With the development of the Young-Mills theory, physicists ambitiously attempted to use non-abelian group gauge theory to unify electromagnetic, nuclear, and gravitational forces, thus accomplishing their long-awaited great unification cause.

However, in quantum mechanics, each particle can be regarded as a special type of wave, so the property of "masslessness" has become the crux of the grand unification theory.

Experiments, computer simulations, and certain theoretical calculations have led physicists to believe that there must be a "mass gap" for vacuum excitation, i.e., there is no massless particle wave.

The nature of the mass gap also explains why the strong force can only work at such short distances.

This is where the "Young-Mills theory and the mass gap hypothesis" come from, but no one has yet been able to obtain a general solution to the Young-Mills equation to rigorously prove the critical property of the "mass gap".

Today, Wednesday, the sun is shining and Sebastian, a PhD student in Princeton's Department of Mathematics, declares that he has solved the "Yang-Mills theory and the mass gap hypothesis."

Professor Witten smiled wordlessly, thinking it funny.

Shen Qixin said, yes, Professor Witten can't solve the problem, you can do it as a doctoral student? What kind of international jokes?

"What kind of math problems best represent the challenge of understanding quantum field theory?" Witten asked several PhD students.

Sebastian replied: "Being central in physics represents the difficulty of QFT. ”

Shen Qi added: "And mathematically important. ”

Witten nodded, "For me, a notable problem with the above points is to prove the solvability of the quantum Yang-Mills theory with a tight, single non-abelian Lie group G as the gauge group above the fourth power of Re, and the correctness of the mass gap hypothesis. ”

"But Sebastian, the pile of symbols you wrote on the blackboard represents only one of a thousand mathematical treatments, and does little to prove the mass gap hypothesis. But then again, you've made an effort to get a deeper understanding of QFT, QED, and QCD before challenging the quality gap assumption. Professor Witten criticized Sebastian a few times, and then encouraged him as well.

It is possible to objectively and fairly deny students' research results, but not to devastatingly discourage their academic enthusiasm.

QFT is quantum field theory, QED is quantum electrodynamics, QCD stands for quantum chromodynamics, the three Qs are very difficult, under the premise of a deep understanding of the three Qs, and with super mathematical processing skills, it is possible to solve the "Yang-Mills theory and mass gap hypothesis".

By solving the "Yang-Mills theory and the mass gap hypothesis", the unification of physics has been successful at the theoretical level, and it is not yet possible to evaluate what kind of application breakthroughs it will bring.

This is where the millennial conundrum of the Yang-Mills theory and the quality gap hypothesis comes in.

Sebastian was frustrated by Professor Witten's criticism, but he still raised his proud head: "I will continue to work hard, and within five years I will completely solve the 'Yang-Mills theory and the quality gap hypothesis', yes, I believe I can do it." Chris is going to be working with me, and he recently published a paper in Acta Mathematica Sinica, and if I were 'Yang', then Chris would be 'Mills'. ”

"We're here to help, Sebastian. Chris said.

Sebastian shook his head, "It's not me, it's us." ”

Every Wednesday, pretend to be B day, life is endless, and pretend to be B.

Today's forcing was pretended by Sebastian and Chris, which gave Shen Qi a sense of urgency.

Although Sebastian's research on the "Young-Mills theory and the quality gap hypothesis" is full of holes, he has already begun to attempt to attack this significant millennial conundrum, which requires courage.

Chris's claim that he is about to solve the Goldbach conjecture 1+1 problem is also a big fool.

However, being able to publish a paper in Acta Mathematica Sinica, one of the Big Four, shows that Chris has strong mathematical skills, and at least he has begun to tackle Cochai 1+1.

Basic theoretical research is like this, and in countless whimsical and even absurd reveries, you may encounter the correct and fascinating answer at any time.

The people around him are all very hard-working, and they also have ambitions and ambitions, Shen Qi doesn't dare to underestimate Sebastian and Chris, maybe these two guys will really hit the luck one day.

Before the famous scientists became famous, many of them were unknowns, such as Albert Einstein, who worked at a patent office in Bern, Switzerland, in the year he published his quantum theory, and was a regular technician. A few years later, the year Einstein turned 26 known as the "Year of Einstein's Miracle."

Sebastian and Chris went to another small table with coffee to continue the conversation, and Witten came to Shen Qi's table and asked, "Qi, what have you been busy with lately?"

"Drafting a history of number theory, as well as preparing for the doctoral graduation defense. Shen Qi felt that today's pressure was not good, everyone guessed the Yang-Mi equation and his brother, but his own research was bland.

"Odd, among these PhD students, you should be the first to get a PhD. Witten looked at Jonas, and then at Sebastian and Chris, who weren't far away.

"I think so. Jonas said.

"Perhaps. Shen Qi said.

Witten asked, "What are your plans for work after graduating from your Ph.D.?"

Shen Qi smiled: "It depends on whether Princeton is willing to hire me." ”

Witten beckoned to Director Charles Peverman on the couch, and Director Feverman came over and sat down.

Witten pointed at Shen Qi and said, "Charles, he needs a job at Princeton." ”

"Strange, then you have to start as a lecturer in the mathematics department. Peverman said.

"Of course, I know the rules. Shen Qi, who is already a teaching assistant, knows the process well, and the step-by-step promotion of lecturers, associate professors, and professors takes time and performance. Yun Wei and Tao Zhexuan, the record-breaking youngest professors, have all gone through the stage of lecturers and associate professors.

"To become a lecturer, you need to have the academic ability to teach a class on your own, so please tell me, which course do you have the strongest strength in?" Director Feverman asked lightly.

In many cases, the interview before the appointment and dismissal of the mathematics department is held during the coffee hour, which seems to be nonsense, but in fact it is a hidden test.

Shen Qi replied: "In fact, I have learned a lot, and the ten papers I published as an undergraduate involve the fields of differential calculus, integral science, series theory, linear algebra, cohomology algebra, Euler-Poisson equations, etc., which can be classified into three branches of mathematics, namely mathematical analysis, algebra, and mathematical physics methods. ”

"During my time at Princeton, I published four papers, namely the Walsh conjecture proof, two articles on group theory, and the 'Miller-Shen theorem' in Bachner space, which in turn involved three branches, namely number theory, abstract algebra, and functional analysis. There is also a paper on Shen's nearness theorem that is currently under review, and it also belongs to functional analysis in the general direction. ”

"Last semester I took a non-Euclidean geometry tutorial class for second-year students, non-Euclidean geometry is a branch of geometry, and I tutored quite well, with 12 students having the highest comprehensive results in non-Euclidean geometry in the same period of the second year. Shen Qi's statement of objective facts can be regarded as an overview of his professional expertise in the interview.

"So, Charles, Edward, I'm also distressed that the seven branches of mathematics listed above contain a total of thirty-two sub-courses, and I think I have the ability to teach them individually. Shen Qi shook his head helplessly, miscellaneous studies, he didn't know who to choose one of the thirty-two?

Director Peverman fell into deep thought: "It is indeed rare for an all-round prospective doctor of mathematics to be strange. What do you think, Edward?"