The pen on the blackboard stopped.
Lu Zhou's voice also stopped.
The audience below the stage were all stunned.
Since an hour ago, Lu Zhou's hands hadn't stopped moving. When he suddenly stopped, everyone felt uncomfortable for a while.
However, everyone understood. After all, everyone had times when they weren't in a good state. Especially when an old professor was giving a report, it was common for people to fall asleep. Not to mention that a major mathematics proposition report like this wasn't just a test of a scholar's mathematical ability and presentation ability, it was also a test of a person's psychological endurance.
In the silence, everyone waited quietly for him to continue.
However …
One minute passed by.
Five minutes passed by.
Lu Zhou still stood there motionlessly. He stared at the blackboard with his eyebrows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.
Seeing how he didn't respond, the audience in the venue couldn't sit still anymore.
Why isn't he doing anything?
Is his train of thought stuck?
Or … did he make a mistake?
A lot of people looked at him gloatingly, and a lot of people looked at him with concern. It was very possible for a major mathematics conjecture report to have an accident. After all, this was a challenge to the human mind, so it wasn't possible for it to succeed every time.
However, no one expected that the problem didn't come during the Q&A session. Instead, it came during the explanation stage.
It was like …
He had used his own logic to trip himself up.
When the reporters heard the commotion in the auditorium, they had a hunch that something big was about to happen. They immediately pointed their cameras at Lu Zhou and took a close-up of his facial expression.
For the spectators, they would always watch a good show and never complain about things getting bigger.
In the audience, Principal Xu and Dean Qin, as well as the teachers in charge of the venue, were anxious. The staff members standing next to them didn't know what to do. They didn't know if they should remind him to pay attention to the time or just watch him.
Dean Qin couldn't help but clench his fists and whisper, "What is he doing? He's about to prove it!"
He had read the thesis and understood it. He only needed a few more steps to prove that there was a solution to the Yang-Mills equations. However, for some reason, Lu Zhou just stood there, staring at the blackboard … in a daze?
Looking at Lu Zhou standing motionlessly on the stage, Han Mengqi, who was standing in the corner of the auditorium, had a face full of worry. Her right hand unconsciously clenched in front of her chest as she silently prayed for him.
Lin Yuxiang, who was standing next to her, glanced at her. A look of realization appeared on her face. Soon, the corners of her mouth curled up into a meaningful smile. No one knew what she was thinking.
At the same time, in the audience.
Academician Wang Shicheng sat in the corner of the auditorium and stared at the blackboard. He frowned.
There was nothing wrong with his train of thought.
At this point, the rest of the process was actually very simple. It would not be a problem to end it with an "obvious" sentence, quickly skip the rest of the powerpoint, and directly announce the start of the Q&A session.
For an internationally renowned scholar, other people wouldn't ask him to explain every step in detail. All he had to do was answer some of the controversial questions.
While Academician Wang was reorganizing the process on the blackboard, a man wearing glasses sitting next to him said, "Is he … stuck? In front of so many people, this Lu Zhou is probably in trouble. "
Wang Shicheng looked at him unhappily and scolded in a low voice, "Shut up."
After being reprimanded by Wang Shicheng, the man immediately shut his mouth and stopped talking.
After all, he was the chairman of the China Mathematics Society. He might not be particularly famous internationally, but he had quite a high status in the Chinese academic community.
At the same time, on the other side of the auditorium.
Witten looked at Lu Zhou's back and glanced at Professor Deligne, who was next to him. He gave him a questioning look.
"Is there a problem?"
Deligné frowned and didn't say anything.
Fefferman's eyebrows were also tightly furrowed. He seemed to be thinking about something.
As for Wiles, he didn't look worried. Instead, he smiled and answered Witten's question, "Maybe he's stuck. When I was researching Fermat's Last Theorem, I fell into the same state. I understand his situation … He'll be fine in a bit."
When he was researching Fermat's Last Theorem, he first used the Iwasawa theory, but he couldn't make a breakthrough. Then, he switched to the Colivakin Fletcher method. As a result, when he answered Professor Katz's question, he found out that the method had a serious problem with a special Euler system. He even wanted to give up his claim of successfully proving Fermat's Last Theorem.
Until one day, eight months later, he suddenly thought of the Iwasawa theory that he had given up on. He had the idea of combining the Iwasawa theory with the Colivakin Fletcher method. The final result was quite gratifying. This was the solution to the problem. Because of this, Wiles was able to fix the loopholes in the thesis and put a seal on Fermat's Last Theorem.
As he spoke, Wiles began to brag in a low voice about how he got inspiration from his daughter's building blocks, how he survived a desperate situation, and how it was a sunny morning, blah blah blah blah …
Of course, he did have the right to brag.
As far as the conjecture itself was concerned, the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem was known as the most brilliant mathematical achievement of the 20th century.
However, it had been almost thirty years since then.
Deligne was expressionless as he listened to his incessant ramblings. He did not pay attention to him.
Fefferman reached out his finger and poked Witten, who was sitting next to him.
Witten looked at him and gave him an inquiring look.
"What?"
"I've heard another version," said Fefferman as he pointed at Wiles, who was sitting next to Deligné. He said, "The last time he told me this story, it was about his wife's breakfast."
Witten: "…"
Ten minutes passed by.
Lu Zhou, who was standing on the stage, still didn't move.
Just when everyone began to wonder if he had fallen asleep, Lu Zhou, who was standing on the stage, suddenly moved.
Also, he moved in a way that no one expected …
He picked up an eraser from the side and wiped the lines of calculations on the blackboard in front of everyone. Then, he picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a few new lines of calculations on the blackboard.
When Fefferman saw the lines of calculations, his pupils constricted. It was as if he had a premonition, but he couldn't believe it.
However, Lu Zhou's actions seemed to confirm his premonition.
The last stroke of the brush was done.
Lu Zhou stopped writing and turned around. He gently threw the chalk in his hand on the multimedia podium.
After a few seconds of silence, he spoke in front of everyone.
"I solved it."
After that, Lu Zhou turned around and walked off the stage, leaving the entire audience in the auditorium behind.
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