If it were any other scholar, they would be ecstatic after hearing this simple request.
After all, supercomputers were very expensive, even renting them wasn't cheap. David's promise was equivalent to millions or even tens of millions of dollars. In contrast, Lu Zhou's only request was to add Institute D's name to the thesis research institute's name.
After hearing David's trivial request, even though Lu Zhou wasn't as ecstatic as the other poor theoretical researchers, he was still quite surprised by David's request.
Compared to profitable applied research, theoretical research was bound to lose money, and it was bound to lose a lot of money.
Lu Zhou obviously wouldn't refuse such an internationalist request.
He nodded and said, "That's easy."
…
In a sense, it was inevitable for Lu Zhou to choose Anton for this experiment.
Ordinary general-purpose supercomputers couldn't perform molecular dynamics simulations very efficiently.
However, Anton was different. It performed calculations on a dedicated ASIC, and every chip was designed for computational chemistry.
It had a total of 512 computing nodes, and it could simulate a protein-water system composed of 23558 atoms for more than 17000 nanoseconds per day.
In contrast, a general supercomputer with the same number of processors could only simulate a few hundred nanoseconds per day on the same chemical system.
Because of this, Anton was known as the nuclear weapon of computational chemistry.
One had to admit that David was a genius.
This was true in the fields of finance, large-scale parallel computing, and polymer chemistry.
If it weren't for the fact that Anton was too expensive for normal research institutes to afford, maybe one day, the Nobel Prize Committee would even consider nominating him.
Just like the biologist Jacques Dubochet, who was nominated for the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his cryogenic electron microscopy technique …
After Jerick drove his car back, Lu Zhou sent an application to Columbia University through Princeton University to be a visiting scholar for a month.
Columbia University obviously welcomed a well-known scholar like him with open arms. In order to facilitate his research, they even arranged a temporary dormitory for him near the research institute.
With sufficient funding, theoretical research that did not involve patent disputes was always easier to reach a consensus than applied research.
This was especially true for the two of them who did not lack money.
After signing a cooperative research agreement, it simply stipulated the scope of work for both parties and the authorship of the thesis. The experiment was quickly arranged.
David also attached great importance to their joint research project.
Not only did they cancel the original plan for the experiment, but they also transferred all of the power of the entire D Research Institute to this work.
Soon, Lu Zhou witnessed Anton's powerful combat ability.
On the day of the experiment, inside the Anton Supercomputing Center.
The large-scale parallel computing project sat in front of the computer and waited.
Lu Zhou and David stood behind and watched, quietly waiting for the experiment to begin.
"Experiment Group 1 is in position!"
"Experiment Group No. 2 is in position!"
"…"
"Begin the experiment!"
The blue signal light kept flashing.
In the virtual digital world, Anton used his powerful computing power to simulate the mathematical model provided by Lu Zhou.
The first experiment lasted for a full nine hours!
Unfortunately, the results of the experiment were not ideal.
David looked at the experiment report submitted by the engineer of the supercomputing center. He frowned and spoke in a troubled manner.
"The mathematical model you designed is too complicated … Is there a way to simplify it?"
"I tried to simplify it, but it was very difficult," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head.
If he could simplify it, he would have done it a long time ago. He would not have waited until now to consider this problem.
"Then I'll have to think of a way." David rubbed his chin and began to think seriously.
He was not an expert in the field of mathematics. He might not be able to simplify those complex mathematical equations, but from the perspective of parallel computing, it was theoretically possible to improve the software to make Anton's calculations more efficient.
Lu Zhou said in a serious manner, "Please."
"You're welcome." David waved his hand and said in a joking tone, "At least for now, the mathematical models you came up with are still within the scope of Anton's abilities. But if it's a bit more complicated, I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the development of quantum computers to perfect your theory. "
…
The fact that Lu Zhou was doing research at Columbia University was not something to be kept secret. News of him frequently going in and out of Institute D quickly spread throughout the Columbia University campus.
Many people were curious about the Crafoord Prize and Adams Chemistry Prize winner who was only in his twenties. Very few people could make such outstanding achievements at such a young age, especially in two completely different fields, mathematics and chemistry.
Of course, the people who were most interested in Lu Zhou weren't the students at Columbia University, but rather his competitor in the lithium-sulfur battery project, Mobil Chemical.
Even the slightest movement on Lu Zhou's side would make them extremely nervous.
Not to mention, it was such a big move …
Binghamton University, Institute of Materials Science.
Woods, who had just finished a meeting in New York, rushed here.
"Bad news! Lu Zhou found David Shaw and borrowed a supercomputer from him. "
Stanley wasn't surprised by Woods' news, but he still looked at him and said, "Is it okay for you to come to the laboratory every other day?"
This kind of thing could be explained in one sentence, but it could have been said over the phone. Other than the battery material, the CEO of ExxonMobil had a lot of important work to do.
"As long as you can produce results before them, it's okay." Woods sat on the sofa in the laboratory and said, "What bad luck! Why did Lu Zhou suddenly go to David Shaw? Why did it have to be that freak? "
If ExxonMobil cooperated with other laboratories, ExxonMobil could use its influence to pressure those laboratories through its own research funds to delay the research progress.
However, David Shaw was an exception. This guy was a famous freak on Wall Street. He was in the fund business, but he wasn't interested in money at all.
"That's normal. One of them does computational materials, and the other does computational chemistry. It's not strange for them to pee together." Professor Stanley stood in front of the scanning electron microscope and waited for the experimental results. He said with a relaxed expression, "You don't have to be so nervous. No matter how perfect a mathematical formula or theoretical model is, if it can't be implemented in an experiment, then it's just speculation."
So what if you're good at mathematics?
So what if you borrow a supercomputer?
Computer simulation experiments were indeed a promising method, but they still had to be implemented in specific experiments.
Summing up experience through trial and error and exploring a path to the key point was the only way for all materials science experiments.
Fortunately, they already knew the answer. All they had to do was write down the process.
Woods said impatiently, "What I want to know is, how long are we from the finish line?"
Professor Stanley stared at the molecular model on the screen and smiled.
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