On the morning of August 1, 2018.

The venue was crowded.

As the largest and most important conference in the international mathematical community, the International Congress of Mathematicians is known as the Olympiad in mathematics. From 1897 to the present day, there has been no interruption except for two world wars.

As an international conference that provides a space for mathematicians from all over the world to communicate, discuss academic issues, meet old friends, and make new friends, each conference plays a pivotal role in the history of mathematics.

This year's conference is particularly special.

Not only because this is the first international congress of mathematicians to be held in the southern hemisphere, but also because of the millennial problem, this conference has received considerable attention from the beginning of its opening.

Dressed in formal clothes, they came to the vicinity of the venue, and in the corridor outside the venue, Lu Zhou happened to meet Professor Feverman, so the two entered the venue together.

Finding a less crowded position not far from the door, Lu Zhou looked at the table below.

It's just eight o'clock, and there's still an hour before the opening ceremony.

Feverman: "I heard that yesterday your country's CTV applied to the IMU for authorization to broadcast the conference live. ”

Lu Zhou glanced at the corner of the venue not far away, and from the row of horizontal columns composed of cameras, he saw the logo of Station C.

Perhaps noticing his gaze, the little guy with the camera was very witty and pointed the camera at his side.

Quickly retracting his gaze, Lu Zhou asked, "Is this rare?" ”

"Of course it's rare, at least for the first time in my image." Professor Feverman smiled and patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder, "How's it going, do you feel nervous?" ”

Lu Zhou thought for a while: "...... It's okay. ”

He even survived yesterday's briefing, and today is just an opening ceremony, and he doesn't need to do anything in particular.

As for Station C......

It's not the first time he's been on it.

Professor Feverman glanced at Lu Zhou in surprise: "Unbelievable, that's a media with 1.4 billion views, don't you feel it at all?" ”

Lu Zhou coughed lightly: "How can it be so exaggerated......"

“…… In fact, there's one more thing that might be important to you, but I'm not sure if to tell you. At this point, the expression on Feverman's face suddenly hesitated, as if he couldn't make up his mind whether to say it or not.

Lu Zhou: "What's the matter?" ”

Looking left and right to make sure no one was staring at this side, Feverman coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "Yesterday at the party, I heard an old friend talk about this year's Fields Medal. He revealed to me the names of the winners......"

Taken aback by this news, Lu Zhou looked at him in surprise.

It took a long time before he spoke.

“…… It's not good. ”

Professor Feverman said with a serious face, "It's really not good, so I hope you keep it a secret for me." ”

Lu Zhou looked left and right.

Although I knew I shouldn't ask, I still couldn't resist the curiosity in my heart.

“…… May I ask who's on the list? ”

Professor Feverman raised an eyebrow, "You really want to know?" ”

Lu Zhou nodded: "...... Well. ”

Lowering his voice, Feverman continued: "It's a shame your name isn't on it...... Although we all think that this year's Fields Medal belongs to you. ”

Lu Zhou: ???

Hold the grass?!

No way?

That's not enough for the Philippine Awards?!

At the moment when Lu Zhou was startled by these words, a familiar voice came from the side.

"Don't take his, no one can know the list of winners in advance until the list is announced, even if it's Feverman," said Professor Deligne, who walked over from the side with a blank face, and stared at him earnestly in front of him, mercilessly, "Or, who do you tell 'that friend'?" ”

Being stared at by Deligne, Feverman coughed dryly and quickly and subtly looked away: "Ahem, my dear Professor Deligne...... It's just a joke to liven up the atmosphere, please don't take it so seriously, otherwise don't you think life will be a lot less fun? ”

Lu Zhou was speechless: "...... You almost fooled me. ”

After a haha, Feverman patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't be so serious! Look, don't you feel a lot lighter now? ”

Lu Zhou: "Before you made this joke, I was very relaxed. ”

Stunned, Professor Feverman sighed: "Well, I apologize to you......"

……

Nine o'clock sharp.

The scholars in the venue took their seats one after another, and the 28th International Congress of Mathematicians officially kicked off.

Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Conference. Prof. Schivia Schiana and the President of the International Mathematical Union. Professor Shigenfumi Xisen delivered speeches at the opening ceremony on the stage, thanking the local organizers of the conference, thanking the new and old friends who came to participate in the conference, and announcing the opening of this mathematics conference.

After the opening ceremony, it was time for the awards.

At the moment of entering this link, the atmosphere of the meeting was immediately pushed to Gao Chao.

The first to be announced is the winner of the Gauss Prize, which awards achievements in the field of applied mathematics.

Professor David Donohue of Stanford University received the Gauss Prize for his fundamental contributions to the mathematical, statistical, and computational analysis of important problems in signal processing.

This is followed by the Chern Award, which has no field restrictions and is a Lifetime Achievement Award. This year's Chern Prize was awarded to Masaki Kashiwahara for his outstanding and foundational contributions to algebraic analysis and representation theory over the past 50 years.

Then there was the Rivarati Prize, which was awarded to a Turkish named Ali Nassin......

Finally, as the focus of the award ceremony and the highlight of the opening ceremony of the entire International Congress of Mathematicians, the International Mathematical Union (IMU) hosted the International Mathematical Union. The winners of the Fields Medal will be announced.

The vast majority of mathematical achievements are born under the age of 40, and the Fields Medal is the highest honor that a mathematician under the age of 40 can achieve, and is known as the Nobel Prize in the field of mathematics.

Although medals do not determine whether a scholar is great or not, the scholars who have won this medal are all super-first-class scholars who have influenced the development process of mathematics and are the mainstay of the academic community.

In the interims between the publication of this list.

Many people unconsciously held their breath and stared at the stage with burning eyes.

Especially those candidates who are expected to win the Philippine Prize.

Sitting in the center of the crowd, Zhang Wei looked solemn, and his fists clenched unconsciously.

Sophie Morel, who was sitting next to Molina, rubbed her index finger gently in front of her knee, not knowing if it was pure nervousness or praying.

and James Maynard from the United Kingdom, sitting in the corner of the venue with his arms crossed. The young analytic number theorist is also one of the top candidates for the Philippine Prize, although he once lost to someone else in the competition for the twin prime conjecture......

Perhaps sensing the heat of the audience's gaze, Professor Mori smiled kindly at the audience.

After clearing his throat, he read out the award speech of the first winner in a solemn and steady voice.

"He has a high level of knowledge in the understanding and application of mathematical methods, as well as a combination of extraordinary ambition and never-ending curiosity."

“…… From the Zhou-Lu theorem to the twin prime theorem, from the Polygnac-Lu theorem to the Goldbach-Lu theorem, his research on additive number theory has injected fresh blood into the ancient and great discipline of number theory and rejuvenated it. ”

"Not just number theory, but also functional analysis, group theory, topology, differential geometry, partial differential equations, ...... His work spans multiple disciplines, and the difficulty and contribution of this can no longer be described in a few words. ”

"I believe that this is not only the inspiration of genius, but also the condensation of countless sweats."

Mori Shigebun. Xi paused and announced in a solemn tone.

"The first winner is, Lu Zhou!"