Hearing this, Professor Deligne was slightly stunned, and then asked with some surprise, "Do you want to double cultivate?" ”

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "When I was studying in China, I studied mathematics and physics, and got a double degree certificate from NTU, I am also very interested in physics, and I hope to be able to get in touch with this knowledge during my study at Princeton." ”

Professor Deligne thought for a moment and continued: "Princeton does not support dual degrees, and here, you can only choose one subject as your major path. ”

"If you are also interested in physics, then I suggest you follow the path of mathematical physics."

"Professor Edward Witten is a good fit for you."

"He specializes in quantum field theory, string theory and related topology and geometry, the proof of the positive energy theorem of general relativity, supersymmetry and Morse theory, topological quantum field theory, superstring compaction, mirror symmetry, supersymmetric gauge field theory, and conjectures about the existence of m-theory, which are among his contributions to physics."

"Although he was a physicist majoring in physics, he had a mastery of mathematics that few mathematicians could match, and his research in pure mathematics had a profound impact and won the Fields Medal."

Although he was a little surprised by Xu Chuan's choice, Deligne still recommended a candidate to Xu Chuan.

It's just that he is a little regretful, after all, he originally planned to personally accept Xu Chuan as a student.

In his opinion, this teenager's talent in mathematics is unprecedentedly rare, and it is difficult to find another rising star in mathematics who can compare with him.

Even Peter Schulz, who was previously recognized as the most brilliant mathematician of the younger generation, was slightly inferior to him.

After all, he is too young for a longer time than he has made a great contribution.

At the age of eighteen, you can solve a world-class mathematical conjecture.

Although it is impossible to determine what kind of peak he can reach in the academic world in the future, as far as the current point of view, there are only a few people who can be compared throughout history.

Professor Deligne naturally wanted to be a genius under his tutelage, and he studied under Pope Grothendieck in mathematics, eager to carry forward the ideas and writings left by his teacher.

Originally, he saw this hope in Xu Chuan, but now it seems that it is a pity that this young man is not in the field of pure mathematics.

......

Hearing Professor Deligne's introduction, Xu Chuan shook his head and said, "I'm interested in mathematical physics, but I want more." ”

"If Princeton doesn't support dual majors, then at least I wish I could take the same classes with other physics students and choose the same physics supervisor."

"I can pay for the double subject of mathematics and physics, even if I can only get a degree certificate from the mathematics department in the end."

"I just want to study math and physics at the same time, and if I choose only one subject, I feel like I might regret it later."

Hearing this, Professor Deligne raised his eyebrows, thought for a while, and said, "If that's the case, maybe you can still operate it." ”

"While Princeton is rules-oriented, there are rules that can be broken for a genius like you."

"So, can you tell me about your mentor choice now?"

One student with two tutors may be somewhat rare at home, and some conform to the default academic rules, but abroad, especially at Princeton, this is nothing.

It's just that one student has two tutors, and the students will definitely be tired.

Especially at the graduate and doctoral levels, supervisors will also have their own research experiments and tasks, and need the help of students.

However, Xu Chuan didn't care about this, and he was still worried about being tired of academics, so he didn't take this path and just became a civil servant.

"In terms of mathematics, I've been interested in number theory and differential equations lately, and I'm going to study them in depth."

After a pause, Xu Chuan looked at Professor Deligne in front of him, and continued: "In these two aspects, you are undoubtedly a top mathematician, so I hope to apply for your doctorate, I don't know if the professor welcomes you." ”

Before coming to Princeton, he had already considered his options.

In this life, he majored in mathematics, and if he couldn't double major in Princeton, then he could only take the path of mathematics and physics.

However, he still fought for himself, and barely won the qualification to study mathematics and physics at the same time.

As for the mentor, the old man in front of him is a pretty good choice.

Professor Deligne was a pupil of Pope Grothendieck and a leader of the Grothendieck School, who made great contributions to the fields of mathematics such as number theory, algebraic geometry, and differential equations.

He has won the Fields Medal, the Wolf Medal, and the Cafford Prize, and is one of only two mathematics majors in the world.

In addition to his great achievements in number theory and algebraic geometry, Professor Deligne also cooperated with others to construct algebraic group representations on flat onto cohomology, established the theory of hybrid Hodge structures, unified Hodge theory and l-in-Garova representation, developed the Shimura cluster theory, and cooperated with Mostov on the theory of single clusters of differential equations.

In the fields of group construction and differential equations, it can be said that it perfectly meets his goals, and with the knowledge of this old professor, he will definitely learn a lot.

Hearing Xu Chuan's choice, Professor Deligne nodded and said, "Of course welcome, I have some understanding of number theory and differential equations, and I should be able to answer some doubts for you." ”

After a pause, Professor Deligne then asked: "It's just that both fields are relatively broad, and there is quite a lot of content that can be studied and studied, do you have specific study and research goals?" ”

"If you don't have a research goal for the time being, you can also choose to join my research group, and I am currently working on the 'standard conjecture' left by my mentor Grothendieck, if you wish."

Xu Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "The standard conjecture is a bit too difficult for me, and I am more inclined to my own goals. ”

"Before coming to Princeton, I spoke with Professor Artur Ávila, and it seems that some of the methods used for the Weyl-Berry conjecture I proved last time, such as the expansion of Dirichlet function fields and domains, and how to transform functions into subgroups, can be further investigated."

"As for the research direction, in terms of the self-defense form and self-defense L function in the Langlands program, we may be able to try to make some breakthroughs in this area."

Professor Deligne was not dissatisfied or unhappy when Xu Chuan refused, on the contrary, he admired Xu Chuan's ability to stick to his own ideas and the goal of independent research.

For people like him, who have reached the pinnacle of the mathematical world, he hopes that the mathematical community can flourish.

After pondering for a while, Professor Deligne spoke: "The Langlands program is a huge proposition, and the self-defending form and the self-defending l function have greatly promoted the development of analytic function theory, and I have not studied much in this area, but there are some more basic ideas, and when you adapt to life here, you may be able to come and communicate with me." ”

Xu Chuan: "Then I'll leave the next few years to you." ”

Deligne smiled and said, "You're welcome, since the mathematical aspect has been determined, what about the physical aspect?" Do you have a good match? I can be a lobbyist for you. ”

Xu Chuan: "Then I'll trouble you, teacher, in physics, I want to study under Professor Edward Witten, he is very suitable for me." ”

Physics tutor, he didn't have any surprises to choose his mentor in his previous life, Professor Edward Witten.

Professor Witten's knowledge is too extensive, even if he studied there in his previous life, he did not hollow out Professor Witten, and there is still a lot to learn in this life.

Moreover, Professor Witten is the top elder of the European Atomic Energy Experiment, and he can be stationed there, not to mention the first-hand collision data, and he can also get a greater opportunity when applying for the collision experiment.

Hearing Xu Chuan's choice, Professor Deligne frowned and said, "If it were someone else, or if you chose to study mathematics and physics, I think Professor Witten would not hesitate to accept you as a student." ”

"But I'm afraid it's a bit difficult now, Professor Witten is more stubborn than I am, and I'm not sure enough to convince him."

"Although there are dual tutors in Princeton, they are generally in the same subject, such as the double tutor of mathematics in the mathematics department."

"There has never been a double tutor like you in two completely different subjects."

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "I know this very well, so I made some preparations before I came." ”

As he spoke, he took out a stack of manuscript papers from the backpack behind him and handed them over.

"This is some of my ideas in physics and calculations and stuff like that, although they are not as good as my achievements in mathematics, but maybe they will impress Professor Witten."

Hearing this, Deligne raised his eyebrows and curiously took over the manuscript paper from Xu Chuan's hand.

The Mystery of the Proton Radius, a Mathematical Method for Accurately Calculating the Proton Radius. 》

"A method for calculating the typical distance between particles of Bose Einstein condensation as a function of l and the number density n of particles." 》

Professor Deligne flipped through the manuscript paper in his hand, and the title surprised him a little.

At first, he thought it was Xu Chuan's achievements in astrophysics, that is, the application of the xu-weyl_berry theorem, and he was about to say that those things were of little use to Professor Witten.

I didn't expect it to be a document from another field.

Flipping through the information manuscripts in his hand, looking at the calculation formulas and data on these manuscripts, Professor Deligne carefully flipped through them.

Although he doesn't know physics, he doesn't have much of a problem understanding the mathematical formulas and data calculations in these manuscripts.

In this way, after holding a standing position for more than ten minutes, Professor Deligne finally came to his senses.

He let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Pretty good calculations, but unfortunately I don't know much about physics and can't be sure if these things are correct." ”

"Let's go, Professor Witten happens to be at the research institute today, I'll take you there, maybe these materials can impress him."

"It's hard to meet him normally, and although he's a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, he's usually based at the LHC."

......。