They didn't stay in Greifswald for long. The day after visiting the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory, Lu Zhou and Professor Klitzing returned to Berlin.
Lu Zhou had been in Germany for almost a month. Even though Lu Zhou had learned a lot during this time, he still had a lot of things to do in Princeton. It was almost time for him to go back.
Lu Zhou booked a ticket for the weekend and visited the University of Bonn. President Stratmann of the Max Planck Society personally drove him to Berlin Tegel International Airport.
When the old man got out of the car, he shook Lu Zhou's hand and said with a smile, "Thank you for the speech you gave to Berlin. We sincerely look forward to your next visit, and we sincerely wish you the best of luck on your academic path."
"I will." Lu Zhou shook President Stratmann's hand and smiled. He then said, "I will continue on this path even for the magnificent scenery along the way."
After saying goodbye to President Stratmann, Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase through the departure hall and boarded the plane.
After a ten-hour flight, he finally landed at New York's JFK International Airport.
This time, Lu Zhou didn't notify anyone in advance, so he had a rare chance to experience the slow train ride.
He went all the way to the familiar town of Princeton and was greeted by his students.
In order to celebrate his Hoffmann Medal, a group of young people held a party in front of Lu Zhou's house at Hadi's suggestion.
However, the food at this party wasn't Hadi's authentic Brazilian barbecue. Instead, it was one of China's roadside delicacies — skewers.
This was Lu Zhou's first time eating skewers in a foreign country after being abroad for so long.
The only downside was that there was no beer in the fridge. There was only fruit-flavored champagne, which wasn't authentic enough.
Lu Zhou sat on the lawn and couldn't help but think of his three friends from Dorm 201.
After graduation, their lives didn't intersect, and they basically didn't contact each other. He didn't know how they were doing now.
At this moment, a cheeky Hadi walked over with a bottle of champagne.
"Professor, can I interview you?"
Lu Zhou said casually, "If it's a normal question."
"Don't worry, it's definitely a normal question." Hadi cleared his throat and said, "What does it feel like to win the honor of the chemistry community as a mathematician?"
Lu Zhou thought for a moment and said, "It's probably … an experience you'll never experience in your life."
"Oh, Professor, that's so hurtful. I'm one of your chief disciples," Hadi said bitterly. "Can't you have more confidence in me?"
Looking at Hadi, who appeared to be shocked but did not take it seriously at all, Lu Zhou felt a little heartache.
He wasn't feeling heartache for this silly kid, he was feeling for himself.
At that time, what did he see in this guy that made him give him an offer?
This question was still bothering him to this day …
In the second half of the party, Luo Wenxuan, who had just gotten a girlfriend, finally arrived.
However, he did not bring his girlfriend this time. Instead, he brought a piece of good news.
After a few months of hard work, with the help of Wei Wen, he finally completed his graduation thesis.
The thesis, "Research on the Even Coherent State of Q-distorted Harmonic Oscillator in a Finite-Dimensional Hilbert Space", was finally accepted by the journal "Physics Today", and it would be published in half a year.
This journal was considered a comprehensive journal. Although the impact factor was not high, only 4.3, for a PhD student in the field of theoretical physics, this result was quite good.
Moreover, the impact factor was not the only measure of the academic value of a journal. His boss, Witten, would occasionally "write" in "Physics Today".
After this thesis was published, he would be able to smoothly receive his PhD at the beginning of next year.
"Thank you so much, you're my savior!" When Luo Wenxuan saw Lu Zhou at the party, he excitedly hugged Lu Zhou's shoulders and said, "I'll buy you a drink someday!"
"You don't have to thank me, Wei Wen helped you." Lu Zhou took half a step back and smiled as he said, "Of course, if you really want to buy me a drink, I won't object."
"Actually, I didn't help much," said Wei Wen. He coughed as if he was not used to people praising him like this. He then said in a serious manner, "I was only responsible for some computational work. Is it really appropriate for my name to be on the thesis?"
"No, no, no, I don't agree with 'only computational work'," said Luo Wenxuan as he shook his head. He said, "The foundation of mathematical physics is the study of mathematical solutions to physical problems. You made up for my shortcomings in this area. If it wasn't for your help, I might have to wait until the end of the year to finish this thesis. "
Seeing how Luo Wenxuan admitted his shortcomings in mathematics, Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Old Tang would be heartbroken if he heard you say this. Are you really an applied mathematics student?"
How did this guy get an offer from Princeton?
And it's an offer from a big name like Witten.
When Luo Wenxuan heard Lu Zhou's words, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head and smiled.
"It's fine, Old Tang is mentally prepared. He used to scold me a lot."
Lu Zhou: "…"
…
The next morning, when Lu Zhou returned to the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, he did not immediately start his research. Instead, he found Professor Witten and asked him about some things.
The designer of the stellarator, Lyman Spitzer, worked at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study for a long time. The first stellarator concept was born at Princeton University.
According to common sense, there should be some clues left at the place where he had worked.
"Congratulations, the Hoffman Medal is an amazing honor." Edward Witten looked at Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "How was your trip to Germany? Did you see that old guy Faltings? "
"I saw him, but I feel like he doesn't like me," said Lu Zhou helplessly.
Edward Witten smiled and said, "Please don't mind him, that old man is like this to everyone. Even Deligné, who has a good relationship with him, can't stand it. But hearing you say this, I'm relieved … It seems like he's in good health, at least he has the strength to insult people. "
"I don't mind." Lu Zhou shrugged and paused for a second. He then said, "Actually, this time, I didn't just stay in Berlin, I also went to Greifswald."
"Greifswald?" When Witten heard this name, his eyebrows suddenly raised. He immediately guessed where Lu Zhou's destination was. "You went to the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory?"
"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Professor Klitzing took me to visit the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator there. Not only that, but I was also lucky enough to see the experiment site."
"You're indeed lucky. I've been to Europe five times in the past two years, and I went to Germany twice. However, every time I went there, I missed the Wendelstein 7-X experiment, especially the one in 2016. "Professor Witten had a regretful look on his face when he spoke about this.
Lu Zhou coughed and said the purpose of his visit.
"I want to ask you about the stellarator."
"What is it?" Witten asked in a pleasant tone.
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