There was a famous joke in the mathematics world that was used to ridicule physicists. It talked about how physicists used experiments to prove that "odd numbers are prime numbers".
First, the experiment started. 1, according to the definition, did not need to be proved. 3 was prime, 5 was prime, 7 was prime, 9 was error, 11 was prime, 13 was prime …
OK, I've done enough experiments. All odd numbers are prime numbers. Perfect!
Then, a few years later, the experimental equipment was updated and they could finally verify numbers with more than 100 digits. They found out that the statistical confidence of the "experimental error" had exceeded the threshold and could no longer be explained by experimental error. Therefore, they patched up the theory and redefined physics with more than 100 digits.
It sounded a bit like the evolutionary history of relativity.
But in fact, the essence of theoretical physics was something that lacked mathematical beauty.
The 750 GeV characteristic peak position was similar to the "9 in odd numbers". When it appeared multiple times, it was a "sign" or even a "discovery". However, when it suddenly disappeared, it became an error.
Unfortunately, even after the upgrade, the Hadron Collider could only do something similar to "retrieving odd numbers below 100".
At the end of the meeting, Professor Frank disbanded the research team.
Lu Zhou's reward was only two journal theses signed by Professor Frank and his PhD students.
This was definitely bad news for him.
However, Lu Zhou did not plan on giving up.
Even if Professor Frank chose to give up, he would still continue this research project.
Mathematics was the language of God. Although Lu Zhou did not believe in God, he believed that mathematics would not lie.
Through rigorous calculations, he predicted the appearance of the characteristic peak. Although he did not know why it disappeared, he did not believe that there was nothing there.
Otherwise, how could he explain the simultaneous errors on the ATLAS and CMS detectors?
It's just a quantum fluctuation?
The fluctuations observed by the two detectors at the same time were a little too large.
Originally, Lu Zhou planned on spending two days in New York. However, because of this, he was not in the mood.
In the afternoon, he drove back to Princeton.
When he returned to the apartment, it was already night, and he happened to meet Molina, who had just returned from her evening run. At this moment, she was wearing a black tracksuit, and her blonde hair was wet with sweat. She exuded a completely different charm from her usual dignified and elegant appearance.
Glancing at Lu Zhou's face, Molina seemed to have noticed something, and she teased in a mocking tone.
"I can tell that you're not in a good mood."
"Yes."
Molina raised her eyebrows and smiled gloatingly. "Dumped?"
"Sort of."
Lu Zhou answered perfunctorily, took out the key to open the door, and went back to his room.
Molina stared blankly at Lu Zhou's back and the door closed. After a long time, she murmured to herself in a low voice.
"I've really been dumped …"
…
Mining the 750 GeV characteristic peak required a Hadron Collider, a brighter detector, and many other things …
He could predict the appearance of the characteristic peak through calculations, but he could not prove the existence of a certain particle through calculations alone. All he could do was continue to improve the physics model and wait for CERN to verify his theory.
Unfortunately, it seemed that most people had lost confidence in the number 750 GeV.
As Molina put it, he was "dumped." Physics had cast him aside.
Lu Zhou could not think of a better way, so he could only seek comfort in the arms of mathematics.
At the very least, he had reached the last step of perfecting the Group Structure Method. Perhaps this temporary frustration could be turned into motivation to help him find the last piece of the puzzle on the Dragon Slayer Sword.
Lu Zhou went to the bathroom to take a shower and went to bed early.
The next day, he woke up early and refreshed himself. He took the printed lecture notes that he downloaded from the Internet and went to the mathematics building.
Among all the buildings at Princeton, the mathematics building was the tallest building. It also symbolized the extraordinary status of the mathematics department here.
However, when Lu Zhou came here, he was not listening to an esoteric lecture. It was just an elementary number theory lecture for undergraduates.
As for why he, the winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, was sitting here and listening to these basic things, it was because when he was lying in bed last night, he suddenly remembered a book that he read in his spare time at the Jin Ling University library.
That book was the autobiography of Mr. Yang Zhenning. There was a whole chapter about the memory of the great master Fermi.
In his autobiography, it was mentioned that Fermi advised him not to stay at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study for too long because it was like a monastery.
Mr. Yang's biggest impression of Fermi was that Fermi loved to communicate with students. Not only was he keen on lecturing, but he also personally organized discussion classes. He even produced six Nobel Prize winners.
Moreover, he mentioned more than once that his ideal plan was to retire and teach physics at a small Ivy League college in the Eastern United States and write a book containing all the difficult problems in physics that were so often glossed over with phrases like "well known."
From Vera's letter, Lu Zhou suddenly realized that when he was studying Goldbach's conjecture, he ignored some "well-known" things.
Helfgott's paper was very instructive, but it was too much of a leap. Even though for Lu Zhou, the things that were skipped were "obvious", many details were left out in the "obvious".
Abstraction should be done after careful work, but not before solving it.
Lu Zhou hoped that by recalling some basic things, he could pick up the things that he had been away from for too long. Maybe it would give him some inspiration.
Lu Zhou quietly walked into the classroom from the back door. He did not attract anyone's attention. He found an empty seat in the last row of the classroom and sat down.
The lecturer was the current head of the mathematics department, Charles Fefferman. He was the legendary super genius who finished calculus at the age of 12, received a Ph.D. from Princeton at the age of 20, and became a full professor at the University of Chicago at the age of 22.
Charles raised his head and looked at the classroom. His eyes stopped on Lu Zhou's face for two seconds. It was obvious that he recognized Lu Zhou, but he did not say anything. Instead, as usual, he wrote on the whiteboard while using his slow voice to teach.
Princeton was not only good at the classrooms, but the students were also gods. There were strong IMO competitors and geniuses from all over the United States and the world gathered here.
Lecturing these geniuses was obviously not as easy as lecturing at a normal university.
Especially for those professors who often made careless mistakes.
When it came to the proof of the prime number theorem, Charles had just written down the twentieth line of calculations when someone in the classroom raised their hand.
"Professor, the value of the Φ (s) function should be 2, not 3!"
Obviously, someone had previewed the various proofs of the prime number theorem.
Charles turned around and smiled calmly. He seemed to have a card up his sleeve as he said, "You're right, but believe it or not, even if I wrote this wrong step, I can still reach the same conclusion."
The student was stunned. There was a burst of whispers in the classroom.
From the whispers, Lu Zhou could feel the disbelief of these students.
It was not just the students, Lu Zhou felt the same way.
He had the highest standards for rigorous calculations. Even if he went into a dead end, he would never make a mistake in his calculations.
However, Lu Zhou did not say anything. He waited for the professor to finish writing.
Charles did not say anything. He turned around and continued to write on the whiteboard with his back facing the classroom.
Fifteen minutes later, when he wrote down the last line of the equation, everyone in the classroom was stunned.
Especially the student who stood up and pointed out the mistake. He had a face full of doubt.
The mistake was right there, but in the end …
He really divined it!
"I've done my own research on the prime number theorem. There are more than 10 ways to prove the prime number theorem. Rigorous calculations are very important, but when we explore the frontier, it is more important to have logical self-consistency. This is the foundation of mathematics, but it is the foundation of all sciences. As for why I can reach the same conclusion, it is because I have tried many methods and found that many methods have the same result … "
Charles smiled and gently erased the 3 after the Φ (s) equals sign. He then changed it to a 2 and said, "Of course, this is just my excuse for my mistake. Our classmate Smith is right, the result here is indeed 2. However, whether it is 2 or 3, they both satisfy the interval defined by the function ζ (x). "
It was obvious that this professor was familiar with the process to the extent that he knew it by heart.
Lu Zhou even suspected that he deliberately made a mistake to make fun of these rookies.
Of course, this was not the point worth paying attention to.
"Different paths lead to the same destination …"
Lu Zhou repeated this sentence and went into deep thought.
Gradually, his eyes lit up.
Vaguely, Lu Zhou suddenly felt something.
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