What's going to happen will happen.
The last day of July.
Even though Lu Zhou was reluctant, he still stopped his unfinished research and began to pack his luggage. He was going to St. Petersburg to attend the International Congress of Mathematicians in early August.
As for the 60-minute report, after some internal struggle, Lu Zhou finally chose to play it safe. He made a simple summary of his work in the field of Riemann zeta functions over the past few years. He then uploaded the thesis to the International Congress of Mathematicians website.
In fact, this was the correct way to present a report at the International Congress of Mathematicians.
Whether it was a 45-minute or 60-minute report, it wasn't prepared for the release of a major research result. It was only a platform for scholars who had made outstanding achievements in various fields to make a summary report on their research results over the past few years.
After all, for many significant research topics, especially in the field of number theory, it was too difficult to make any achievements in a few years.
In fact, it was naive to think that the time and energy invested would definitely be rewarded.
"Xiao Ai, do you think I should bring a coat?"
It was still summer in Jinling, and Lu Zhou felt it was too hot to wear a short-sleeved shirt. However, he heard that the weather in St. Petersburg was getting colder, so he didn't know if it would be cold there.
A string of text flashed on the drone with a small TV hanging next to Lu Zhou.
Xiao Ai: [… St. Petersburg is located on the Baltic Sea coast in northwestern Russia, 59 to 60 degrees north latitude. It has a temperate continental climate. The temperature range in August is between 13 and 20 degrees. Although the temperature isn't high, I suggest you wear a trench coat or a leather jacket to prevent catching a cold. (?????)??】
"I see … Then I'll bring this trench coat."
Lu Zhou looked away from the small TV and looked at his stuffed suitcase. He thought for a while and took out a few short-sleeved shirts. He threw them back into the closet and replaced them with a black trench coat.
He still remembered this coat; it was the one he wore to Berlin to receive an award.
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. He didn't expect that it would still fit him so well.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhou could not help but sigh in his heart.
It seemed that the legend of "whoever proved Riemann's conjecture will be immortal" was not groundless.
He had also proved a weak form of the Riemann conjecture, the quasi Riemann conjecture. He had achieved initial results on eternal youth.
Just as Lu Zhou was feeling pleased with himself, the small TV floating beside him suddenly flashed.
Xiao Ai: [Master, there's a video call request. The IP seems to be from North America ~ (?????)]
Xiaotong?
Or Vera?
Without asking who it was, Lu Zhou said directly, "Help me answer it."
Xiao Ai: [Got it! (?????)??】
The image on the screen flashed, and it quickly switched to the video call interface.
When Lu Zhou looked at the person on the screen, he was surprised. He didn't expect the call to be from Lu Zhou.
"Wei Wen?"
"… Professor."
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why did you suddenly call me?"
"Because of some things …" Wei Wen suddenly noticed that Lu Zhou was packing his luggage, so he asked curiously, "Are you going to St. Petersburg to attend the ICM conference?"
"Yeah, there's a 60-minute report waiting for me … Speaking of which, how have you been lately? I heard from Qin Yue that you're a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in computational materials science. Are you used to life there? "
Just as he said this, for some reason, Wei Wen's expression on the other end of the video call suddenly became somewhat bitter.
He shook his head and sighed.
"Not much, don't mention it, I … almost lost my job."
Lost his job?
Lu Zhou, who was squatting next to the suitcase, stood up and looked at Wei Wen on the small TV.
"Lost your job? What's going on? You … are you in some kind of trouble? "
In Lu Zhou's impression, Wei Wen's academic ability was pretty good. He was especially talented in mathematical modeling. Ever since Lu Zhou transferred to computational materials science, his talent in this area had been fully utilized. Apparently, Lu Zhou had already published three articles in top journals.
Lu Zhou really couldn't think of any reason for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to reject such an excellent scholar.
Not to mention that Lu Zhou was his student …
Even if Lu Zhou was talented, he shouldn't have lost his job, right?
Seeing how Lu Zhou didn't seem to know what was going on, Wei Wen smiled and said, "Have you been on a retreat recently?"
Lu Zhou frowned and said, "Sort of … Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't matter, I'm just surprised you didn't hear about it …" Wei Wen sighed and said, "I'm not the only one in trouble. Most of the Chinese scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology aren't having a good time …"
Wei Wen spent five minutes explaining the whole story to Lu Zhou.
It turned out that in early July, the White House suddenly issued a special decree signed by the president, requiring the embassy to tighten the issuance of study visas.
On the surface, it didn't seem like this had anything to do with the mathematicians working at MIT.
But in fact, after this decree was signed, MIT, Stanford, and other major universities of science and technology suddenly changed their attitude toward Chinese lecturers and professors overnight. Not only did they tighten the distribution of research funds, but they even imposed restrictions on normal teaching activities.
It wasn't just the faculty that had only been working for a few years, even scholars who had worked in the United States for more than a decade but hadn't obtained American citizenship were severely affected.
According to rumors, the reason why this happened was that the FBI had contacted the board of directors of major universities of science and technology. Even though this didn't affect their work, many professors, lecturers, and professors working at MIT felt a chill down their spines …
"… Actually, I saw some signs two years ago, but I didn't expect it to develop to this point."
Lu Zhou went silent for a while and said, "What do you mean?"
Wei Wen sighed and said, "Nominally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's global enrollment standards are based on 'academic ability, personality, and global vision'. But in the past two years, there hasn't been a single student from China. Actually, ever since then, these universities have been unfriendly toward us."
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "This is a bit unusual."
Even though there wasn't a written rule, MIT and Stanford didn't have a single student from China on their admission lists. The only few China students were from American high schools.
And now, the situation facing the Chinese scholars at MIT was obviously worsening.
"… The academic environment is becoming more and more unfriendly. It's like heaven and earth compared to ten years ago. A while ago, I talked to a Chinese materials science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about this issue. China's achievements in nuclear fusion, the Moon Palace, and other cutting-edge scientific fields have stimulated the United States.
"Especially when the Ares program failed last year. You saw it yourself. The entire North America was booed, and pessimism led to a resurgence of McCarthyism. You can even feel the hostility from some white students in your classes. It's not just a racial issue anymore. "
At this point, Wei Wen's tone was a little sour.
"Right now, the entire academic community is saying that Congress will soon introduce stricter restrictions, and everyone is panicking. I don't know how long I can stay in this job. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, I might suddenly lose my job. "
Lu Zhou: "You're a mathematics researcher, are you affected by this?"
"After all, my research isn't pure mathematics, and I'm working with the materials science laboratory at MIT. Some people suspect that I'm a spy, and the FBI came to me." Wei Wen shook his head and said, "A spy helping them process experimental data, a spy helping them with scientific research … If it weren't for the fact that I haven't published my thesis yet, I would've quit the team."
Lu Zhou went silent for a while and said, "… If you can't do it anymore, come to Jinling. The academic atmosphere here is pretty good. How much is your annual salary at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology? I'll give you the same salary at the current exchange rate. "
Before making this phone call, Wei Wen was prepared to return to China.
However, for some reason, when he heard Lu Zhou's invitation, he began to think about this problem seriously. In the end, he began to hesitate.
After a minute of silence, he clenched his teeth and spoke.
"Thank you …
"But I still want to make some achievements first, at least a thousand people before coming back."
Even though he knew that he was being watched by others as if he was a thief, and that it would be very difficult for him to achieve anything, he was still unwilling to give up so easily.
After all, he didn't want to come back without any achievements …
He didn't want to give up.
Even though Lu Zhou was a little worried that his student would encounter some trouble, he still understood Lu Zhou's thoughts.
He nodded and said, "Then you have to be careful. Even if you encounter trouble, it's hard for me to help you."
Wei Wen nodded and said, "Yeah, thank you for your concern, I'll be careful!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
