In the evening, after the first day of the conference, the American Mathematical Society held a dinner party at a hotel next to Berkeley.
For the mathematics community, academic conferences and banquets after award ceremonies were the main way for scholars to communicate with their peers.
However, for this kind of conference for young scholars, unless they saw a thesis that they were particularly interested in, a lot of big names would not come here. If it wasn't for the fact that it was on the way, Lu Zhou would not have come here.
It was precisely because of this that the few big shots seemed to be more "popular".
Even though Lu Zhou was very low-key when he entered the banquet hall and deliberately chose the side door of the banquet hall, after he entered the banquet hall, people came to talk to him one after another. He had almost no time to relax.
As for his little student, she followed behind him and looked around nervously. It seemed like she was not good at this kind of occasion.
Lu Zhou had advised her many times that this kind of banquet was a good opportunity to expand her network. She should communicate with other people instead of following behind him, because almost no one would notice her presence if she stayed next to him.
However, the little girl did not listen to him.
In the end, Lu Zhou gave up and let her be.
Honestly, he had never seen such a timid Mao Zi.
It seemed like there was still a long way to go for her to become an outstanding scholar.
Halfway through the banquet, elegant music began to play on the dance floor.
As the music played, the density of the people in the banquet hall began to shift to the dance floor. Lu Zhou was finally freed from the constant greetings.
Lu Zhou took a glass of champagne from the long table and walked to the side of the banquet hall to sit down.
Just as he was about to listen to music and enjoy this short period of leisure, a tall American girl with natural wavy hair walked over and courageously struck up a conversation with him.
"Hello, Professor Lu, my name is Hannah, nice to meet you."
Lu Zhou said in a pleasant tone, "Hello, Miss Hannah, how can I help you?"
Hannah: "It's not difficult for you … Can I sit across from you?"
"Of course." Lu Zhou looked at her with some doubt, not understanding what she wanted to do.
"Here's the thing, I'm very interested in mathematical physics, and I plan to apply for the mathematical physics major at Stanford University next year." Hannah looked at Lu Zhou embarrassedly and said with a blush, "I've always admired your story. I didn't expect to have the opportunity to meet you at this party … Can you please write a recommendation letter for me?"
That was it?
It was not difficult for overseas professors to write recommendation letters. Many professors would write dozens of letters at the end of every semester. Although he wouldn't give it to just anyone who wanted it, he would give it to anyone who wanted it in person.
"Of course, but it won't be that easy to get my recommendation letter. I can give you a chance, but it's up to you whether you can grasp it or not, "said Lu Zhou with a smile. He responded to her nervous gaze and said in a relaxed tone," So, are you mentally prepared? "
Maybe it was because of the context, or maybe it was because of his English words, but Miss Hannah, who was sitting across from him, had a strange idea. After she heard what he said, her brain froze for a few seconds.
"Huh? Huh?! " Hannah was stunned for a while. When she came back to her senses, an inexplicable blush appeared on her cheeks, and her eyes darted left and right in a panic. "But, I … I, alright."
She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.
Ms. Hanna lowered her head and stared at the table as she gently bit her lower lip and whispered.
She whispered, "I'm … ready."
Although Lu Zhou was a professor, they were about the same age, so she didn't have much psychological burden. Moreover, it would be better to say that this seemingly harmless but actually very aggressive man was quite to her liking.
However, this was too direct.
Although she didn't dislike this kind of guy …
"Okay, it seems that you're ready." Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction and looked at Vera, who was also muddled. He said, "Vera, help me test her on complex functions. Remember, don't make it too difficult, just about an undergraduate level question. "
Vera: …??
Hannah:???
…
Complex functions and partial differential equations were the foundation of mathematical physics. However, the latter was too difficult for an undergraduate who hadn't even started her master's degree. It was relatively reasonable to choose complex functions.
Although the attitude of overseas professors toward recommendation letters was "as long as you're sincere, I'll give it to you", Lu Zhou felt that as a number theory master, he had to have his own characteristics.
It wasn't easy to get his recommendation letter.
If you're not familiar with it, then do the questions!
Although Vera was muddled, it was her supervisor's order, so she obediently followed it.
Because there was no pen and paper in the banquet hall, she took the muddled Miss Hannah to the hotel lobby.
Finally, there was no one around, so Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair.
However, it seemed like God didn't want to let him rest. The moment the two girls left, Mr. Francis, the president of the American Mathematical Society, walked over with a man in a suit.
"Hello, Professor Lu, we meet again," said the white-bearded Mr. Francis as he walked over and smiled at Lu Zhou.
He was the one who gave Lu Zhou the Best Young Presenter Award at the Princeton report, as well as the US $10,000 prize money. Although the two didn't communicate much academically, they had a good relationship in private.
Lu Zhou got up and shook his hand. He then looked at the ordinary-looking man next to him.
He felt like this man was familiar, but he couldn't recognize him.
"Long time no see … This is?"
Mr. Francis smiled and said, "Please allow me to introduce you, this gentleman is Elon Musk."
Elon Musk?
This time, Lu Zhou was really surprised.
He wasn't surprised by the name of this big name, but he couldn't figure out why Musk was here.
"Nice to meet you, Professor Lu." Musk looked at Lu Zhou and said with a smile, "Although this is the first time we've met, I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."
Lu Zhou looked at him and shook his hand.
"Hello, nice to meet you too."
Speaking of Elon Musk, he was a nutty person.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, it only took him less than a year to get a bachelor's degree in physics.
In the blink of an eye, it was 1995. Out of his love for science, he continued to study at Stanford University for a PhD in materials science and applied physics.
However, perhaps because his identity as a genius student could no longer satisfy him, he only stayed at Stanford University for two days before he chose to leave campus and go to Silicon Valley.
As for what happened after that, many people probably already knew. In less than a decade, as the founder of SpaceX, Tesla, and PayPal, he created a legend in Silicon Valley with his own name.
Whether it was online payment technology, alternative energy vehicles, or the ambitious "Falcon 9 rocket" and "Mars colonization plan", he used his actions to explain to the world what a real technology company was and what it meant to change the world with technology.
Of course, the technology here mainly referred to the technical aspect.
In this respect, he and Lu Zhou were two completely different types of people. Forget about his identity as a corporate CEO and genius student, he was more like an engineer, while Lu Zhou was more like a scholar.
To make an inappropriate analogy, the difference between the two was similar to Marvel's "Iron Man" and "Mister Fantastic".
Because of this, Lu Zhou was a little confused as to why he was here.
He had never heard of this person's name in the mathematics world.
As if Mr. Francis saw Lu Zhou's confusion, he smiled and said, "Mr. Musk is the sponsor of this academic conference. When he heard you were here, he came all the way from Palo Alto."
Lu Zhou looked at him and asked, "Mr. Musk is also interested in mathematics?"
"Of course, science is inseparable from mathematics. Although my research in mathematics isn't as deep as my research in physics, I still admire mathematicians. Because when I was studying physics at the University of Pennsylvania, my biggest headache wasn't physics problems, but mathematics problems. "
Musk looked at Lu Zhou and smiled. He then said something that surprised Lu Zhou.
"However, compared to mathematics, I'm more interested in you."
Lu Zhou: …?
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