Free Web NovelChapter 417: Chapter 263: Of course, we must support domestic awards! _3
"Has Zhao Yi agreed to graduate?"
"Have you discussed the matter of pursuing a master’s degree with him? Does he want to continue school here, or go abroad for further study? Or does he want to follow a certain mentor?"
"..."
Wu Yanping shook his head, "Zhao Yi does not want to graduate at all, he says he learns a lot from normal classes."
"Why?"
"How is that possible?"
"What can he learn from undergraduate-level courses?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Wu Yanping said, "Anyway, I tried my best. Zhao Yi even gave an example. He said he learned a lot from Professor Hu’s class. The things that Professor Hu talked about helped him a lot with his research. By the way, what research is Zhao Yi doing?"
A biology professor spoke up, "I know, his lab is researching rheumatoid arthritis."
"I’m asking about mathematics!" Wu Yanping cornered his mouth.
A professor from the School of Sciences said, "The Goldbach Conjecture, that’s his project."
"The Goldbach Conjecture?"
"Seriously?"
"I seemed to have heard about it earlier this year."
Hu Zhibin finally spoke up, a look of puzzlement on his face, "He told me the same thing after he finished my class just now. Could the content I lectured on really be related to the Goldbach Conjecture?"
"...what did you lecture on?"
"Tell us."
"Let us also look into it ... "
"The basics of differential equations." Hu Zhibin gave a title that almost everyone in the office knew.
They began to discuss out of curiosity, "Can differential equations be used to study prime numbers?"
"That’s an interesting idea!"
"We probably can’t, but maybe Zhao Yi can? Who knows!"
"That’s true."
...
For the next week, Zhao Yi was engaged in reviewing all kinds of materials related to prime numbers, including papers related to prime numbers that had been published in major journals, as well as some content, proof methods, and properties related to prime numbers.
Etcetera.
Many of the materials were collected by others at Zhao Yi’s request, which confirmed for many people that he truly was researching the Goldbach Conjecture. However, most people were still not optimistic about this research, and some even tried to persuade Zhao Yi against it.
For example, Qian Zhijin.
"Why would you research the Goldbach Conjecture! Zhao Yi, I think this research is too early for you, you should not start until you’re over thirty."
"Why?"
"Not until thirty, I would say even forty or fifty are too early." Qian Zhijin said earnestly, "Because even if you can’t make any progress, it’s no big deal. You won’t waste your prime years on a proof that stumps you."
What Qian Zhijin said made a lot of sense.
This is not about being pessimistic, but how many researchers would make decisions.
Even the top mathematicians in the world are the same.
For example, Terence Tao.
Terence Tao is a true genius in the world of mathematics. He has always wanted to research twin prime numbers, but has never done anything beyond thinking about it, because there are many other projects he could work on, projects that are likely to yield results with time investment.
Although twin prime numbers is also a project, investing a lot of time does not guarantee a result.
These top-level mathematical conjectures, countless geniuses have put in a lot of effort and spent a lot of time, but have not reaped any results.
Qian Zhijin advised that Zhao Yi should do research later, meaning that such ’research that likely won’t yield results’ should be left until later in life, not when a person is at the peak of their energy.
Zhao Yi knew that Qian Zhijin had his best interests at heart, and said, "I’m just thinking about it when I have spare time, don’t worry."
"That’s good."
Qian Zhijin felt that Zhao Yi wasn’t really listening, but he couldn’t say anything more.
In the meantime.
News about an award nomination began to circulate, and it was related to Zhao Yi -- he was nominated for the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences.
The news leaked out from within the Shaw Foundation, making it clear that it was deliberately spread by the award selection committee.
Many online discussions suggested that the Shaw Foundation spread the news to reverse the unfavorable impression from last year’s selection process, and to promote the award and increase its influence.
The Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences, launched just two years ago, has not yet gained much global influence. After last year’s mishap with Wiles, the prize for a time became rather insignificant.
In the past two years, two people have received the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences. One of them was the first laureate, Chen Xingshen.
Chen Xingshen is one of the most accomplished mathematicians in our country’s history. He is known as the "father of differential geometry." When he received the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences, he was already 93 years old and passed away several months later.
By awarding the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences to Chen Xingshen, it really seemed like an attempt to capitalize on his popularity.
It’s as if a newly launched agricultural award was immediately awarded to Grandpa Yuan. While there’s nothing wrong with the award per say, Grandpa Yuan obviously wouldn’t lack for an up-and-coming award.
This is akin to using a celebrity to intentionally increase the influence of an award.
Last year was the first actual selection of the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences. Still, the award committee went after ’hot topics’, awarding the prize to Britain’s Wiles, at that time widely accepted as the top mathematician for proving Fermat’s Last Theorem.
In the end...
That ’hot topic’ strategy backfired when, a few months later, Zhao Yi proved there were irreversible logical errors in Wiles’s proof.
Wiles totally lost face.
Now, it seems like Wiles has disappeared from the mathematical world. No one knows what he’s up to now, or even cares.
It’s clear that the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences was in quite an awkward situation. An awarded prize cannot be taken back, hence this year, the award selection committee decided on a true selection process, not simply chasing hot trends, and they set their sights on Zhao Yi.
In fact, they were still chasing hot topics, only added a bit more drama this time.
Zhao Yi was the person who achieved the most in mathematical research within the past year as he proved that Wiles’s proof was wrong.
Last year it was Wiles.
This year it’s Zhao Yi.
Although there’s still more than a month before the official announcement of the laureate, the foundation could not wait and prematurely leaked the news, aiming to attract more attention.
Once this news was released, there was doubtless confirmation, and it was hard to find any questioning news on the internet.
At the same time, many people started discussing Zhao Yi’s laureateship.
The main focus of their discussion was Zhao Yi’s receipt of the award. Zhao Yi had never received heavy-weighted mathematical awards before, not even domestic ones.
The Nevanlinna Prize that he won at the International Congress of Mathematicians was a more computer-oriented award rather than a pure mathematics award. While it’s true that Zhao Yi is considered a master of number theory and should have received a pure math award.
Many analyzed why Zhao Yi had never won an award, attributing it to two factors: his establishment as a mathematician has been too short, all his achievements had appeared within a year, thus missing the time window for domestic math awards;
When it comes to international awards;
For some influential mathematical awards, Zhao Yi was ineligible as only association member could apply.
The Wolf Prize and the Fields Medal have the highest likelihood of being won by him.
The selection process for the Wolf Prize only began this year and no information about it has been leaked yet; meanwhile, the Fields Medal still requires a wait of more than three years.
Hence, what Zhao Yi is lacking for winning awards is both luck and time.
In response to the online discussions about Zhao Yi receiving the award, a reporter went specifically to Yanhua University for an interview, "Some people say you’ve won the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences. If you are sure about receiving the award, would you go to Hong Kong to receive it?"
"Going to Hong Kong?"
Zhao Yi hesitated for a moment, "Isn’t that a bit too far?"
"Does that mean you don’t want to go to receive the award? You should know, the laureate of the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences will receive one million dollars. Are you not considering..."
"What?"
Zhao Yi immediately said seriously, "Hong Kong is also part of China, and their award should be considered a domestic award. The influence of the award isn’t important, what’s important is, it is our own domestic award and we should definitely support it..."
"If I really did win the award, I would definitely go to the site in person to support it. The purpose is to support our award, to develop our own award, and to make it influential in the world!"
"I sincerely hope that in the future, the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences could truly become the Nobel Prize in Mathematics!"
