“Professor Mochizuki, right? Nice to meet you.”
Although there was still a smile on Schultz’s face, Lu Zhou smelled the tension as soon as Schultz spoke.
Professor Mochizuki obviously realized this. He lifted his chin slightly, as if he was expressing his disdain with his nostrils.
“Hello, Professor Schultz, long time no see.”
“Yes, it’s really been a long time. After all, it’s not easy to see you.”
“Hahaha.”
Lu Zhou watched the growling between the two; he was stuck in the middle.
Shinichi Mochizuki didn’t reply to his email some time ago. He thought he was “blocked”; he didn’t expect this guy to come over in person.
He didn’t expect such a coincidence that this guy and Schultz had bumped into each other.
Even Perelman saw that they were not friendly with each other, so he said with a light cough, “If you have something to talk about, you can discuss it privately before we continue.”
“No,” Schultz said with a shiny smile on his face, “I don’t have any problem with Professor Mochizuki. We were just discussing the five hundred pages of wasted paper, oh, I meant thesis.”
Shinichi Mochizuki squinted his eyes and stared at him for a while. He looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.
“I have nothing to say to him, I’m here for you.”
Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.
“What a coincidence.
“Since we’re all here, let’s continue.”
He turned around to face the whiteboard and started writing.
When the first line was written down, the two people who were previously fighting finally turned their attention back to academic issues.
When Lu Zhou wrote down the fifth line of equations, Shinichi Mochizuki’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Anabelian geometry method!
As the creator of the mathematical language, he didn’t feel too surprised by the mathematical language he invented.
What surprised him was that someone could use it so skillfully. He can’t help but feel impressed.
This was probably the first time he had seen this happen outside of Kyoto University.
For the vast majority of people, the odd-looking mathematical symbols created by him alone were enough to give a headache, much less using those mathematical symbols to build up a complete argumentation process.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Finally, half an hour passed. The five whiteboards were filled with dense calculations.
The three people standing in front of the whiteboards began to feel a little sore in their necks. Lu Zhou finally put down the marker and took half a step back.
After finally seeing the calculations on the whiteboard, Shinichi Mochizuki’s face gradually became solemn, then back to being surprised.
After Schultz read the calculations on the whiteboard, a smile gradually appeared on his face. It was obvious that Lu Zhou had produced a similar result to his.
As for Professor Perelman, there was still no change of expression on his face, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes.
“… The incompatibility of spatial measures means that the final inequality cannot be compared…”
Shinichi Mochizuki was completely lost in thought. Lu Zhou continued softly, “But if the proof is changed, as I wrote in equation 2.1, then spatial measurements will be compatible with each other.”
Schultz smiled and said, “But then, this inequality will lose its meaning.”
Lu Zhou nodded. “Yes, but I appreciate it if you can keep quiet for now.”
Schultz shrugged and closed his mouth somewhat boringly. He glanced at Mochizuki next to him, then went to make himself a cup of coffee.
Now that the deduction had reached this point, there was no suspense.
He admitted that Lu Zhou’s analysis of the problem was closer to the essence than himself.
When proving the inference 3.12, his argumentation process was infinitely close to succeeding. From this, the final result of the ABC conjecture was derived.
However, he was just a little bit “off”.
It was precisely because of this mistake, the five-hundred-page thesis became a waste of paper.
Shinichi Mochizuki looked at the calculations on the whiteboard intently. He did not speak for a long time.
Lu Zhou thought for a while and spoke thoughtfully.
“The expression of anabelian geometry is a bit unique… It took me a lot of time to understand what these symbols represent. If there is no misunderstanding, this should be your ‘trivial’ proof process.”
Shinichi Mochizuki lowered his head a little.
“Yeah.”
Lu Zhou: “Do you have any questions then?”
Mochizuki shook his head.
“No.”
There was no doubt that this was the most perfect derivation process he could think of, even more perfect than he expected.
That was why…
He couldn’t even think of how to refute it.
Lu Zhou thought for a while and suddenly said, “In fact, anabelian geometry has many remarkable points when solving abstract mathematical problems, but the cost of mastering this is really high. I think that if a tool is to be passed on, it has to be easily understood by all people.”
Shinichi Mochizuki stared at the calculation on the whiteboard with furrowed brows. He then said in an indifferent tone, “I don’t care.”
“Then what’s the meaning of your work?”
“Meaning?”
“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded. “Most scholars are confused about your work. There are very few scholars in mathematics who understand anabelian geometry. The only people who understand your work are mostly your students or colleagues. Maybe you can still work in mathematics for ten or twenty years, but what about thirty or even fifty years later?
“Maybe your theory is lucky. Your students finish the work you didn’t complete, sorting out the obscure things into mathematical principles that can be understood and accepted by most people. A hundred years later, the new knowledge shoots will sprout on unfamiliar soil.
“However, if you’re not as lucky as we assume, your students’ research in this field will not surpass you. In fifty years, all the work you have done in this field will not be remembered again, as if it had never existed in this world before.
“Of course you might not care,” Lu Zhou said in an indifferent tone. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the silent Shinichi Mochizuki as he said, “I just feel a little pity for you.”
After a long silence, Professor Mochizuki looked at the lines of calculations on the whiteboard and suddenly asked, “Can I ask a question?”
Lu Zhou: “Of course you can.”
Shinichi Mochizuki: “Did you really only take two days?”
Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly and said, “Sort of, although I didn’t sleep much in those two days.”
With a complicated expression on his face, Shinichi Mochizuki nodded silently.
This time he didn’t say anything. He just turned around and walked away.
…
The meeting continued.
After listening to Lu Zhou’s explanation, both Perelman and Professor Schultz agreed that this counter-intuitive mathematical problem could only be solved through counter-intuitive mathematical tools.
It was best to create a language that was independent of the existing mathematical methods, specifically used to describe this kind of special Diophantine equation problem.
As for the breakthrough point…
In Lu Zhou’s opinion, it was possible to consider starting from the refinement of Baker’s theorem and slowly move toward the result of the ABC conjecture.
Schultz had an unexpected interest in this problem. He decided to stay at the Jin Ling University faculty dorms for the time being.
Although Lu Zhou said that he could arrange a hotel with better conditions, he declined it because of the travel inconvenience.
As for Shinichi Mochizuki, he had disappeared since that day. He couldn’t be contacted and did not return his emails.
Lu Zhou thought he had already returned to Japan. What he didn’t expect was that he appeared again two days after, just before their meeting.
“You are right, I thought about it for a long time after I returned to the hotel.
“Whether it’s the proof or the suggestion about anabelian geometry…
“If no one remembers my work, then all of my efforts in this field may become meaningless after I retire. If, unfortunately, I am still alive by then, it will be a torment until my death.”
Professor Mochizuki pointed his nostrils to one side with a little embarrassment, coughed lightly, and continued.
“After returning to Kyoto, I will take a little time to do something I haven’t done before.
“But before that, I want to stay here for a while.
“I want to put an end to the unfinished work from more than ten years ago.”
Lu Zhou looked at Shinichi Mochizuki with surprise. He didn’t expect him to admit his mistakes so easily and even propose to stay at Jin Ling University for a while.
This is unlike the rumors in the mathematics world…
Lu Zhou was stunned for a while. He smiled and reached out his right hand.
“I’m glad you think that way… Also, you are welcome to join us.”
After shaking hands, Shinichi Mochizuki looked at Schultz, who was standing by the side.
“I think we have had a serious misunderstanding with each other… But don’t expect me to apologize to you, this is not entirely my fault.”
Schultz smiled and folded his arms.
“That’s fine, I didn’t expect an apology. In addition, although your proof process has obvious problems, we all think that your idea is still feasible. We need to create a new mathematical language to describe this problem… Welcome to our research group. It seems that LSP has to be changed to LSPM.”
He smiled and reached out his right hand.
Shinichi Mochizuki frowned and hesitated for a while. However, in the end, he still shook the hand.
“Thanks…”
“This is definitely the most powerful lineup in the history of mathematics.” Lu Zhou looked at them and said, “Or at least one of them.”
“I think it is.” Schultz joked and said, “After all, we have Professor Lu.”
