Although Hilbert was dissatisfied with Russell's letter, von Neumann was still curious about the content of the letter when he heard that the letter in his hand contained the core idea of Chen Muwu's unpublished paper.

When von Neumann read the news this morning, he was not blinded by the headline of the Göttingen Zeitung, which incited Germans to hate the British, but saw the essence directly through the phenomenon.

According to the newspapers, if the paper turns out to be correct, it will be an act of destroying the foundations of mathematics.

They are all young people in their twenties of the same age, and they have all been called "prodigies".

Chen Muwu stood out a few years earlier than von Neumann, and the latter certainly admired the former, but in his young and vigorous heart, there were still some hopes that he would be able to compete one day.

The reason why he agreed to the task assigned to him by Hilbert and was willing to rigorously demonstrate the equivalence between matrix mechanics and wave dynamics was also because of this kind of mind.

You Chen Muwu can't do a good job, but I von Neumann can do a good job, does that mean that I am better than you?

Von Neumann has been in this competitive mentality recently, but it turned out that Chen Muwu did not study physics well, but published a mathematical paper?

It's just that you've done so much in physics before, after all, you're a physicist.

But now another mathematical paper has been published, and it is still so hyped in the media.

This made von Neumann more or less unconvinced, but at the same time, he also realized that the opportunity to meet Chen Muwu would come?

He planned to wait for the new issue of the "Bulletin of the Natural Science Society" to be sent to Göttingen, and then go to the library's journal reading room to read through the full text as soon as possible, to see if he could find out the errors in Chen Muwu's paper and give him a Jedi counterattack.

Von Neumann's intention to come to Hilbert with the newspaper was also obvious, as long as the teacher gave the order, he would definitely be the first to rush out of the road.

Hilbert's calm and breezy attitude at this time brought von Neumann's confidence.

The teacher was able to point out that Chen's paper was wrong just by looking at the simple core steps.

It seems that it is really like what his old man said, physicists only need to study their physics well, and don't think that they can understand mathematics, otherwise they will be used as a mantis arm as a car, a grasshopper shaking a tree, and if they don't measure their own strength, they will definitely laugh at the generous family in the end.

"Teacher, can you let me read that letter as well? I also wonder what whimsical ideas Dr. Chan had to make him think he could dismiss the great Hilbert Project. ”

"Oh, take it," Hilbert handed von Neumann the letter, and at the same time did not forget to comment a few words, "It is obvious that this Chen Muwu's mathematical foundation is very weak, and he is completely a halfway monk, he is too cumbersome in some places, and too simple in others." But one thing to say, his thinking is okay, if he didn't study physics but mathematics, he probably could become a well, third-rate mathematician. ”

He had a smile on his face, and there was a hint of contempt in it.

Von Neumann also took the letter with a smile on his face, and the smile on his face gradually stiffened as his eyes fell on the words on the paper, and the brows that were stretched out by the smile slowly gathered together.

After handing out the letter, Hilbert went about his own work.

After a while, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, why didn't he, a student, move at all?

As soon as he raised his head with doubts, he saw von Neumann's serious expression.

"Is something wrong, John? Why don't you say a word? ”

"Old ...... Teacher, Chen ...... Dr. Chen's argument, I feel is probably right. The system you envisioned may really be incomplete, and the Hilbert plan seems, really has been overturned.

"But I'm not sure if that's the case, so it's better to wait until the full text of the paper comes out and read what exactly is written in it."

Von Neumann seemed to see a sudden anger in Hilbert's eyes, which is why he had to add a paragraph at the end of the sentence.

"I thought that as a PhD from ETH Zurich, you must have a high opinion, but I didn't expect it to be all ambiguous. Right is right, wrong is wrong, what's there to worry about? As for his paper, there is no need to read the full text again, and it is absolutely wrong.

"Let's go, John, your mathematical foundation is still insufficient, so your thinking will be led astray by this fallacious reasoning.

"Don't worry about these nonsense, it's better to finish the work I gave you when you have that time.

"First of all, we have proved that matrix mechanics and wave dynamics are completely strictly equivalent, and after doing this, we will go and complete the axiomatic axiomatization of physical forms.

"It is important to teach this arrogant lad a lesson that mathematicians do not study physics, but only because they do not want to;

"Physicists don't study mathematics because they don't understand it."

Even after receiving Russell's letter, Hilbert remained optimistic.

This optimism continued until the publication of a new issue of the Bulletin of the Natural Science Society, which was sent around the world along with the global postal system.

Because before the journal was released, the news that Chen Muwu had published a mathematical paper had been reprinted through newspapers and spread to all directions.

And it also spread more and more, saying that Chen Muwu denied mathematics from the root, Chen Muwu declared war on mathematicians all over the world, and so on.

This has led to Chen Muwu attracting much attention, and even if a well-known writer makes a notice in the newspaper before publishing a new book, the publicity effect is not as good as this paper.

Physicists all over the world are waiting to have fun, but they are also divided into two groups, one of which wants to have fun with mathematicians, and the other who wants to have fun with Chen Muwu.

Mathematicians have been suffering for a long time, and they have always thought so highly of themselves, and they always think that mathematics is the foundation of science, and they despise all other disciplines except mathematics.

If you can make these people deflated, of course, that's one thing that I like to see.

For physicists who want to see Chen Muwulezi, the reasons are varied.

Some people think that "Mu Xiu will be destroyed by the forest wind", Chen Muwu has always acted in a high-profile manner in physics, although he is all right, but it still feels very unpleasant, and I hope he can make a big mistake in mathematics this time.

Some people simply oppose a series of concepts put forward by Chen Muwu, such as what light is a particle, electron is a wave, electron spin, quantum mechanics, the expansion of the universe, and so on.

Because he opposed these concepts but couldn't find a reason to refute the criticism, he began to oppose Chen Muwu, so I expect him to be slapped in the face by the mathematical community this time.

And mathematicians all over the world are united in their hatred of the enemy, and they are fighting for each other.

If, as the newspaper says, Chen Muwu destroyed the foundation of mathematics in one fell swoop, then how should they respond?

Cambridge University, at the center of the storm, became the calmest place.

Participating in the review work allowed Russell to obtain the full text of Chen Muwu's paper long ago.

He was not at ease when reviewing the manuscript, and asked Ramsey to help confirm it.

In the end, the conclusion was that there was no error in the incompleteness theorem in the paper, and that the mathematical edifice in Hilbert's mind had to be torn down and rebuilt from the roots.

Russell also held an academic symposium at Trinity College to convey the sad news to the mathematics professors, scholars, and students who attended the meeting, and to elaborate on Dr. Chen's thesis.

Accepting this fact, the Cambridge University mathematics community became one of the first people in the world to begin researching how to reconstruct mathematics.

As for the Cavendish Laboratory......

Russell came to look for someone that day but didn't find him, and the next day Rutherford called Chen Muwu to his office again.

The good student couldn't think for a moment that he was going to study mathematics, and he brought it up in front of Bohr in this office that day.

Rutherford was Chen Muwu, who supervised the construction of the particle accelerator every day, and was bored and planned to relax, just like he had done in Rausch astronomy and low-temperature physics before.

In his mind, the mathematics that Chen Muwu studied may be similar to Newton's research on calculus, but it is just a calculation tool in physics.

Although the predecessors of calculus have been written, there are also matrices!

This student loves to tinker with some strange things, just go for it, if you can really find a theorem, it will also be the icing on the cake!

But Rutherford didn't expect that it was not the algebra professor who came to the door, but Russell.

Russell, of course, is also a mathematician, after all, one of his masterpieces, the title is called "Principia Mathematica"!

But his mathematics was completely different from the mathematics that Rutherford had imagined.

On a whim, he asked Chadwick to help him find the book to see what the principles of mathematics were.

As a result, Chadwick brought back three tomes from the library of the Victoria University in Manchester.

This three-volume book, written by Russell and his teacher Whitehead, took ten years to complete, and is more than 2,000 pages in total.

Rutherford's curiosity drove him to open the first volume of the book, and he was soon disgusted by the strange and dense logical symbols in the book.

In comparison, the symbols in Sherlock Holmes's "The Dancing Little Man" are nothing.

The director of Cavendish Laboratories still couldn't hold out for a minute in front of the book.

Later, he read an anecdote from the newspaper that Russell's "Principia Mathematica" really started with the most basic mathematics, so it took him more than 360 pages to finally define what the number "1" was.

Then, on page 379, the conclusion "1+1=2" is proved.

You said that Chen Muwu provoked no one, why did he provoke him?

Rutherford hesitated, and in the end he didn't say anything about Chen Muwu going to build a particle accelerator.

On the one hand, he does not want to leak secrets, and on the other hand, he wants to protect his students.

Calling Chen Muwu to his office also means this, although dealing with mathematicians is a hassle.

But if the person who caused this trouble was Chen Muwu, Rutherford's first reaction was to come forward to solve the problem for him.

"Chen, Professor Russell came to you yesterday, did you do anything strange again? You said you were going to study mathematics, but no one thought that you wanted to study this mathematics.

"Don't be afraid of anything happening, don't worry to speak out boldly, you still have me behind you, and the whole Cavendish laboratory."

It was impossible for Rutherford to come forward if there was really something, let alone nothing.

But the teacher's words were very sincere, which made Chen Muwu suddenly feel a feeling of "repaying the king's will on the golden platform and carrying the jade dragon to die for the king".

"Teacher, it's nothing, I get along well with Professor Russell, and recently under his tutoring, my math level has improved by leaps and bounds."

"Then why did he have a serious expression on his face when he came to the lab yesterday?"

Chen Muwu calculated the time in his heart, and he knew why Russell came to him.

"Teacher, that's right. Didn't it mean that my level of mathematics had improved by leaps and bounds, so I tried to write a mathematical paper and submitted it to the Journal of the Natural Science Society.

"I thought it might be that the editorial department of the conference newspaper was not sure whether what was written in my paper was right or wrong, so I sent a copy to Professor Russell and asked him to be a reviewer. He came to me yesterday, presumably to talk to me about the content of the paper. ”

"I see, I'm relieved that nothing is going on."

Hearing Chen Muwu's answer, the expression on Rutherford's face suddenly softened.

"By the way, Chen, what is that paper you wrote about? Are there any follow-up studies? ”

"It was just a innocuous little theorem, and after the paper was written, I was back into the construction of the particle accelerator."

This answer completely reassured Rutherford.

Chen Muwu's "going astray" is no longer a matter for him, as long as he doesn't go back forever.

It was only a few days later, when the newspaper published the story before the Bulletin of the Natural Sciences, that Rutherford realized that the paper that had shaken the foundations of mathematics was the same "little theorem" that had been told to him by a good student a few days earlier.

So Chen Muwu went to the teacher's office again, and at the latter's request, he talked about what the incompleteness theorem was.

After another half hour, Rutherford retracted his earlier request.

Chen Muwu spoke very clearly, except that he didn't understand, there was nothing wrong.

Thinking that he had offended Russell, Rutherford still wanted to do his best to keep his students.

But now I know that Chen Muwu has offended the entire mathematical community.

That's a fart!

Not to mention himself, even if it is the Cavendish Laboratory and Cambridge University, it may not be able to save him.

Ask for more blessings.

This was the only thought in Rutherford's mind as he watched Chen Muwu leave his office.

The people in the laboratory also saw the news in the newspaper, and they were also curious about how Chen Muwu overturned mathematics.

So Chen Muwu appeared at the discussion meeting of the Kapitsa Club for a long time and acted as a speaker of cutting-edge knowledge.

As a result, everyone behaved in unison with Rutherford, and this time it took less than twenty minutes for the discussion to become a simple dinner.

When the new issue of the Bulletin of the Natural Sciences was delivered to the Cavendish Laboratory, everyone was very calm.

No one seems to remember that Chen Muwu's paper was published in this issue of the journal, and no one opened the journal at the first time, looked for the number of pages from the table of contents, and read the specific content of the paper.

But just because Cambridge is like that doesn't mean it's the whole world.

The letters and telegrams written by mathematicians came to Europe through the postal system of the Universal Postal Union or the telegraph lines erected on the railroad lines and across the oceans, and once again divided into two strands.

One went to Cambridge University in England, and the other went to Göttingen, Germany.

(End of chapter)