Genius of the Rules-Style System

Chapter 584: Chapter 339: No one understands better than me!

The spacious conference room was brilliantly lit, and the attendees, who were mostly renowned scholars from both domestic and overseas or even top mathematicians, took their seats. Half of them were foreign scholars.

Most of the domestic attendees were from the mathematical and physical circles, with some from political circles and influential officials. Among them were the vice mayor of the capital and deputy-level committee members. Their appearance here represented national attention and support.

In addition, there were a very few special guests.

Lin Xiaoqing, Zhao Linlin, and Xu Chao, for instance, were here specifically to watch Zhao Yi’s presentation.

For Zhao Yi, today was an important day, so naturally a few ’family tickets’ were available.

The conference was about to begin.

Cameras had been set up in the corridors on both sides and in the middle. The open space in the front row was filled with photography and recording equipment. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

The podium table was covered with more than twenty sound recording devices, which seemed a bit daunting from the sheer number of them.

Zhao Yi, dressed in a suit and polished shoes, climbed up to the stage with a smile. The once noisy conference room quickly turned quiet.

All of them were looking at the stage in silence.

When he looked down at the audience, Zhao Yi couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. Aside from the few ’family tickets’ in the audience, anyone else would be a prominent figure, either in academics or politics. Being watched by so many big shots would bring immense pressure to anyone.

Fortunately, Zhao Yi was quite experienced, having spoken to the number one leader before. What was this scene compared to that?

He also had full confidence in himself.

Zhao Yi took a deep breath, maintained his smile, and announced loudly, "Thank you all for making the effort to come to Shuimu University, to listen to my research results on Fermat’s Last Theorem!"

First, he gave thanks to his guests, then made a brief summary of his report, "My report mainly consists of two parts. One part is an analysis of the ’Spatial Topology Natural Number Smooth Value Proof’, and the other part is the final proof. The former is the most critical one."

"I believe everyone has received a copy of the detailed proof process, right? Because the presentation time is limited, some simple steps will be skipped in my report while only discussing the overall process and complicated steps."

"At the end, I will leave some time for you to ask questions."

Before the conference started, each attendee received a copy of the detailed proof. Half an hour might not be sufficient to examine it in great detail, but coupled with Zhao Yi’s explanation, they should get a clear understanding of it.

This was considered a ’free presentation’, so there were no special appraisals invited.

Shuimu University simply handpicked a few respectable figures from the guests to be temporary appraisers sitting in the front row, expressing their views on the outcome at the end.

Though it was not a formal validation of ’whether the proof is correct’, the worldwide attention to Fermat’s Last Theorem and the public presentation ensured the availability of a plethora of video records. After the presentation, mathematicians worldwide could express their views and conduct public appraisals.

Therefore, whether there were appraisers or not did not matter much.

After a simple opening remark by Zhao Yi, he quickly delved into the main topic. Half of his 27-page thesis centered around the "Digital Smooth Value in Spatial Topology".

The ’Spatial Topology Natural Number Smooth Value’ is about proving a change in the spatial topological shape when it takes on natural numbers. The shape would be in a ’closed’ state, or ’smooth’, otherwise, it would be ’non-smooth’.

"Assuming there is a point β in space, and the spatial coordinates of β are all natural numbers, we need to determine whether β lies within, outside, or on the edge of the topological figure."

"Next, let’s analyze the relationship between the value of β and topological analysis, based on the topological expression we just performed ... "

"Assume that β lies in the function ... "

Zhao Yi spent a substantial amount of time on the proof of ’Spatial Topology Natural Number Smooth Value’, explaining very meticulously.

This part was the most crucial and important.

If one could understand the "Digital Smooth Value in Spatial Topology", the proof process of Fermat’s Last Theorem would be comparatively much easier to grasp.

The audience, especially the top mathematicians, understood the importance of this proof and were highly interested in Zhao Yi’s novel method of applying topological analysis in number theory.

This was why the mathematical world always emphasized that the proof process for solving world conjecture was more important than the result. A novel proof method could greatly advance the development of mathematics, whereas the result was just a result.

Take the Goldbach Conjecture, for example.

Even after it had been proved, it led to very little change.

For some conjectures, there wouldn’t be much impact even if they remained unproven. The same was true for Fermat’s Last Theorem because computers could calculate it to several tens of digits, which was the limit that humans could utilise.

What if a counterexample of Fermat’s Last Theorem emerges among ’several hundred digits, several thousand digits, or tens of thousands of digits’ numbers that the theorem does not hold up?

What difference would it make then?

At any rate, for the current level of human technology, there is no need for such high order digits, which essentially would have no notable impact on reality.

Therefore, the process is far more important than the result.

The most attentive and watched audience was Edward Witten, a Princeton University professor and Fields Medal winner. He was one of the world’s leading mathematicians.

Edward Witten, with his chin in one hand, watched the stage with solemn concentration. He was constantly understanding and absorbing Zhao Yi’s explanation in his mind.

At the same time, Edward was also somewhat frustrated.

Hearing that Zhao Yi was going to do a ’presentation on the achievements of Fermat’s Last Theorem’, Edward had felt quite annoyed already. He remembered the last time when he had given Zhao Yi a manuscript from a particularly unlucky colleague of his, which Zhao had used as a basis to simplify Fermat’s Last Theorem.

For Edward, that was the first blow.

Then, not too long ago, Zhao Yi had initiated a video call to discuss issues related to topology. Edward had assumed that Zhao Yi wanted to use topology to demonstrate problems about multi-dimensional spaces.

And what was the result?

Now he knew.

The man was trying to complete the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem!

On one hand, Edward felt it was a pity that Zhao Yi had shifted his focus elsewhere, seemingly not placing much emphasis on string theory, M theory, or multi-dimensional space issues. On the other hand, he also felt heavy-hearted, because Zhao Yi had indeed achieved significant results.

Fermat’s Last Theorem!

"I’ve spent so much time studying that mathematical manuscript. How could I have missed the method of ’Column Ratio Elimination’? How could I not have thought about using it to simplify Fermat’s last theorem?"

"Topology? Why did I only think of it in relation to multi-dimensional space, rather than considering its application for number theory research?"

Thinking about these things, Edward was immensely frustrated. He rubbed his face hard, feeling like a gold nugget had been right before his eyes, yet all he saw was a possibility of beautiful coral beneath it, prompting him to dive straight down in search of the coral.

And in the end, not only did he not find any coral, but the gold nugget was also taken away by someone else!

Edward recognized that his thinking might be somewhat extreme. There might be immense difficulty in moving the gold nugget even if it was right before his eyes. It might even be said to be impossible to move. Nevertheless, he still felt disheartened and could only ruefully ponder, "I hope after he finishes this, he can focus more on physics, on the research of M theory and multi-dimensional space."

Whilst Edward was marveling at Zhao Yi’s genius, there were others who had come specifically to question it.

For instance, the mathematician from Y Country, Brent.

The saying, ’peers are rivals’ and ’peers are synonymous with enemies’ were not without merit. There was a deep-seated animosity between Zhao Yi and the mathematicians of Y Country. Zhao Yi had proven Andrew Wiles’ logical errors, and the honour of proving Fermat’s Last Theorem — which traditionally belonged to Wiles and Y Country’s mathematics — was instead taken away by him. Moreover, was he now trying to snatch away all recognition?

Brent, a well-known mathematician from Y Country, worked in the Newton Institute and had listened to Wiles’ passionate discourse on Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Now, Brent had come with the sole purpose of ’finding faults’. He listened more carefully than most, incessantly scrutinising the proofs in his hand, hoping to identify some error. He had already made up his mind — if he found any issue, however trivial, he would immediately rise and question it.

But he had been unable to stand up thus far.

Brent found that Zhao Yi’s proof logic was uncompromisingly rigid. Zhao did not use any ambiguous definitions or theorems--he simply conducted a meticulous analysis of spatial topology and function analysis. When it came to complex topo analysis, it was genuinely challenging to comprehend.

For instance, his student Bent had quietly asked him from behind, "Professor, how did he make that conversion just now? How did he suddenly...?"

"If you don’t understand, note it down!"

Brent warned him in a low voice with a stern look, then fell silent.

Indeed.

Some aspects of the discussion were exceptionally intricate. Without a solid foundation in topology, it would be challenging to understand. But they couldn’t possibly ask questions simply because they ’didn’t understand,’ could they?

This event was being live-streamed, and there were journalists from many countries present.

If they asked a question simply because they ’didn’t understand’ something, and if this were to be reported in the media later, they would likely become laughing stocks in the academic world.

Brent was certain that apart from a few aspects that delved into advanced knowledge of topology, which were somewhat hard to understand, everything else was correct. There were no problems with the logical flow, and the proof process’ most remarkable and meaningful aspect was Zhao Yi’s application of topology to natural number analysis.

Number theory and topology, two intrinsically related branches of mathematics, had been tightly fused together.

The brilliance of the proof process seized Brent, and he couldn’t help but applaud mentally. He was amazed at the innovative method Zhao Yi had produced. He had to admit that the young man on stage was indeed a mathematical super genius. Zhao Yi’s proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem was countless times more powerful than the proof Wiles had made over a decade ago. He remembered that when Wiles finished his long presentation, more than a dozen people stood up to ask questions, some of which were even direct challenges.

Wiles had answered some of these questions, while others he hadn’t.

And now?

Brent was hoping he would be able to find a problem, but despite his best efforts, he couldn’t come up with any questions. The proof was so rigorous that unless he hadn’t understood a certain part of the procedure, why else would there be any question?

Actually, there was a part he hadn’t understood because he hadn’t specifically delved into topology research. When it came to high-level content analysis related to this, his mind was just a bit slower.

However, he, the renowned mathematician Brent, was sitting in the front row of the auditorium and a temporary guest reviewer. Even if he didn’t understand a certain part, he could absolutely not display it.

"I, Brent...

...understand everything!

No one understands better than I do!"

Leaning back in his chair, Brent crossed his arms and radiated a smile of ’know-it-all.’