Chapter 252: Meeting Your Opponent

Although the awarding ceremony of the Crafford Awards has ended, the celebration of the Crafford Awards has just begun.

After the award ceremony, Lu Zhou walked out of the main entrance of the Stockholm Concert Hall, and was about to take the special car at the entrance and head to the nearby Stockholm City Hall.

However, the moment he appeared at the door, the reporters who had been ambushing for a long time rushed forward, with various microphones and cameras.

I saw a good-looking young lady reporter rushing ahead and asked quickly.

"Hi, Mr. Lu Zhou, I'm a reporter from CTV, may I interview you?"

CTV?

Originally, Lu Zhou didn't really want to be interviewed, but of course CTV still had to show some face.

After all, it must be positive reporting.

Looking at the young female reporter, Lu Zhou replied with a pleasant face, "Of course."

The female reporter pursed her lips and asked, "As the first scholar of Chinese nationality to win this award, how do you feel now? Do you have any thoughts?"

"Excitement, joy, and gratitude..."

Lu Zhou paused for a moment, and thanked all the names he could think of that had helped him.

The lady reporter continued to ask: "We all know that Goldbach's conjecture is one of the crowns in the field of number theory. The story of Chen Jingrun and '1+2' once inspired a generation of Chinese students to be enthusiastic about mathematics. Now this building In the end, you sealed the dome, and many people are still confused about the meaning of solving the '1+1' problem. So for you, what is the meaning of mathematics?"

Lu Zhou didn't answer this question directly, but after thinking for a while, he suddenly asked, "What do you think the meaning of science is?"

The reporter didn't expect Lu Zhou to ask a sudden question, but he smiled and replied smoothly: "I think it should change the world. All the wealth in modern society is based on breakthroughs in science and technology."

Lu Zhou nodded approvingly.

Yes, this reporter is a bit level.

At least he was at a higher level than those he had dealt with before.

Therefore, he is also very happy to talk to such reporters.

What is the meaning of mathematics?

Just for pretense?

of course not.

Even if a little bit may be produced in the process, Lu Zhou feels that to him, it is like a by-product of a chemical reaction and not the main thing.

It's like mathematicians are generally more handsome, but being handsome is not the reason for his good math.

As for mathematics in its purest sense...

In front of countless cameras, Lu Zhou smiled and said to her.

"You are right, the significance of science is to change the world."

"The significance of mathematics is to change science."

...

Like the Nobel Prize, after the awarding ceremony of the Crawford Prize, there is a grand celebration banquet held in the Blue Hall, the banquet hall on the first floor of Stockholm City Hall.

Everyone, including the King and Queen of Sweden, as well as many scientists from the Academy of Sciences, gathered to share the beauty of science in a warm atmosphere.

In this sense, the Crawford Prize is almost like a preview of the Nobel Prize, probably to let mathematicians who missed the Nobel Prize have a taste of the Nobel Prize.

In order for this award to fulfill its original intention, at least in terms of banquet specifications, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences followed the specifications of the Nobel Prize.

For example, before the banquet begins, the dishes on the banquet are absolutely kept secret.

For example, the occasions of banquets and dances are strictly separated, with meals in the Blue Hall and dances in the Golden Hall. And it is stipulated that everyone's seat is fixed... This is somewhat different from the current mainstream British and American academic conferences.

Before the banquet officially started, Lu Zhou met many acquaintances and greeted them one by one.

Like Schulz, like Helfkotter...

Those who are too far away or are too busy with research may not be able to come, but European mathematicians, especially those who study prime numbers, have basically come.

In fact, Lu Zhou found that the circle of mathematicians is so big that there are too many academic conferences. If it is more accurate to a certain direction, who can even count the big names with his fingers.

However, the appearance of a big boss was unexpected for Lu Zhou.

This person is Faltings, a master in the field of algebraic geometry.

His name once left a legend in Princeton.

The reason why I say it is because after 1994, he was a professor at Princeton for nearly ten years, and then he returned to his hometown in Germany.

As for now, he is the director of the Max Planck Institute of Mathematics and the editor-in-chief of Inventiones, one of the top four journals in mathematics.

Although the Max Planck Institute is not as famous as Princeton, it is also quite high in the ranking of world research institutions. Especially in the field of physics and engineering, the Max Planck Institute is working on a very cool project in a low-key way, but let's not mention it for now.

Compared with the humble Charles Fefferman, Faltings' "Germanic conceit" left behind a legend in Princeton no less than his achievements in mathematics.

It is said that once he played chess with Peter Sarnak (the Princeton number theory guru mentioned above), and lost. The old man was not in a hurry, and left a line that countless Princetonians talked about: "You-are-better-on-chess, but-I'm-a-much-better-mathematican."

The straightforward paraphrase is: You are good at chess, but I am better at math than you.

In short, the Germanic old man was very difficult to live with, but he did have the capital of pride. After all, after Grothendieck passed away, the throne of algebraic geometry is hard to say now, and it has to be judged by history. But the one who can compete with him is probably Grothendieck's high apprentice Deligne.

As for the only intersection between Lu Zhou and him, it was probably the paper on the proof of Goldbach's conjecture. As one of the six reviewers, Mr. Faltings gave two revisions alone, and the angle was quite tricky.

I have to admit that this old gentleman's mathematical ability and rigor to mathematics are really admirable. Although the two revisions to Lu Zhou were completed smoothly, it was still a lot of effort.

And more coincidentally, the old gentleman's seat happened to be next to him.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was that when he was considering whether to disturb the old man's meal, Faltins reached out for champagne and even took the initiative to talk to him.

"Congratulations on winning the Crawford Award, Professor Lu Zhou."

"thanks!"

Deeply surprised, Lu Zhou clinked glasses with the old gentleman lightly.

After sipping champagne gracefully, the old Germanic man paused and continued speaking slowly.

"A month ago, only three of today's mathematicians had any hope of surpassing me. Now I have changed my previous opinion. It is four, not three."

Hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou almost choked on the champagne he just drank.

Hold the grass!

Is this a compliment or an act of coercion?

I feel like I've met my opponent...