Princeton University.

The café on the second floor of the building on the side of the boulevard usually chooses to have a drink here, exchange academic issues with peers, or hold a book to read quietly, or simply enjoy the quiet moment of the afternoon.

Ever since settling down in Princeton, Edward Witten has been a regular here.

For this physicist, who once won the Fields Medal, and is only a thin line away from the Nobel Prize, most of the students here respect him from the bottom of their hearts, and many of them will take the initiative to greet him warmly after meeting him, or ask some physics problems that are too obscure for beginners.

Whenever he encountered these things, the old gentleman was very happy to answer.

In Princeton, where there are so many strong people, he and Professor Feverman are one of the few masters who are approachable and have no good standings.

One day, after the lecture, Professor Witten came here as usual, ordered a cup of coffee and sat by the window, spread out the notes taken out of his pocket, but suddenly saw an unexpected person walking up from the staircase.

"Angus?" His eyes widened in a little surprise, he closed the slightly old notebook spread out on the table, and looked at Professor Angus who was walking towards him, and Witten quipped, "My friend, why did you come back so soon?" ”

"Because I've got the answer I'm looking for," Leaned the crutches he carried with him against the table, Professor Angus sat down slowly across from Witten, paused for a moment, and said, "You're right, although I didn't talk to him for more than an hour, I did benefit a lot." ”

Professor Witten smiled, "Oh? Can you share with me your takeaways? ”

"Their generation of scholars is more optimistic than we are, and their ideas are unique. I used to be pessimistic that the world was probably over, but now I have a new perspective. ”

"I'm glad you've gained something," Witten said softly, glancing at the time on his watch, "I still have a physics class in a while, so I won't accompany you." ”

"Go ahead...... Speaking of which, when did you first become interested in undergraduates? Professor Angus asked, giving him a strange look.

"Because life has an end...... I think you're right, we're going to have a long sleep, but there's something we can pass on," Witten smiled, finished the rest of his coffee, put down the cup in his hand, and continued softly, "Maybe one day in the future, one of my students will be able to see for me the unity of the four fundamental forces and the string that makes up our world." ”

Professor Angus smiled maliciously, "Maybe they're all farts." ”

Witten smiled and said, "Haha, maybe!" Positive or negative, it's an answer for me...... Speaking of, do you want to make a bet? ”

Professor Angus: "No problem, but the question is, what are you going to bet on?" It doesn't matter if there is money in heaven or not, and even if I win, it will not be good. ”

Witten joked, "I think there will be, after all, we send so many economists up." ”

"Then we'll talk about it then!"

Witten is gone.

Professor Angus remained in the café and continued to sit, only with one less person to talk to.

Quietly looking out the window at the campus, looking at the students walking downstairs through the tree-lined path, he was a little distracted for a while.

After a long time, he slowly pulled a crumpled notebook from his bosom.

This is his memo, because he occasionally forgets things when he is old, so he often carries such a thing with him, and whenever he wonders if he has forgotten something important, he will turn it over and look at it.

In addition to recording such daily chores as "paying bills" and "fixing the faucet", he would occasionally write down his usual sudden inspiration on it to prevent it from slipping through his thinning silver hair......

Staring at the blank page on the paper, Professor Angus pondered for a long time, the tip of the pen in his hand trembling gently above the note like a rusty dagger.

After a while, he seemed to have figured out something, and his eyebrows relaxed.

“…… It is not correct to speculate about the future with the methods of the past, what the future needs is the methods of the future, and ...... Thinking beyond reality. ”

muttering something that others didn't understand, he scribbled a line on the blank note.

【Economics of the Universe】

After a pause, he crossed it out with his pen and rewrote a new line, whispering to himself.

[Sociology of the Future]

"The name sounds more interesting......"

Great ideas are often born out of casual thinking.

In this way, a doctrine that had a great influence on later generations was born inadvertently......

……

Just the second week after seeing off Professor Angus, Lu Zhou heard an interesting rumor.

A professor of economics named Angus Deaton, Princeton has a new course called "Sociology of the Future." This course does not teach any specific theoretical knowledge, only a thought about the future.

Although the name may sound a bit strange to mention, many students signed up because the course was run by a Nobel laureate.

Professor Angus, who allegedly taught the course, was working on a book on the subject.

Although the specific content has not been made public, according to an old friend of his who has seen the manuscript, this academic work with a serious title is more like a science fiction book without a protagonist than an academic monograph, and it is quite boring to read.

However, the old friend also said that some of the ideas put forward in it are very interesting, and maybe they can really come in handy in the future......

These interesting facts are all known by Lu Zhou from students who teach in Princeton.

Over the years, Qin Yue has become a professor from a lecturer, and Hadi, who returned to teach at the University of São Paulo in Brazil early, has also mixed well, and even became one of several academic leaders of the local school of number theory...... Of course, this may also have something to do with the fact that the "serious bias" Brazilian mathematical community is not good at number theory research.

As for Vera, she is said to be working with Molina of the Institute for Advanced Study to challenge the Riemann conjecture, the highest crown of mathematics. It doesn't matter whether there is a result or not, that timid girl can show the courage to challenge the problem of the century, which is already a very gratifying thing in itself.

and Wei Wen, who is about to get a doctorate from Princeton, and Jericho, who was recruited by the Institute of Computational Materials at MIT......

Overall, several of his students are doing quite well.

As their professor, Lu Zhou is also very pleased.

After replying to an email to Qin Yue, who sent the mail, just as Lu Zhou was lazy and was about to go up to Arxiv to see if there were any interesting math papers, the silence of the office was suddenly broken by a knock on the door.

Clearing his throat, Lu Zhou spoke.

"Please come in."

The door was gently pushed open, and Wang Peng, who had a serious face, walked in quickly.

Seeing his expression, Lu Zhou didn't have time to ask, "What's wrong", he took the first step to speak.

"Bad news!"

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

"What happened?"

Wang Peng hesitated for half a second, and said in a heavy tone.

"Biosphere A was attacked by unidentified armed forces, and according to information from local forces, heavy losses were ......"

Unknown Armed Forces...... Raid?

Damn?!

When Lu Zhou heard this, he subconsciously grabbed the armrests and stood up from the office chair suddenly.

"Are you alright?"

Wang Peng: "All the militants have been killed in the crossfire, and the researchers and foreign experts present are safe...... At present, it has been transferred to a nearby city for resettlement. Local forces have been urgently dispatched to block all roads in the immediate area, and the background of the militants and the channels of entry are being investigated, but ......"

Lu Zhou just breathed a sigh of relief, and his heartbeat that finally slowed down was raised again because of the word "but".

"But?"

Wang Peng continued in a heavy tone.

“…… The loss of biosphere A is said to be severe. ”