The day of November 25th was an ordinary day for the world.
However, this was an extraordinary day for the mathematics community.
The cafeteria at the Jin Ling University was full of people.
Students had just finished their classes, and crowds of people stood in front of restaurant lines.
Duan Siqi, as a member of the foodie army, had just finished his mathematical analysis class. He struggled as he finally escaped the crowd with his food. He sat down next to his three roommates.
It was rare to see the students of dorm 201 gathered together. Even Li Mo was here, which was a rare sight indeed.
However, Li Mo looked like he was contemplating something. He looked like he wanted to finish his meal and leave as soon as possible.
Yang Shuang was eating a bowl of rice. He made eye contact with Wu Di before asking, “Brother Li, how’s your research project going?”
“Hard, too hard.” Li Mo sighed and shook his head. “If only God Lu is here, he could help us plan what to do next.”
“God Lu is not here? He’s on a business trip?”
Li Mo shook his head.
“No, he’s just on a retreat.”
The person in charge of them was Chen Yang, the taciturn professor who rarely communicated with them.
As for Perelman, the epitome of an eccentric guy, he rarely took the initiative to speak even one word.
Li Mo thought about his project and felt anxious.
This was the first time he had encountered a problem he couldn’t figure out. It was also the first time he had been troubled by a problem for over a month.
Duan Siqi didn’t say anything; he only gave Li Mo a look of encouragement.
Suddenly, the CTV International news playing on the cafeteria TV changed scenes.
The news anchor was given a press release by a staff member. The anchor looked at the page with an astonished look.
He quickly made a professional judgment, took a deep breath, and spoke.
“We have a piece of breaking news…
“Academician Lu, a well-known Chinese scholar, uploaded a 40-page paper to the academic website arXiv. He proved the unification of algebra and geometry, causing a huge sensation in the international mathematics community.
“According to our experts, once the paper is proven to be accurate, it will completely change the development of the mathematics field forever. It will also impact research in the natural sciences.
“So far, the International Mathematical Union has yet to comment on this matter, but we are keeping an eye on their movements…”
Li Mo dropped his chopsticks onto his plate. His mouth was wide open as he stared at the TV. He was dumbfounded.
His friends of dorm 201 were the same. Even though their reaction wasn’t as strong as Li Mo, they were all staring at the TV with an amazed look on their faces.
Unifying algebra and geometry!
The Grand Unified Theory of mathematics!
Is this thing…
Really possible?
Duan Siqi initially had some doubts.
However, when he heard Lu Zhou’s name in the news broadcast, all of his doubts disappeared.
“Grand Unified Theory…” Duan Siqi looked at Li Mo, who was stunned. He gulped and asked, “Isn’t that… what you were researching?”
Li Mo: “… Yeah.”
In fact, this wasn’t something he “researched”.
Something he was “still” researching.
Even last night, he was frantically grabbing his hair over this impossible proposition.
However, now…
He was still worrying about a certain detail in the blueprint, but the news was telling him the entire building was already built…
Li Mo wanted to cry.
This is ridiculous!
He didn’t even tell me!
I know I’m not very useful, but I’m still a member of the research project!
Wu Di, who had yet to speak, looked at him.
“So…”
Li Mo sighed. His sorrowful eyes looked like he was deceived. He looked at the ceiling and spoke.
“… So, we’re done.”
Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t purposely keep them in the dark.
The second he uploaded his paper to arXiv, he sent an email to several partners, sharing the joy of victory.
However, because the news was so shocking, both Perelman and Chen Yang had yet to digest what just happened. They hadn’t even finished reading the paper yet.
Of course, no one told a low-level scientific researcher like Li Mo the news.
Almost immediately after the news was broadcast, the discussion on the Internet exploded.
[Unifying algebra and geometry?! (shook) (shook)]
[The f*ck? Wasn’t God Lu researching Riemann’s hypothesis? I—]
[Bro, is he even human, this is so unfair. (cry)]
[I’m a mathematics researcher, and I’d like to report Academician Lu for plagiarizing my research results. In 2012, I discovered the similarity between the number 0 and a circle. Please help me get justice!]
[What does unifying algebra and geometry mean? Does this mean high school textbooks are going to change?]
[Basically, he invented a new mathematical framework that links the abstract meaning of algebra and geometry. This way, tools and methods on both sides can communicate with each other. This won’t affect the average person. If you want to solve a quadratic equation, using the quadratic formula is still the best choice. But for us mathematicians, this is going to be a long day… As a PhD student, please, God Lu, slow down, old man.]
[The f*ck? How dare you call God Lu an old man? You’re an old man!]
[…]
Most of the people didn’t understand what unifying algebra and geometry meant, and most of them forgot about most of the algebra and geometry they learned in high school. However, this didn’t mean they weren’t shocked by the news on the TV.
Within half an hour of the broadcast, the news was already on the trending page.
It was almost like everyone had suddenly become a mathematician.
People began to discuss what the world would be like after the unification of algebra and geometry.
In response to the people’s heated discussions and concerns about this matter, Everyone Daily and CTV collaborated in a science talk show. They invited one of the leading Chinese mathematicians—Academician Xiang Huanan.
The host looked at the gray-haired old man and spoke in a respectful tone.
“Hello, Academician Xiang, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join our show.”
Academician Xiang Huanan smiled and leaned in the sofa chair. He then spoke casually.
“An old man like me, I have nothing to do anyway. Ask away.”
After some small talk, the host began to talk about the main topic.
“Recently, a major event happened in the mathematics field. Academician Lu uploaded a paper to arXiv, demonstrating the unification of algebra and geometry. Many of our audiences are concerned, and they wonder what this paper means for us. What kind of impact will this have on our lives?”
Academician Xiang smiled and spoke.
“Actually, the media isn’t being accurate. Academician Lu didn’t totally unify algebra and geometry. Instead, he built a bridge between the two.”
Host: “Bridge?”
“Yeah…” Academician Xiang nodded and said, “Just like how a cup can be used for drinking water and watering plants.”
Host: “That’s a creative analogy.”
Academician Xiang: “Normal people don’t need to learn the unified theory of algebra and geometry as it is only unified in the abstract sense. It doesn’t mean the two things are necessarily the same thing. However, when necessary, we can transform algebraic problems into geometric problems and vice versa.”
Host: “Oh, I see, looks like I had a misunderstanding. So this won’t affect the lives of ordinary people, is that correct?”
“Correct…” Academician Xiang nodded and said, “Only scholars in pure and applied sciences will have to study certain methods to solve technical problems. As a result, the public will feel the changes due to the scientific progress.”
“I heard you know Academician Lu?”
“Not just know…” Academician Xiang patted his thighs and said, “He was almost my student! Sigh, what a shame, I didn’t insist hard enough back then. Academician Lu Shenjian stole him from me. Fortunately, after a year of studying physics, he has returned to mathematics.”
“Well, physics isn’t so bad.” The host smiled and said, “Academician Lu has done outstanding work in physics even though his achievements are focused on materials science and mathematics.”
“You don’t get it.” Xiang Huanan waved his hand and said, “So far, all of his physics achievements can be attributed to his mathematics achievements. The biggest one is probably solving the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap and the electrostrong interaction. The former is a Millennium Prize Problems, while the latter is a generalization of the former.”
Even though this was a pedantic argument, it was true.
Remember the 750 GeV characteristic peak Lu Zhou discovered at CERN?
Even though the entire particle physics community spent a year researching the peak, they were not able to find anything.
The host didn’t understand the academic terms Academician Xiang was talking about, so he quickly shifted the conversation from academia to Lu Zhou’s personal life.
“You have mentioned that Academician Lu nearly became your student. I’m sure our audience is interested in Academician Lu’s days as a student; can you tell us more about that?”
Academician Xiang had a nostalgic look on his face.
“That’s a long story…”
