Chapter 262 US Investigation

Two days later, the news that Xu Chuan would give an open mathematics class at NCU spread quickly throughout the campus.

It became the hottest topic on the NCU campus, on the Stone Forum, Penguin, and Weixin.

Not only were NCU students discussing it, but even the school's lecturers and professors were preparing, and even some students from other Jinling colleges who received the news were preparing to take the subway to attend the class.

This is the first time such an opportunity has ever been offered in China, and it should not be missed.

Although the course submitted on the NCU official website is only the most common "Linear Algebra and Space Analytic Geometry", which is an undergraduate course, it must have its own unique insights from the mouth of a Nobel Prize and Fields Medal double winner.

In addition, since it is a lecture, it is normal for the students in the class to raise their doubts to the lecturer.

For mathematics students, a Fields Medal winner is basically a god in the field of mathematics.

Of course, in addition to mathematics students, Xu Chuan's lectures also attracted the interest of many student tutors in the School of Physics and the School of Astronomy.

This big guy won the Nobel Prize in Physics through computational astronomy. Nanjing University has already opened this course two years ago, and in the second half of last year, it was defined as a compulsory course for students in the Department of Astronomy.

Although there are not many things to learn, compulsory and minor are two completely different concepts.

When it comes to computational astronomy, this big guy who is about to start the course can be said to be the founder of computational astronomy.

Betelgeuse is still the focus of observation in the astronomical community. Today, the astronomical community has confirmed that there is a companion star in the hydrogen envelope of Betelgeuse, and it is being observed and studied.

After all, Betelgeuse is too close to the solar system. The originally confirmed supernova explosion is not a threat to the earth. Now with the appearance of the companion star, this has become an uncertain thing again.

If it is not clarified, this may become a headache for many people.

In the villa, after Xu Chuan arranged the course, he found a manuscript of analytic functions in the study and read it.

This manuscript was brought back by him from Princeton. It was given to him by Deligne and left by his ancestor Grothendieck.

Although he had read it several times when he was in Princeton, the content is still worth reading.

Since the Fields Medal in August last year, he has not studied and thought much in the field of mathematics.

Now that the project on the mechanism of nuclear energy beta radiation energy conversion into electrical energy has come to an end, he can now devote some energy to mathematics again.

Although he has won the Fields Medal, Xu Chuan does not think that he has reached the pinnacle of mathematics.

The more in-depth research on this subject, the more you can experience and the more you need to learn.

What's more, he still has a goal of controlled nuclear fusion to conquer in the distant future, and in this technology, establishing a mathematical model for the control of ultra-high temperature plasma in the chamber of a controlled nuclear fusion reactor is a very critical step.

There is no doubt that to solve this problem, we can only start from mathematics.

And the corresponding direction probably falls on the NS equation.

Before returning to China, he had worked with Fefferman, the head of Princeton's mathematics department, to study the NS equation. The two had some exploration of the NS equation from different angles.

If he was still in Princeton, the two of them would continue to work together, and maybe they could solve this problem or conduct a deeper study.

But now he can only think of a solution by himself.

However, Xu Chuan will not regret it. It is his greatest luck to be able to return safely from the United States.

In the late winter of January, Xu Chuan leaned on a rattan chair and flipped through the manuscript in his hand. The orange-yellow oven exuded a warm breath, dispelling the cold in the room.

On the desk, the phone rang.

Xu Chuan woke up with a start, touched the phone and took a look. The person who called him was Liu Gaojun, the president of Nanjing University.

"Hello, President. What do you want to talk to me about?" He slid his finger lightly on the screen, and he answered the call and asked with a smile.

"It's like this. Didn't you submit a course yesterday? It has attracted attention both inside and outside the school. Many students and professors have expressed their hope to choose a larger place to teach, so as to avoid being unable to grab a seat."

On the other end of the phone, Liu Gaojun directly stated his intention: "So we want to adjust the professor who teaches you, and move him from the No. 1 public classroom in the West Building to our auditorium."

Xu Chuan blushed and said, "This is a bit too exaggerated, President, the public classroom in the West Building is already big enough, and can accommodate three or four hundred people."

Liu Gaojun laughed and said, "You underestimate your influence too much. Students from the Department of Mathematics at Nanjing University have expressed their willingness to participate, as well as the Physics Department. There are also many students from the School of Astronomy who will attend the class. There are even students from Hohai University, Southeast University, and South China University of Science and Technology who are preparing to come to attend the class. The public classrooms in the West Building are definitely not enough. "

Xu Chuan coughed and said, "Forget about moving to the auditorium. After all, this is a lecture, not a report or speech."

"Besides, this is just a math class. Why are the students from the School of Physics and the School of Astronomy coming here? This is too exaggerated."

Liu Gaojun thought for a while and said, "How about this, let's change the classroom to the No. 1 public classroom in the Run Run Shaw Building? After all, many students want to listen to your lectures, and we can't leave them with no place to sit, right?"

Xu Chuan: "Okay, these are all trivial matters."

"Then let's just say it, I won't bother you anymore." Liu Gaojun hung up the phone with a smile.

Xu Chuan shook his head and put the phone back on the desk.

Just as he was about to continue reading, the phone rang again. This time the person calling him was Deligne, his mentor at Princeton.

"Sir Atiyah passed away. The funeral will be in a week. Can you attend?"

When the call was connected, Professor Deligne broke the shocking news.

Xu Chuan opened his mouth but stopped talking.

Sir Atiyah, a mathematician whose sun never sets, winner of the Fields Medal, and former president of the Royal Society, is known as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century.

He established a cooperative relationship with Ishadur Singh and jointly proved the Atiya-Singh index theorem, which is one of the most important mathematical achievements of the twentieth century.

In addition, he has many outstanding achievements in the fields of topology, differential equations, mathematical physics, algebra and other fields.

In 2018, that is, in September last year, Sir Atiyah stated that he had proved the Riemann Hypothesis, and later posted a preprint that proved the Riemann Hypothesis (conjecture).

At that time, Xu Chuan also received review invitations from many journals such as "New Advances in Mathematics" and "Journal of the Mathematical Society", hoping that he could review or comment on Sir Atiyah's paper.

Although the mathematical community at that time was not very optimistic about Sir Atiyah's proof, Sir Atiyah was a Fields Medal winner after all, and some top journals would still selectively bet on it; of course, some would also join in the fun.

However, he was busy at the time, and because of his rebirth, he knew that Sir Atiyah's proof of the Riemann Hypothesis was wrong, so he did not accept these review invitations.

The people who handled this paper were Professor Peter Schulz, who also won the Fields Medal with him in August, and another mathematician from Sakura Country.

The two disclosed errors in Sir Atiyah's paper in December, such as contradictions in the limiting conditions when using the zeta function, inaccuracy of the fine structure constant α, etc.

This announcement directly stated that this certification failed.

Speaking of which, this is actually not the first time Sir Atiyah has publicly stated that he has proved a certain problem or a certain conjecture.

Prior to this, Lord Atiyah had published his proofs several times in the fields of mathematical physics, differential equations, etc., but unfortunately, these proofs were later proven unsuccessful.

This has made this great scholar "stained" in the minds of some people, who feel that he is no longer safe in his later years.

But for Xu Chuan, Sir Atiyah still deserves everyone's respect.

In any case, it is not easy to still be engaged in mathematical research at the age of 89.

Just like Einstein publicly stated many times in his later years that he had found a way to unify the four forces. This was a great scholar's pursuit of dreams and science.

This alone deserves everyone's respect.

After suddenly hearing the news of Sir Atiya's death, Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment. The memories in his mind quickly turned over. After a while, he sighed.

Judging from the memories of his previous life, Sir Atiyah really passed away at the beginning of 19th year.

Shaking his head, he sighed: "My condolences, I may not be able to go abroad to attend Sir Atiya's funeral. Please, mentor, please bring me a bouquet of flowers."

Deligne nodded and said, "Yes, I understand."

After a pause, he then asked: "Have you been researching anything sensitive recently? People from the CIA came to Princeton some time ago to investigate something related to you."

Xu Chuan opened his mouth, hesitated, and then asked: "Didn't you cause any trouble to everyone?"

Deligne shook his head and said: "That's not the case. Princeton still has some say. It will not be affected here, but I am more worried about you."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's fine. I don't have to worry here. If I don't go abroad, there will be no problem."

"As for what I'm studying," he paused and continued: "For now, I can only tell you that it has something to do with nuclear energy and energy."

"More specific, I can't disclose it for the time being due to confidentiality restrictions, but it may be made public in this period of time, and you will know then."

Xu Chuan couldn't say much about his research. Although he trusted his mentor, the best way to keep it secret was to say nothing.

Deligne: "Well, I will pay attention to it, but I still suggest that you don't get too involved in political things. For a scholar, this is a very demoralizing thing."

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "I will remember it."

"By the way, tutor, do you have any research manuscripts or information on NS equations?" He asked, jumping away from the topic of nuclear energy.

"NS equation?" Deligne pondered for a moment, and then said: "My teacher still has some information on nonlinear partial differential equations and Euler equations, which are all his previous research. If you need it, I can I’ll take a copy for you.”

"But for things related to NS equations, it's best for you to find Fefferman. He has been studying this aspect since you studied it with him in the second half of last year."

Xu Chuan said: "Then I'll trouble the instructor. I'll make a call to Fefferman."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Chuan stood up and looked out the window.

In late winter in January, the trees and grass in the courtyard were all withered and yellow.

The death of Sir Atiyah made him feel a little depressed.

Although he didn't want to recall it, as time passed, some of his old friends who were still alive in the world would also leave in the near future.

Time is long, it can take away everything, and it can also smooth everything.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Xu Chuan sighed and turned to leave the study.

He probably couldn't read the book in the afternoon, so he went out for a walk.