After Christmas, Lu Zhou's trip back to China has entered the countdown.

There were less than three days left, and before returning to China, he planned to finish the matter at hand first, and save himself from having to worry about where to start when he came back here after the New Year.

The first is the issue of "the existence and smoothness of the solution of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation".

For Lu Zhou, this can be said to be the most important research topic in addition to the study of plasma turbulence phenomenon.

Since the establishment of the "NS Research Group", there has only been one discussion meeting on assignments, and now he is about to leave Princeton for a while. In order not to delay the progress of the research, he had to explain the situation to his co-research partner.

The next day, after Lu Zhou went to Nassau Hall to submit an application for a vacation, he went to the building of the mathematics department of Princeton University and found Professor Feverman's office.

When he arrived, Professor Feverman was discussing with his students next month's American Mathematical Society conference.

Looking at Lu Zhou, who appeared at the door of the office, Professor Feverman quickly noticed the fake slip pinched in his hand, so he smiled and said.

"Are you going back home?"

Lu Zhou: "Yes, compared to Christmas, the Spring Festival is our holiday, and I will probably wait until mid-February to come back after the New Year." ”

After listening to Lu Zhou's words, Professor Feverman nodded in agreement and said in a relaxed tone: "You really need a vacation to relax yourself, and it is rare for any scholar to push himself so hard and participate in so much research in such a short time." ”

"So hard?" Lu Zhou shook his head, "I don't feel like I'm pushing myself, it's better to say that research itself is a fun thing." ”

"I thought so when I was younger," Professor Fefferman laughs, "but now I've found that no matter how interesting a math problem is, it should be done in moderation." ”

Lu Zhou said speechlessly: "...... That's because you've got all the accolades you can get. ”

Just earlier this year, the Wolf Foundation announced the winners of the most influential mathematics prize, Professor Feverman.

In the field of mathematics, the Wolf Prize can be regarded as a kind of award similar to the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is mainly awarded to mathematicians over the age of 40 in recognition of their long-term contributions to the mathematical community.

As the youngest ever Fields Medal winner, Feverman was awarded the title of genius at a young age and now receives a high rating of the Lifetime Achievement Award in his later years. As far as the identity of a mathematician is concerned, it can be said that he has no regrets in his life.

"How so? There is no end to the prize, and I still lack an Abel Prize," said Professor Fefferman with a smirk, "Anyway, enjoy life now, I won't send you any email until February." ”

Lu Zhou: "What about the problem of the NS equation?" ”

Professor Feverman insisted: "Wait until after a month." ”

Seeing that he didn't plan to change his mind, Lu Zhou had to shrug his shoulders helplessly.

"Well, since you insist."

……

In addition to the research project in collaboration with Professor Feverman, the topic of the "Kadotani Conjecture" led by Lu Zhou himself has also come to an end with the completion of the paper.

Perhaps because the corresponding author hung Lu Zhou's name, or perhaps because of the attraction of the Kadotani conjecture itself to number theory enthusiasts, the paper published on Arxiv caused quite a stir in the number theory community.

Many people call the proof of Kakutani's conjecture another victory of the "group construction method".

And what surprised people the most was that this time it was not Lu Zhou who did it himself, but his three students......

On the morning of the 27th, there was still one day left before the return flight.

Sitting in the office of the Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou was reviewing the paper that Vera had handed in.

Although he has seen the whole certification process and there are no major problems, as their supervisor, he is obliged to help them carefully check and eliminate some minor problems in the details before the paper is officially submitted.

and, to determine the authorship of the paper.

As a general convention, the names of the three people are hung on the paper in order of contribution.

As for Lu Zhou, it is hung in the position of the fourth work and the corresponding author.

Of course, as their mentor, he certainly has the right to keep the results for himself, but as a disciplined boss, he certainly wouldn't do that.

The average tutor may be reluctant to pass on such results to his students, but for him, this is not the case.

The glory of a Kadotani conjecture is nothing more.

Even if you put it on him, it will be just icing on the cake at best.

In addition to the authorship of the paper, this kind of collaborative paper will generally indicate in the paper what work has been done by each author. Especially in the international arena, major research institutions pay more attention to this part than the simple ranking order of paper authors.

However, when reviewing the paper, Lu Zhou noticed that Vera did not subdivide these things, but just skipped this part with the sentence "These-authors-contributed-equally-to-this-ork".

According to the practice in academia, the addition of this sentence to the paper means that all the authors have the same contribution in the paper, and no one is superfluous.

This also means that regardless of whether or not an asterisk is added to the end of the name, all authors in the paper are considered to be co-authors.

"Is that really good?" After checking the paper from beginning to end, Lu Zhou cast an inquiring glance at Vera, who was standing across the desk, "It's not fair to you. ”

Although he was not directly involved in the follow-up research, as their mentor, Lu Zhou has been following the progress of their project.

For example, at the weekly discussion meetings, he would be present most of the time as long as he was in Princeton, and he would read the reports of the phased results carefully.

Excluding the help she provided to them, it is no exaggeration to say that Vera's contribution to the entire research project has reached more than 70%, and Qin Yue and Hardy have only accounted for the remaining 30%.

Vera shook her head and said softly, "I just like to study these issues, as for who has contributed more...... I think it's better not to divide it too thinly. ”

“…… Since you've said so, I respect your decision. Hearing her say this, Lu Zhou stopped persuading.

Qin Yue has done a lot of work, and Hardy is a little suspicious of picking up cheap, but Vera is willing to share the credit with them equally, and as a mentor, he won't say anything.

At most, I just felt a little sorry for her, she could have been rated higher.

After a pause, Lu Zhou put the paper on the table and watched Vera continue.

"According to the original agreement, I will help you apply for graduation. Around March or April, the diploma will be issued to you. If you plan to do a PhD with me, it's best to submit your application as soon as possible, and I'll be able to pass it. ”

For familiar students, the interview is just a formality, and he knows what his students are capable of.

After listening to Lu Zhou's instructions, Vera nodded earnestly as always.

"yes, I see!"