In an activity room in the Princeton University Library.

Pushing open the door and quickly breaking in, Vera threw herself on the table with a happy face, and whimpered with her mouth open for a long time, and finally said a complete sentence.

"He's working on the Riemann hypothesis!"

Mo Lina, who was sitting at the desk and calculating, didn't look up at all, because even if she didn't look up, she could imagine what kind of "nymphomaniac" expression this guy had on his face at this moment.

"That paper on Arxiv? I already know, what's all the fuss about......"

It is better to say that it is precisely because of this that the sense of urgency in Molina's heart has become stronger.

The problem that was targeted by that person had never missed, even the NS equation and the Yang Mills equation, which were both millennial puzzles, fell in front of him.

Even because he has become an academic leader, he has rarely appeared in the mathematical community over the years, and has not participated in various large and small academic conferences, but the mathematical community has never forgotten the legend about him.

Even today, there are "myths" about him circulating on Princeton's campuses.

There is no doubt that Lu Zhou is a formidable opponent.

She had been struggling with this conjecture for years, and if she was finally taken out on the top by Lu Zhou, she wasn't sure if she would break down......

"Molina......

Looking at Vera strangely, Molina blinked a little inexplicably, "What's wrong?" ”

Vera smiled shyly and asked, "Where do you think he's already researched?" ”

Looking at the two red clouds floating on her fair cheeks, Molina said with a headache, "How would I know? Why don't you just ask him? I remember you had his email address. ”

"I'm ......" Playing with her index finger with some trepidation, Vera blushed and dodged Molina's gaze, looking at the ivy hanging from the edge of the window, "...... I'm not worthy of him now. ”

No more!

Ahh

With her hands propped up on the table, Molina stood up suddenly, put her hands on Vera's shoulders, and stared at her evasive gaze seriously.

"Listen, my dear Miss Puyuy, although I know that he is your idol and even your ideal lover, you must be clear that he is now our opponent! It's our enemy! You must not do this-"

Molina was only halfway through her sentence when Vera interrupted without hesitation.

"I won't be his enemy!"

In that elk-like eyes, the confusion was rarely dispelled by firmness.

“…… Okay, I'll put it another way," Clapped her palm on her forehead, and Molina pondered for a long time, and finally her eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers and said, "Didn't you have an agreement with him about the Fields Medal?" ”

“！”

Upon hearing this, Vera's expression suddenly became nervous.

Keenly capturing this moment, the corners of Molina's mouth curled up into a smile, patted the little girl's shoulder and continued.

"Come on, if we solve the Riemann conjecture, let alone the Fields Medal, it will be more than enough to win Fils's medal 10 times."

Holding her breath, Vera clenched her fists lightly and muttered something to herself.

"If I solve the Riemann conjecture...... He'll notice me. ”

Giving the little girl an encouraging look, Molina said in an affirmative tone, "That's right, it's not just him, the whole world will notice you." ”

Vera's face turned even redder, and she looked down at her toes, smiling a little shyly.

"All, the whole world will be counted......"

"It's enough for him."

……

For the mathematical community, where gossip is relatively scarce, it is naturally extraordinary news that a famous figure like Lu Zhou began to study the Riemann conjecture. From the Mathoverflow math interactive website to the campus of Princeton University, the news that Professor Lu is working on the Riemann hypothesis has become almost the hottest topic of the moment.

It's not just the students who are keen to talk, but the professors are no exception.

And such a big event, naturally, could not escape the ears of Professor Feverman, the head of the Department of Mathematics.

Almost as Vera was pleasantly surprised to tell Molina the news, Professor Feverman also arrived at Professor Deligne's office with a printed copy of the paper.

When he arrived at the office, Deligne was sitting at his desk, calculating something on scratch paper.

Noticing the footsteps at the door, the bright-headed old man raised his eyelids slightly, glanced at the stack of papers in Professor Feverman's hand, and then withdrew his gaze and said with a calm expression.

"I'm guessing you're holding that preprint of that guy hanging on Arxiv."

"Looks like you've already read it," Professor Feverman said, making a helpless expression as he tossed the paper he had just printed, "I didn't expect you to be so well-informed." ”

"I'm still open to new things, at least the Internet I've been using for twenty years......" Pushing the glasses on the bridge of his nose, Professor Deligne looked away from the scratch paper on the desk, "That's what you're here for?" ”

"What do you mean by that?" Professor Feverman made a look of disbelief and joked in a witty tone, "Haven't you heard of that legend?" Whoever proves the Riemann hypothesis will be immortal—not just in the abstract, but in the practical sense. ”

The legend comes from a long, long time ago, probably at the end of the 19th century, when the French mathematician Hadamard and the Belgian mathematician Poussin made the first substantial progress since the Riemann hypothesis was proposed, respectively, and then lived to be 98 and 96 years old, respectively.

At that time, when medical conditions were not abundant, it was quite amazing to be able to live to the age of nearly 100 years. Therefore, there is also a saying that has been circulated for a long time, that is, whoever can prove the Riemann hypothesis can be immortal in the physical sense.

Of course, this is just a joke, and it's been teased for almost a century.

Hearing this old joke, Deligne snorted twice with his nose, glanced at the corner of his mouth and said.

“…… This is all an old stalk from hundreds of years ago, and some people still believe it. Bohr and Landa, who proved the Bohr-Landau theorem, contributed much more than Hadamard, and if I'm not mistaken, two people died in their sixties. ”

"Well, it seems that God doesn't favor everyone," Professor Feverman continued, smiling softly and shrugging his shoulders, "and these strange legends aside, don't you find his paper interesting?" ”

Professor Deligne: "I refuse to comment until the formal proof paper is out. ”

Professor Feverman smiled and said, "I don't mean to ask if you are optimistic about him, I'm just a little curious about the idea that he mentioned in his paper to solve the Riemann zeta function by starting with the π(x) function." I tried to follow his train of thought, but I didn't find any interesting clues...... I'm curious, how do you think he would solve this problem? ”

Professor Feverman: "What do you think he would do?" ”

Professor Deligne glanced at him: "You and he used to work together on the NS equation, don't you know him yet?" ”

Professor Feverman made a helpless expression: "In fact, I know very little about him, and he is used to being alone, both in life and in work. ”

Hearing this, Professor Deligne pondered for a moment.

Probably caught up in his memory, and it took five minutes before he spoke slowly.

"The Riemann conjecture is not the kind of problem that can be solved by finding a direction, in fact, I can name at least ten or more research ideas that may solve this problem, but so far none of them have really given me hope. The π(x) function is a relatively new idea, but it's only 90% new, and you know, it's not like no one has tried it before. ”

Professor Feverman nodded.

It wasn't the first time he'd heard someone try this direction, and he had even shared similar ideas with people in the café restaurant downstairs.

"He's a scholar who works with tools, but he's also a scholar who creates tools. Whether or not he gets something out of the π(x) function, I'm sure he'll be able to find a suitable tool for us to solve this problem. ”

Professor Feverman: "Group construction? ”

"Not necessarily," said Professor Deligne, with a rare smile on his face, "at any rate this is a problem that has plagued the mathematical community for a century and a half, and perhaps he will tailor a new method for it, which will help us better understand and use the Riemann zeta function." ”

After a pause, he continued.

"Next year's International Congress of Mathematicians seems to be looking forward to it."

Professor Feverman shrugged his shoulders and said, "He doesn't have to come." ”

Deligne shook his head.

"Trust me, he'll come."