Chapter 347: Experience More When You’re Young
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lu Zhou couldn’t make up his mind, and he told Professor Deligne about the Max Planck Inst.i.tute invitation. Professor Deligne looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “You plan on going to the Fritz Haber Inst.i.tute?”
“I’m thinking about it,” Lu Zhou replied. He then added, “Actually I prefer to do this report in Princeton.”
Germany was too far.
He just got back from Columbia University, he didn’t want to leave so soon again.
Deligne thought for a moment. Surprisingly, he didn’t agree with Lu Zhou, and he said, “Princ.i.p.al Eisgruber will be very happy to hear you say this, but I don’t recommend doing this.”
Lu Zhou asked, “Why?”
“This is like a monastery, it’s suitable for spiritual practice. However, it is not a place for evangelism. There is a bigger world out there.” Deligne placed the pen in his hand down and said, “My suggestion is to experience more when you are young. No matter what you are researching, it is good to network with other scholars.”
Deligne believed that Lu Zhou’s att.i.tude toward academia was suboptimal.
Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “Okay, I will consider your suggestion.”
“I hope you will. Also, once you get there, remember to say hi to the old man Faltings for me.” Deligne smile and said, “It’s been 20 years since he left Princeton, don’t know if he’s still c.o.c.ky or not.”
Lu Zhou remembered his last encounter with the old man in Stockholm.
Lu Zhou didn’t know what Faltings was like 20 years ago.
But the old man still seemed pretty arrogant…
Lu Zhou left Professor Deligne’s office and went back to his own office.
He sat in front of his computer and thought for a moment. He then wrote an email to the Max Planck Inst.i.tute for Condensed Matter Physics.
In the end, he chose to go to Germany.
The Max Planck Inst.i.tute promised to pay for all expenses, and a free trip wasn’t too bad.
But now he had to prepare for his PowerPoint report…
Lu Zhou worked all day until it was dinner time.
He stretched and saved his incomplete PowerPoint report. He then got up from his office chair.
He had some special matters to take care of at night; therefore, he decided to end the day early. He told Vera not to bring him a sandwich. He then went to the dining area on the first floor.
Lu Zhou was about to eat when he coincidentally b.u.mped into Edward Witten, who had just finished his meal.
“Didn’t eat at the Ivy Club?” the talkative Jewish professor asked as he sat down across from Lu Zhou. He then added, “The chef changed when you went to Columbia.”
Lu Zhou twisted his fork in the meat sauce as he said, “Every time I plan on going there, I end up here because I’m too lazy to go that far.”
“Haha, same here. I got used to the food here after a while.” Edward Witten smiled and said, “If I didn’t have a lifetime members.h.i.+p, I would’ve canceled a long time ago.”
This was the first time Lu Zhou had heard something like this. He looked at Witten and asked, “Lifetime members.h.i.+p? You don’t have to pay the members.h.i.+p fee?”
“Of course not, you’ll probably get it soon. No club will ask a Fields Medal or n.o.bel Prize winner a members.h.i.+p fee. This is the Ivy Club tradition.” Witten paused for a second and suddenly remembered something important. He then asked, “Speaking of which, you received an invitation from the IMU?”
Witten was obviously talking about the International Conference of Mathematicians invitation.
Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, they invited me to do an hour-long report.”
Edward Witten wasn’t surprised at Lu Zhou’s invitation.
Lu Zhou was a strong Fields Medal candidate, so it was only natural for him to receive an invitation.
“An hour isn’t short, have you thought about what to report on?”
Lu Zhou said, “If all goes to plan, I’ll report on the Collatz conjecture.”
“If all goes to plan?” Edward Witten looked at Lu Zhou and asked curiously, “What if it doesn’t?”
Lu Zhou smiled and answered the question, “Of course, I’ll still report on the Collatz conjecture.”
The difference being who was going to prove the conjecture.
After solving Goldbach’s conjecture, there weren’t that many number theory conjectures that Lu Zhou took an interest in.
His Group Structure Method had been perfected by the proof of the Goldbach’s conjecture. Lu Zhou was more interested in seeing people use his tools to create new theories.
Because of this, Lu Zhou decided to ask his students to prove the Collatz conjecture. He only provided guidance and methods.
Of course, if his students couldn’t solve it, he would solve it himself.
However, Lu Zhou was quite optimistic at the abilities of his students.
Especially Vera; she was the most talented young mathematician Lu Zhou had ever seen.
Although she lacked creativity, she made up for it in a.n.a.lytical skills and logical thinking. Lu Zhou only had to teach her something once and she would never forget. She could also easily apply her newfound knowledge to new problems.
Lu Zhou believed that if she had proper guidance, she could become as successful as Schultz.
She did win the IMO gold medal at a younger age than Schultz…
…
Once Lu Zhou finished his dinner, he didn’t go home right away. Instead, he jogged around Lake Carnegie.
A researcher needed a healthy body for grinding.
Lu Zhou discovered this fact after becoming Professor Lu.
He was drenched in sweat and took a shower at home. He then lay down in bed and whispered “system”. His consciousness was transformed into the system s.p.a.ce.
When he completed his mission last time, he only received the mission reward. He didn’t even look at the new missions.
Now that his electrochemical theoretical model had been completed, he finally had some spare time.
It was time to look at the system missions.