A TV in the cafeteria was showing the Columbia TV news report on the International Lunar Hadron Collider.
This story had been going around since last month.
The Moon was a piece of treasure that hung above everyone’s head, and even though various grand plans had been announced, none of them had been put into action.
However, the Lunar Orbit Committee was an exception.
Ever since the Moon Palace project, the world had gotten to witness China’s aerospace engineering feats.
It seemed like once the Chinese set their minds to do something, they were unstoppable.
Now that they were planning on building a hadron collider on the Moon, physicists from all over the world wanted to work for them; they were even willing to learn Mandarin…
The entire Internet was talking about this.
Not just the Internet, but in real life as well.
People had been talking about this on Princeton campus for quite some time now.
Almost every physicist was excited at the prospects behind China’s crazy project.
The impact of this hadron collider project even spread to other fields.
According to Professor Krugman, there was even a well-known big-name economist who wrote a paper on the impact of the Lunar Hadron Collider on international relations and global trade patterns.
Even though Krugman often overheard physicists talking about god knows that, this was the first time he felt physics truly affecting his own life.
Professor Angus Deaton from the Princeton economics department, who was also a Nobel Prize laureate, suddenly spoke while looking at the TV.
“Are you sure he will go?”
Professor Krugman shrugged and said, “I’m not sure, but his research is very important. I have to give it a try.”
“I think you’re wasting your time.”
Professor Angus shook his head and said, “Those pure mathematicians have a bias against economics. They have this idea that mathematics is something pure and noble, and it shouldn’t be influenced by other disciplines. Do you know how hard it is to ask Deligne for help? When it comes to mathematics problems, he…”
Professor Angus put on an impatient face and shrugged.
“… This is the face he gives me.”
Professor Krugman’s mouth twitched as he tried to conceal his laughter.
“I understand what you’re saying, but Professor Lu is different. He’s won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and he’s made great contributions to computational materials science. And his theory on the electrostrong interaction… Do you really think he’s a pure mathematics researcher? No! He is open-minded; he’s just not interested in physics.”
Professor Angus sighed and lifted the cup.
“Yeah, he’s not interested in economics. How do you plan on arousing his interest?”
Professor Krugman smiled and said confidently, “My dear Professor Angus Deaton, have you chased after girls before?”
Professor Angus frowned and said, “I did when I was younger… Why?”
Krugman: “You can’t just make someone be interested immediately; you have to build a friendly relationship with them step by step. They will then naturally make a choice that benefits you.”
Professor Angus opened his mouth and spoke.
“Interesting… But I still think your plan is going to fail.”
“Why?”
“Because Professor Lu doesn’t care about international affairs, and he doesn’t care about your ideas at all. Haven’t you noticed? Even though he tackles many problems outside of mathematics, all of the problems are chosen by himself.
“If he’s really interested in economics, he would have already done the research by now. Obviously, he has the ability to do so, but he just doesn’t care.”
Professor Krugman still didn’t seem to be convinced.
“Not necessarily, whether you’re interested in international affairs and personally intervening in international affairs are two different things.”
While the two were speaking.
The TV began to show a live stream of the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference.
Lu Zhou stood on stage while speaking in a clear and solemn voice.
As Professor Krugman watched Lu Zhou giving the speech, his pupils expanded.
He then excitedly slammed his fist on the table.
“See! I told you! He cares about things outside of academia!”
“Do you want to make a bet? Angus!”
Professor Angus looked at his excited friend and asked, “Bet on what?”
Professor Krugman rubbed his hands and spoke.
“I bet he will come to the economics conference in Shanghai, and I’ll be able to persuade him to join in on my research project. Let me think… How does US$10 sound?”
10?
Angus nearly laughed out loud.
Even though he would gladly steal Krugman’s money, the amount was too small.
He wanted to bet more chips.
“10 dollars is way too little. If you’re so certain, let’s bet 10 golden chocolates at the Stockholm Blue Hall dinner.”
“Damnnit, you want to empty my pockets…”
Professor Krugman paused for a while and finally clenched his jaws.
“Deal!”
