The Military-industrial Scientific Research System of the Academic Master Chapter 838

Chapter 838 I changed the academic rules

When things have developed to this extent, whether it is from a purely entertaining level or from an academic impact level, it is necessary to pause the agenda.

So, Wiles directly called a staff member next to him and said something to him.

Then, the latter quickly came on stage and stopped Arthur Jeff's question and answer session.

Just when most of the audience felt a little confused, the lights in the main venue, which had originally been turned off to allow the audience to see the projector clearly, turned it on again.

There was some commotion at the scene.

“Professor Jeff.”

Wiles walked straight to the stage and took a microphone from the staff next to him:

“I would like to ask, when does your reward for these seven questions start to be considered effective?”

Jeff didn't know what exactly happened at this time, but on the one hand he had to follow the arrangements of the venue staff, and on the other hand Andrew Wiles, as a big boss of the Philippine Awards, the questions he asked could not be ignored.

“Legally speaking, at the same time as the opening of this Millennium Mathematics Conference, the agreement signed by Mr. Langton Clay, the patron of our institute, officially came into effect.”

"very good."

Wiles showed a bright smile:

“Well, I have something to announce to you.”

He said and turned to face the audience:

“Just now, specifically, about an hour and a half ago, someone announced that he had successfully proved the Poincaré conjecture.”

One sentence.

The originally turbulent scene instantly became silent.

Nearly everyone's eyes were either shocked, dull, confused, or doubtful...

　　turned to Wiles, who was holding a microphone on the stage.

Perhaps to dispel everyone's doubts, he then added:

“Now, my colleagues are assembling a team to verify the proof process…”

It was as if a switch had been turned on.

The scene suddenly boiled like a frying pan—

Although it is not as popular as the field of Gechai, some people claim to have proved the Poincaré conjecture, which is still not a big deal.

But it is another matter to be able to enter the formal verification stage.

What's more, the person on the stage is still Wiles.

A famous problem in mathematics was solved by this big man.

Even if it cannot be concluded that the proof must be correct, it at least shows that it is enough to be taken seriously by the serious mathematics community.

That is to say…

Seven major mathematical problems.

One hour after publication.

　　 Could it be cracked by...?

Arthur Jeff, who was standing behind Wiles, swayed slightly.

He felt that the whole world had become gray.

This is a live broadcast.

For the whole world!

I just vowed that if I am optimistic, the first problem may be solved in 10-15 years...

Actually, this is not a big deal.

10-15 years is considered to be a satisfactory period.

Even if you asked Wiles to answer that question on stage himself, he would definitely give a similar answer.

As long as it can be slightly delayed for a year.

Even half a year.

No one would really make any use of his words.

But today this is such a coincidence.

He didn't even get off the stage...

As soon as the front foot finished speaking, the back foot was slapped in the face.

For a moment, he even hoped that Wiles's proof was wrong...

Besides Jeff, another person who was a bit broken was the convener of this meeting, Jean-Christophe Yorkz, who is also a big boss of the Philippine Prize.

Because the meeting was in the afternoon, it was immediately suspended.

Out of a total of four planned speakers, three chose to participate in the review on the spot.

What else is there to do?

Let's wait until the review is over.

As for whether it can be restored...

That depends on the review efficiency.

If the review is not until next year, it would be a bit strange to hold the Millennium Mathematics Conference in 2001.

“Perhaps it can be renamed the New Century Mathematics Conference and held next?”

Yorkz looked at Wiles not far away, feeling a little helpless.

However, it's not enough to be angry.

After all, if the final confirmation process is correct, neither the organizers nor the participants of the New Millennium Academic Conference will be at a loss.

It can even be said to be earned with blood.

After all, the millennium will definitely exist in another thousand years.

But it is not necessarily the case that "an announcement of a bounty will be followed by someone to prove it".

On the other hand, as Wiles had guessed before, the number of Fields Medal winners on the review team was finally fixed at five—

“Requires a mathematician with a background in theoretical physics”. This request was tailor-made for Edward Witten

What's more, his research fields include Morse theory and topological quantum field theory, and he is also an expert in the field of differential topology.

For Witten, who is in his prime, there is obviously no reason to miss such an opportunity to witness history in person.

So, as soon as he got the news, he crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Paris that evening.

At this time, several other reviewers have entered a state of retreat.

Hence, as soon as Witten left the terminal and had no time to get on the bus, he was surrounded by the good-faith media.

Basically, I asked him when the results would be available.

Witten didn't want to answer at first, but seeing this attitude, it would be difficult to escape without saying something, so he had to say something like, "The review of this type of mathematics paper usually takes months or even years, so I hope everyone can be patient and calm." .

However…

Three days later.

In an office of the French Academy of Sciences.

“Did we…miss something?”

Edward Witten looked at the paper in his hand, which was nearly as thick as a book, and asked hesitantly.

The paper has been turned to the last page at this time.

Or strictly speaking, it has been turned to the last page more than once.

But no one could figure out the problem.

The entire proof process is like a puzzle piece that has been designed in advance.

Each chapter at the beginning seems to have little connection with each other.

But at the end of the article, the answer to the Poincaré conjecture is spelled out.

Logically speaking, at this point, the results can actually be announced.

It's impossible for a room full of mathematicians to be wrong.

But this time, no one dared to take the lead in taking a stand.

Everything went so well.

Chang Haonan and Perelman developed a new set of tools based on the combination of topology.

ˆAbout its name, it was only mentioned once in an inconspicuous position.

“Structural topology”.

This shouldn't be something that can be understood in three days.

But everyone present felt that they understood.

Even Hamilton, who had been mentally prepared for this for a long time, was a little unsure at this time.

“Speaking of which, whether the paper is finally published should be decided by the editor-in-chief of the journal, right?”

Finally, it was John Morgan who first proposed.

Actually, this suggestion is just to break the deadlock—

Would any editor have objections to the review opinions given by their group?

However, this is the human psychology.

Although there is essentially no difference, everyone was more or less relieved after having the excuse of "the editor decided".

Just writing a review opinion.

It's not my final decision.

"Then I think...there is nothing wrong with this paper, and I suggest...publish it directly!"

The oldest Sergey Novikov said first.

　　He also puts an emphasis on the word "suggestion".

After the first person came forward, others also gave their own "suggestions".

Of course, it's all the same as Novikov.

Except Hamilton.

“But, so far.”

his voice was a little dry due to staying up late for several days:

“Still not found that the editorial team of any journal has received submissions of papers with similar content.”

“So, we can only think that these two authors do not intend to formally submit the manuscript, but are really planning to publish all their results on arXiv?”

"This should be."

　At this time, even Edward Witten knocked his head in distress.

These two authors are simply the only outliers he has seen in his life.

“Well, I have one more question.”

John Morgan's perspective on thinking about problems is always different from others:

“From now on, any research on topology will probably hardly avoid this paper.”

“But it has not been published in any journal in accordance with strict academic requirements, and it is obviously not a treatise, report or news.”

“So…how do we quote it?”

The room fell into silence again.

Everyone showed expressions of dumbfounding.

The two authors caused more trouble outside of their papers than they had to overcome to understand their papers…

Friedman, who once proved the Poincaré conjecture of four-dimensional space, suddenly said:

“Can we change the citation rules to include open source websites like arXiv?”

(End of this chapter)

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