things difficult are obvious.

It's a pity that although Professor Deligne borrowed a doctoral student he brought to serve as his consultant, what he helped him with was not the theory, but only the things on the PPT.

Even if Lu Zhou wanted to ask him what he couldn't understand in his thesis, he just looked confused and couldn't understand it at all.

Because the direction of his research is algebraic geometry, as for the big sieve method and circle method, he doesn't know anything at all...

...

Time passed day by day, and finally it was the day before the report meeting.

With the influx of a group of mathematicians, even the quiet town of Princeton became lively.

In terms of receiving mathematicians from all over the world, Princeton can be said to be quite attentive.

According to the arrangement of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the mathematicians who were invited to participate in this report were all arranged in the Princeton Hotel opposite Palmer Square.

If all goes well, it will not only be an academic meeting during the day, but also a celebration banquet filled with champagne and delicious food in the evening.

However, Lu Zhou has no time to think about these issues for the time being, because for him, every minute and every second before the report starts is precious.

In the afternoon of the next day, Lecture Hall 1 of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton was crowded with people.

In addition to the scholars who were invited to the conference, there were also some uninvited students. Some of them came with their tutors, some were studying in Princeton, and some even drove from New York or Philadelphia next door.

Although they did not receive the notice of the specific time of the meeting, some people who had been waiting here took advantage of the chaos to grab their seats.

As for those who came late, some simply sat on the ground in the aisles on both sides of the seats, and some even stood in the corner or outside the corridor, standing with the reporters who came after hearing the news.

The report will officially start at two o'clock and end at three o'clock. Depending on the number of questions and the content of the questions, it may be extended.

If nothing else happens, after the report is over, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton will join forces with the editorial department of the Annual Journal of Mathematics and organize a jury of four to six people to review Lu Zhou's papers independently based on the minutes of the meeting. Review the manuscript, and finally summarize the review comments to decide whether his paper is passed.

It can be said that whether the draft of this paper goes smoothly depends on whether he can explain his group structure method clearly.

Standing behind the scenes in the lecture hall, Lu Zhou looked at the time on the phone screen again and took a deep breath.

Five minutes left.

This is the tenth time he took out his phone to check the time.

As for how many times he took deep breaths to adjust his heart rate, he couldn't remember clearly.

Before that, Lu Zhou had learned from Professor Deligne about the number of people attending the meeting.

Regardless of those who signed up independently, there were already more than 150 well-known scholars who were invited to attend, some of whom were from Paris, some from Germany, some from his home country, and some familiar faces.

In addition to people from the mathematics community, there are media reporters from all over the world.

Soon, he will stand under the eyes of the whole world and draw an end to this difficult problem of the century.

At this moment, a staff member of the Institute for Advanced Study opened the door and walked into the preparation room, speaking to Lu Zhou in a respectful voice.

"Mr. Lu, it's almost time, are you ready?"

There was no immediate answer to the question.

Lu Zhou turned to look at the mirror, and stretched out his hand to straighten the tie on his chest.

Finally, taking a deep breath, he faced himself in the mirror with a smile on his lips.

"Ready."