“…… To Langton?? Clay and his wife Lavinia?? Clay, to the Clay family, to the members of the Riemann family, to all the mathematicians who came to this historic occasion. ”

"At a conference held in Paris twenty-three years ago, the Clay Institute for Mathematics unveiled the award for seven of the world's most famous problems. We don't need that, and it doesn't make real mathematicians more excited about mathematical performance. ”

"But that doesn't mean it's unimportant."

"On the contrary, it is a record for future generations of the great unanswered questions of the twentieth century. It has also led to a greater enthusiasm for mathematics in the non-mathematical world. In particular, it has always served as a beacon for young people, children and students to take an interest in the evolving mathematics and math-related problems. ”

"Whether it's really for love, or for that million prize money."

Institut Française.

The spacious auditorium is a little crowded.

Because it was the award ceremony of the Riemann conjecture, almost the top first-line scholars in the entire French mathematical community, as well as members of major mathematical organizations, were invited to stand here.

Before the turn of the millennium, it was the center of mathematics in Europe and the world, and it was the dream of countless mathematicians to give lectures here.

Even today, this glory has long since withered due to the overall decline of the European mathematical community, and many things have not changed.

Standing on the podium, facing the solemn venue, Professor Carlson paused for a moment and continued in a solemn tone.

"Nils Henrik Abel once wrote in his memoirs that in order to solve a difficult problem, it must first be expressed correctly......"

“…… In particular, the correct formulaic expression. ”

"What we can see is often not as simple as we think it is, just like the theorems we all know, and behind each theorem is the result of centuries of hard work and effort, as well as the efforts of countless generations of scholars, and it is from this accumulation that our discipline has progressed."

"We have gained a lot on this thorny road, as Professor Lu Zhou's work has revealed to us, we know the mystery of the zero distribution of the Riemann function and the profound mathematical meaning behind it - 'the unity of geometry and algebra'. The birth of this theory has reconstituted algebraic geometry after the millennium, and even redefined our understanding of numbers and geometry. ”

"Perhaps, it may take us decades, if not more, to build a new edifice on the land he has carved out. But we have already taken the first step into the new world, and I believe that someone will see that day for us. ”

The lengthy award speech was finally read.

The elderly Professor Carlson bowed slightly, and the audience burst into thunderous applause.

In the midst of applause, Lu Zhou walked to the front of the stage, took the million-dollar check from Professor Carlson's hand, showed a smile that met the other party's expectations, and shook his hand politely.

"Thank you."

Of course, it's good to have money to take.

Although the prize of one million may be a little less than yesterday's big project of 10 billion, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat, who will think that they have more money?

Having finally completed this daunting task, Professor Carlson had a relieved look on his face.

He felt that there was probably no more humble person in this world than himself.

It's obviously a money-giveaway, and it's a million grand prize, but the winners are more and more difficult to invite one by one.

Holding the hand of the landing boat tightly, Professor Carlson said in an excited tone.

"Do you have any acceptance speeches? Just share your impressions. ”

Acceptance speech?

After hearing Professor Carlson's words, Lu Zhou thought seriously for a while, and an embarrassed smile appeared on his face.

"If you think about it...... I think I already said it last time, so it's the same as last time. ”

Drowned in applause, this phrase seemed to be heard only by Professor Carlson.

Seeing his old face, which was gradually suffocating red because of his elevated blood pressure, and the expression that wanted to hit someone but still smiled, Lu Zhou suddenly felt a little lucky, fortunately the applause was loud enough, and he didn't get to the microphone before......

……

In the evening, also in the ballroom of the Collège de France, a gala dinner was held jointly by the French Mathematical Society and the Institut Grammatical de Crée. Whether or not they were at the ceremony during the day, almost all the mathematicians in Paris did not miss the banquet.

During the dinner, Lu Zhou met many old friends who he hadn't seen for a long time.

In particular, Professor Helfgotte, who served at the Ecole Supérieure de Paris.

The number theorist of Peruvian origin, of French origin, helped him a lot in his research on the Goldbach conjecture. In particular, the proof of the weak Goldbach conjecture provided him with a lot of inspiration when he fused the sieve method and the circle method.

Since Goldbach's conjecture was solved, Lu Zhou has rarely published articles in the field of number theory, so the two have not communicated for some years. However, although they have met less, the friendship between the two is still there.

As soon as they met this time, Professor Helfgot was quite enthusiastic and chatted with Lu Zhou for a long time. And Lu Zhou also heard a lot about Professor Grothendieck's life from him, as well as some rumors about Professor Abel.

"Let's make a hypothesis."

Helfgort: "Suppose? ”

Pouring himself a glass of champagne again, Lu Zhou said with a chic smile: "If there are aliens in this universe...... Of course, I mean what if. How do we build a good communication relationship with species when they are completely different and difficult to come into direct contact with? ”

Professor Helfgot was slightly stunned and glanced at Lu Zhou strangely.

"You found aliens?"

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile.

"How is that possible? Isn't that an assumption? Why do you think I've found out? ”

Helfgot laughs and says, "Because every time you throw a problem out, it seems like you've already solved half of it." You're someone who doesn't leave opportunities to others, am I right? ”

Belch?

Have it?

Lu Zhou thought about it carefully, it seemed that there was really such a thing.

Although in his own opinion, those results were all painstakingly figured out by him, in the eyes of others, those mathematical propositions that were originally calculated on a year-by-year cycle were solved by himself in a few months or even weeks, which does sound a bit exaggerated.

Looking at Lu Zhou, who had an embarrassed smile on his face, Helfgot smiled and took a sip of red wine, pondered for a while, and then returned to the interesting question from earlier.

"If communication must happen at the first contact...... I think it's math. ”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows in interest.

"Oh?"

What a coincidence, they thought of a piece and went.

"The key to the communication between two civilizations is to find a common language, just like the cup in my hand, if they don't use the cup as a container and don't drink, then the communication can't begin," put down the wine glass in his hand, Professor Helfgort thought seriously for a while, and continued, "Science is the means to solve the problems we face, and the problems we face may be different, but one thing should be the same, and that is the tools for studying science." ”

"Whether it's natural science or applied technology, neither of them is inseparable from mathematics."

"So I think it's math."

Lu Zhou: "Then if you were that alien and now you want to discuss with me what to eat at noon tomorrow, what would you do?" ”

Helfgot leaned back in his chair and said with a smile.

"Me? I'll throw you two big prime numbers first...... Of course, not to throw them directly at you, but to multiply them together. If you can figure it out, at least ...... Tomorrow's lunch is not yours. ”

"Very interesting statement," amused by this humorous statement, Lu Zhou smiled and continued to ask, "And then?" ”

Herbgot: "And then? Unify weights and measures with our distance from each other? And then the periodic table? How to do this is a systematic subject, I remember it was called cosmic linguistics, and it seems that someone is working on this at the École Supérieure de Paris, but I don't know the professor very well......"

"Anyway, I think if you can communicate basically, everything will be fine. Maybe after we're sure we're not each other's lunch, we'll be able to exchange students. And once the exchange of cultures begins, it will soon be able to understand each other. ”

Speaking of which, Professor Herbgort paused for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and continued.

"And optimistically, if they decide to contact us and can reach out to us, most of them will know something about us, and maybe even have been observing us for a while. Whether it's an electromagnetic signal or a postcard from us, if they really want to communicate with us, they'll definitely think of a way. ”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned, and then said with a smile.

"To be honest, you can write science fiction with all your brains."

Herfgort laughed.

"Thank you for the compliment, but writing science fiction is not as interesting as studying mathematics, I'd better leave the opportunity to others!"

Lamp pen