"Mathematical physics, a magical and wonderful world. Mueller nodded in praise and expressed satisfaction with Shen Qi's choice of Depth.

"And what about the auxiliary directions?" asked Müller again.

According to the practice of the Department of Mathematics of the University of Mathematics, after students choose their main direction, they also need to determine an auxiliary research direction, namely Breath.

In addition to mathematical physics, Professor Muller also has certain strength in algebraic geometry, number theory, group theory, etc.

Shen Qi immediately made a decision: "I choose algebraic geometry as the auxiliary direction. ”

"Algebraic geometry, a magical and wonderful world. Muller nodded in praise and expressed satisfaction with Shen Qi's choice of Breath.

The old German man's English vocabulary is limited, and the two English words magic and wonderful appear frequently in his discourse.

"Mathematics, physics and algebraic geometry are very esoteric fields, and I admire your courage, young man. "The first meeting between Müller and Shen Qi took place in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere.

"I also admire Mr. Müller's knowledge and scholarship, after all, you are a well-known professor of mathematical physics and algebraic geometry. Shen Qi said.

"Originally, I thought you would choose number theory. Mueller said.

Shen Qi replied: "My girlfriend is studying number theory, and I can't rob her of her job." ”

"And for a very good reason! what a magical and wonderful couple. Professor Müller gave a thumbs up to Shen Qi, whose personality was less like a German and more like a French or Italian.

"Have a cup of coffee, do you want to add sugar?" Mueller picked up the coffee pot and invited Shen Qi to drink coffee, and the conversation was very pleasant.

"Ordinary drinking water was fine, thank you. Shen Qi said politely, "I just arrived in the United States, and I'm not used to drinking coffee. ”

"Well, plain water is healthier. Mueller poured Shen Qi a glass of boiled water.

Shen Qi had never seen such an amiable and casual German.

Of course, Shen Qi has not seen many Germans, and when he was studying at Yan University, he saw a German student with a stereotypical poker face, rigorous and self-disciplined.

"Professor Mueller, what should I do next?" asked Shen Qi.

Mueller operated the computer to type in Shen Qi's information, and after a while said, "You need to get 45 credits per semester, and when you get 225 credits, you can have a master's degree in mathematics at Princeton." Then you can choose to do my PhD, or do a PhD from another supervisor. ”

"So I need to spend five semesters getting enough credits. ”

"It usually doesn't take that long, but three to four semesters to get a master's degree is the average time. The fastest record here is held by Tao and Yun, both of whom took two semesters to get their master's degree and then pursue a PhD. Shen, you should have heard of Tao and Yun, right?"

"Of course. Shen Qi nodded, Tao is Tao Zhexuan, and Yun is his senior brother Yun Wei.

I met with my supervisor, chose Depth and Breath, and needed to complete 225 graduate credits as soon as possible, and then pursue a PhD and get a PhD.

Shen Qi knew very well what he should do next.

The Department of Mathematics has recruited 12 graduate students this fall, three from the United States and nine from nine different countries around the world.

The Princeton Department of Mathematics recruits students very strictly, and only recruits so many graduate students in one season, and Shen Qi is the only one in China who comes here to study for graduate school.

The 12 graduate students in the Department of Mathematics who entered this fall were all boys, not a single girl.

Princeton is strict in recruiting students, and even more strict in recruiting girls.

I didn't expect the phenomenon of patriarchy to appear in the United States, which has always prided itself on democracy and equality, and Princeton, which is ranked No.1 in the United States.

Whether it is an undergraduate, a graduate student, or a doctoral student, if she is a girl, then she must be very good, world-class excellent.

Shen Qi and the graduate students of the Department of Mathematics who enrolled at the same time all have supervisors, and they also need to attend classes.

Neither of these methods can complete the required 225 graduate credits by simply taking classes, taking exams, or only doing projects and writing papers.

The combination of attending classes + writing a dissertation is a task that graduate students in the Department of Mathematics will complete, with a maximum of five semesters and a minimum of one semester (theoretically).

The current fastest record is two semesters, which is held by Tao Zhexuan and Yun Wei.

Designed by the famous Chinese architect I.M. Pei, Spelman Hall is a teaching building where most of the graduate students in the Department of Mathematics take place

Algebraic Geometry is being taught in one of the classrooms in Spelman Hall, and there are 10 students sitting in the classroom, all of whom are graduate students in the mathematics department.

Shen Qi was also here, and this was his first lesson after arriving at Princeton.

Algebraic geometry is Shen Qi's Breath, and he has a direction to listen to this course.

The ten graduate students in the classroom have different years and seasons of admission.

There is no strict distinction between the first and second graduate students, they are all tutor systems, and graduate students can listen to whatever lectures they want to listen to according to their actual needs.

"As we all know, for an m-order algebraic surface with isolated multi-focus and ordinary multi-focus straight lines, a certain m-4 surface should act as an m-3 adjoining curve for the m-order curve. The professor of algebraic geometry pauses at this point, taps on the blackboard, and says, "What should we do if we are going to keep this double integral finite on the two-dimensional domain of a four-dimensional surface?"

Professors ask questions, students discuss, this is the teaching model of Princeton.

"It is clear that Q is a polynomial of the m-4th order and Q=0 is an adjoining surface. A Canadian graduate student said.

"I would like to add that by a multiline of f=0, there is a multiline of at least k-1 at every k-order multiline of f=0. An Israeli graduate student added.

"Oh, that's a beautiful statement. The professor applauded, he was Romanian.

There is a professor + 10 students in the classroom, and there is only one American among them, which is a characteristic of the mathematics department of the University, and there are more foreigners than Americans.

Masters, they are all masters, Shen Qi smiled slightly, Canadians and Israelis have very fast heads, quick thinking, rigorous logic, and said everything I wanted to say.

"Then I'll add that. Shen Qi was not willing to be lonely, "The first type of double integral is similar to the first type of Abel integral, we only need to substitute N=m-4 into it." ”

"Very good!" the Romanian professor praised Shen Qi and asked, "Child, what's your name?"

"Shen Qi. ”

After listening to this algebraic geometry class, Shen Qi immediately went to listen to the analysis of N-S equations, which is a course in the field of mathematical physics.

"Your answer is perfect, what's your name?" asked the professor of the N-S equation.

"Shen Qi. ”

Then, Shen Qi went to listen to the class of number theory, because there were no other lectures on mathematical physics and algebraic geometry today.

"What's your name?"

"Shen Qi. ”

"What's your name?"

"Shen Qi. ”

......

More than a week after the start of the semester, Shen Qi listened to all the courses that graduate students in the Department of Mathematics could listen to, he listened carefully, actively participated in class discussions, rarely made mistakes, and his views were clear and logical, which left a deep impression on the professors of many courses.