The Food Club is one of Princeton's many campus cultures, and in layman's terms, it is the "cafeteria" located on both sides of Prospect Avenue. With-Dream- . lā

Of course, this is just a layman's saying, and the difference between these clubs and canteens is still very big. In particular, those run by student groups are often more xenophobic.

For example, the children of Boston's aristocracy usually don't allow hillbillies from Texas to join their clubs, unless the person is really good and at least has to achieve something in a certain field.

It is precisely because of this that you can even roughly infer the class a person is in from where he eats.

Probably the most famous of all the clubs are the Ivy League Club and the Tiger Shop, which until the 1991 court verdict came down, they didn't even admit female members, picking only what they considered to be the elite.

Lu Zhou didn't think too much about it at the time, but he heard that the food in the Ivy League Club was very good, and you could eat as much as you wanted with the annual membership fee of $5,000, and there was an unlimited supply of coffee in the afternoon, so he went to sign up.

Then, after being told some precautions such as dining etiquette, he passed inexplicably.

He had thought that he, like everyone else, would try to get himself admitted to the club through debate, the traditional and age-old way of Princeton.

In fact, when you think about it, this activity is quite interesting and can exercise your eloquence.

But now it seems that this society is really not generally tolerant of capable people.

At this moment, sitting across from him was one of the senior members of the Ivy League, a Ph.D. student in history named David Lawrence.

Lawrence is a very common surname in the United States, probably equivalent to Zhao Liuwang Wu in Huaguo. But in a place like Princeton, especially when the man was from Boston and was white, the surname Lawrence could not help but evoke the idea of a family tied to a chariot with Kennedy......

The reason why Lu Zhou entered this club so smoothly was because of the help of David Lawrence.

For people of different nationalities and cultures, Lu Zhou has no prejudice, and the two have unexpectedly compatible personalities, so they naturally become friends.

At the same time, this is also the first friend Lu Zhou met after coming to Princeton.

Two days have passed since he became a graduate student of Professor Deligne, and Lu Zhou is still choosing between those two options.

In the evening, after listening to a lecture, he came to the Ivy League Club for dinner.

It just so happened that David Lawrence was there, and the two sat down to dine together.

The two happened to talk about their plans after graduation, and David Lawrence smiled and talked to him.

"Are you interested in working in investment banking after you graduate? If you're planning to do so, I can recommend you a few good places. ”

Lu Zhou: "I'm not interested in employment, I prefer to do research. ”

David smiled and said, "Really? But don't you think it's exciting to use your mathematical knowledge to make a name for yourself in the financial markets? And maybe there will be a chance to touch the Nobel Prize medal. ”

Lu Zhou also smiled and said in a casual tone: "I haven't studied financial mathematics, but since you are so interested in finance, why don't you choose a finance major instead of history?" ”

Fingers flicked the wine glass boringly, a touch of melancholy appeared in David's eyes, and he sighed softly: "I don't want to come here either, my first choice is actually an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, but my dad stubbornly sent me here because this is his alma mater and my father's alma mater...... At first, I studied math like you, but it was so hard for me that I had to study history instead. ”

Feeling the frequent sideways gaze of the girls next to him, Lu Zhou, who was using a knife and fork to break down the steak, also sighed subtly.

This benevolent brother is good everywhere, but he is a little bad, and he looks a little handsome.

Even with Lu Zhou's strict and critical eyes, he has to admit that his appearance is on par with himself.

"It seems that every family has a scripture that is difficult to read...... But doesn't Princeton have an MBA program? ”

"No," David smiled and shook his head, "not to mention the MBA program, this is the only place in the Ivy League that doesn't have a business school." ”

However, the strange thing is that although there is no business school here, there are many business geniuses.

For example, the founders of Amazon and the like were born in Princeton.

The reason why Princeton can be called the "headhunting company" of the academic community is that half of it is naturally attracted by its academic background and atmosphere, and the other half is because of the alumni association with deep pockets behind it.

While the two were chatting, a lady in a long black dress walked over.

Noticing that her gaze was obviously not looking at herself, David Lawrence seemed to understand something, so he smiled and said, "Looks like you have a date?" Then I won't bother you. ”

“…… No, it's okay if you're sitting here. ”

Knowing that he had obviously misunderstood something, Lu Zhou tried to explain.

However, David clearly did not listen to his explanation, and instead squeezed his eyebrows at him.

"Haha, I'm not so confused, and I'm almost done, I wish you a happy meal."

With that, he got up and walked away, taking the plate with him.

“……”

Lu Zhou looked at the direction he left speechlessly, sighed, and then looked at Miss Molina, who was sitting opposite him, and asked softly, "Then Miss Molina, is there something wrong?" ”

Molina didn't talk nonsense, stared into his eyes, and said straight to the point.

"Well, I know you chose Professor Deligne...... But aren't you interested in our subject at all? ”

Hearing her words, Lu Zhou sighed.

Of course, he knew what the subject she was talking about was.

She had invited him before she had returned home last time.

It's just that he didn't expect that it was not only her who went crazy, but even her mentor was just as abnormal.

Lu Zhou: "Your subject is completely detached from reality, just like building a house in the sky...... Let me think, to prove the Riemann hypothesis, you first have to build a whole new theoretical framework, and then use it to solve some similar problems. ”

Molina said in an excited tone, "We're doing this! ”

Lu Zhou: "Did you succeed?" ”

Molina shook her head, hesitated, and said, "...... It's almost there! ”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "That's not yet?" ”

In fact, it is not that he can't understand why her mentor, Sophie Morel, is so impatient.

The International Congress of Mathematicians is still two years away and the 18th anniversary is away, but there are only four places for the Fields Medal, and two of them have already been booked.

One is Peter Schultz, whose "theory" is one of the most promising mathematical frameworks in algebraic geometry today. In contrast, the work of other candidates is more like "problem solving", but the problem is bigger or smaller.

For the mathematical community, under all equal conditions, the tools created in solving problems are more important than the problems themselves. In particular, this person who has already won the Philippine Prize (European Mathematical Society Award, similar to the Lasker Prize for the Nobel Prize in Medicine), plus the recognition of the Cole Prize, there is basically no suspense.

The other is Lu Zhou, the prover of the Polygnac-Lu theorem. He didn't create a whole new mathematical framework similar to "theory", but he did solve a lot of headaches.

Especially with the weight of the Polygnac conjecture, a Fields Medal is well deserved.

"Authoritative" international awards, such as Fields, are selected based on merit, regardless of seniority, and only on achievements, which is why Perelman, a well-known "savage" in mathematics, was awarded the Fields Medal because of Poincaré's conjecture (although he did not receive it).

Before that, he had already annoyed many people for refusing to accept the prize, especially the European Mathematical Society, which awarded him the Young Mathematician Award.

Counting the two bigwigs who have already been scheduled to win the award, there are only two controversial spots left, such as Fernando Marquez, a Brazilian guy who was poached by Princeton with her. Marques), also a popular candidate, and the fact that the 18-year Congress of Mathematicians was confirmed to be held in Brazil is even more interesting.

In addition, Jody Williamson (Geordie illiamson), who also won the EMS Award, the wind vane of the Philippine Awards, and Maria Vyazovska, the "goddess of Ukrainian mathematics" who also bears the halo of female mathematicians, and Marna. Viazovska), there are too many great gods.

If Sophie Morel can make a little contribution to the Riemann conjecture, even if it is to update Conrey's "critical line theorem" from 40% to 50% to what Molina said when she was at the airport, it will add a lot of chips to her.

However, Lu Zhou didn't understand why Mo Lina was so impatient.

For her, the Filipino Award is still a distant thing......

The index finger brushed the long hair between her ears, Mo Lina stared at Lu Zhou, and said in a firm tone: "My mentor and I can solve this problem for a lifetime, and I didn't plan to produce results in a few years." ”

Is the obsession so deep?

Lu Zhou put down his knife and fork, wiped his hands with a napkin, and said, "That'...... You guys stay together, don't pull me, I have my own business to do. ”

Molina raised her eyebrows, "Professor Deligne's subject?" ”

Lu Zhou smiled.

Speaking of which, this meeting, Molina didn't bring him inspiration or anything like that, but it did bring him a little inspiration.

Just as he has been struggling with the double choice question thrown to him by Professor Deligne for the past two days, he is also facing two difficult and tempting questions in the Goldbach conjecture. People's choice.

Is it a large sieve method or a round method?

Both paths seem to have reached the final step, but they will always be only a little bit short.

In that case......

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou's eyes brightened slightly.

After a pause, he spoke.

Goldbach's conjecture."

This time, he used an affirmative tone.

Molina was stunned for a moment, then suddenly snorted and couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Sorry...... It's not that I doubt your abilities, I just can't hold back. It seems that I really didn't look away, and you're a crazy guy too. ”

After a pause, Molina continued to ask in a teasing tone, "Are you going to use the big sieve method?" Or is it the circle method? ”

Hearing this question, the corners of Lu Zhou's mouth hooked up a smile.

"Neither."