Even though the Crafoord Prize award ceremony was over, the celebration of the Crafoord Prize had only just begun.
After the award ceremony, Lu Zhou walked out of the main entrance of the Stockholm Concert Hall. He was about to get into a private car and go to the nearby Stockholm City Hall.
However, the moment he appeared at the door, the reporters who had been lying in ambush for a long time swarmed around him. All kinds of microphones and cameras were aimed at him.
A good-looking reporter quickly asked, "Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou.
"Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, I'm a reporter from CTV. Can I interview you?"
CTV？
Originally, Lu Zhou didn't want to be interviewed. However, CTV had to give him some face.
After all, it had to be a positive report.
Lu Zhou looked at the young female reporter and said, "Of course."
The female reporter smiled and asked, "As the first Chinese scholar to win the award, how do you feel right now? What do you think? "
"Excited, happy, and grateful …"
Lu Zhou paused for a second and thanked all the people he could think of that had helped him.
The reporter continued to ask, "We all know that Goldbach's conjecture is one of the crowns of number theory. The story of Chen Jingrun and" 1 + 2 "has inspired a generation of Chinese students to be passionate about mathematics. Now that you've finally sealed the dome of this building, many people are still confused about the meaning of solving the "1 + 1" problem. So, what is the meaning of mathematics to you? "
Lu Zhou didn't directly answer this question. Instead, he thought for a second and suddenly asked, "What do you think the meaning of science is?"
The reporter didn't expect Lu Zhou to suddenly ask a question. However, she smiled and smoothly replied, "I think it's to change the world. All of the wealth in modern society is built on scientific and technological breakthroughs."
Lu Zhou nodded with approval.
Not bad, this reporter is quite good.
She's at least better than the few people I've dealt with before.
Therefore, he was happy to talk to a reporter like this.
What is the meaning of mathematics?
Is it just to show off?
Of course not.
Even if a little was produced in the process, Lu Zhou felt that for him, it was like a by-product of a chemical reaction, not the main thing.
It was just like how mathematicians were generally more handsome, but that was not the reason why they were good at mathematics.
As for the pure meaning of mathematics …
In front of countless cameras, Lu Zhou smiled and said to her.
"You're right. The meaning of science is to change the world."
"And the significance of mathematics is to change science."
…
Just like the Nobel Prize, after the Crafoord Prize award ceremony, there was a grand celebration banquet held in the Blue Hall on the first floor of the Stockholm City Hall.
Including the King and Queen of Sweden, as well as many scientists from the Academy of Sciences, everyone gathered together to share the beauty of science in a warm atmosphere.
In this sense, the Crafoord Prize was like a preview of the Nobel Prize. It probably wanted mathematicians who didn't have a chance to win a Nobel Prize.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences wanted to fulfill the original purpose of this award. At least for the banquet, they followed the specifications of the Nobel Prize.
For example, before the start of the banquet, they had to keep the dishes of the banquet a secret.
For example, the banquet and dance were strictly separated. The banquet was held in the Blue Hall, and the dance was held in the Gold Hall. Also, everyone's seat was fixed … This was somewhat different from the mainstream British and American academic conferences.
Before the banquet officially began, Lu Zhou met a lot of acquaintances and greeted them one by one.
For example, Schulz, Helfkott …
Those who were too far away or too busy with their research might not be able to come. However, European mathematics scholars, especially in the field of prime numbers, basically all came.
Actually, Lu Zhou realized that the mathematician circle was only so big after attending a lot of academic conferences. He could probably count the number of big names in a certain field.
However, the appearance of a big name was unexpected for Lu Zhou.
This person was Faltings, a big name in the field of algebraic geometry.
His name was once a legend in Princeton.
The reason why he said "once" was because after 1994, he returned to his hometown in Germany after teaching at Princeton for nearly a decade.
Now, he was the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics. He was also the editor-in-chief of one of the top four journals in mathematics, Inventiones.
Even though the Max Planck Institute wasn't as famous as Princeton, it was still quite ranked among the top research institutes in the world. Especially in the field of physics and engineering, the Max Planck Institute was quietly working on a very nutty project, but let's not talk about it for now.
Compared to the humble Charles Fefferman, Faltings's "Teutonic conceit" left a legend in Princeton that was no less than his achievements in mathematics.
Apparently, he once played chess with Peter Sarnak, a big name in Princeton, and he lost. The old man said calmly, "You're a better-on-chess player, but I'm a much-better-mathematician."
The literal translation was: You're good at chess, but I'm better at mathematics than you.
In short, this old man was very difficult to get along with, but he did have the right to be arrogant. After all, after Grothendieck passed away, it was hard to say who would be the king of algebraic geometry. It would be up to history to decide. However, the only person who could compete with him was probably Grothendieck's student, Deligné.
As for Lu Zhou, the only interaction he had with Lu Zhou was probably the thesis on Goldbach's conjecture. As one of the six reviewers, Mr. Faltings had given two edits to the manuscript, and the edits were quite tricky.
Lu Zhou had to admit that this old man's mathematical ability and rigor were indeed admirable. Even though Lu Zhou had successfully completed those two revisions, he had put in a lot of effort during the process.
Coincidentally, this old man's seat was right next to him.
What surprised Lu Zhou the most was that while he was wondering if he should interrupt the old man's meal, Faltings picked up his champagne and took the initiative to talk to him.
"Congratulations on winning the Crafoord Prize, Professor Lu Zhou."
"Thank you!"
Lu Zhou was deeply surprised. He gently clinked glasses with the old man.
After taking a sip of champagne elegantly, the old Germanic man paused for a moment and continued slowly.
"A month ago, there were only three mathematicians who could surpass me. Now, I've changed my opinion. There are four, not three. "
When Lu Zhou heard this, he nearly choked on his champagne.
F * ck me!
Is this a compliment or a pretense?
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