The top student must be diligent.

Chapter 170 There is a strictly positive mass gap

If Xiao Yi's current research is like thunder in silence, then it is like thunder rolling in for the physics community and even the mathematics community.

After the CERN meeting ended, news about Field X spread immediately.

The scholars at CERN sorted out Xiao Yi's derivation process in the meeting and then published it. All of a sudden, the physics community, which was already very uneasy because of the confirmation of the W boson's overmass, was in an uproar again.
You know, when CERN held this meeting, it had already received widespread attention, because the physics community wanted to know whether CERN would continue to invest more resources in the research of W bosons, which to some extent almost affects the hot directions of physics in the future.

Who could have thought that after the meeting, the question about the W boson disappeared, but an X field popped up?
Or even an unknown physical field that can interact with the Higgs field?

What's more, it can also connect with the W boson under the weak interaction force, thereby affecting the mass-conferring process, and provide a medium for the unification of weak interaction and strong interaction?

These explosive news stunned the entire physics community.

Of course, it also stunned the entire scientific community. After all, such important discoveries involving the microscopic composition of the universe are of interest to people all over the world.

In addition to the X-field, news also spread that Xiao Yi was studying the mass gap problem of the Yang-Mills equation and was very close to the final proof.

This news caused a sensation in both the physics and mathematics communities. After all, it is not only a physical problem, but also a mathematical problem.

If one were to ask which problem would most likely earn a scholar both the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize in Physics, the mass gap problem of the Yang-Mills equation would surely top the list.
For a time, the mathematics community was in an uproar.

Although the pure mathematics community often does not care much about research in other fields, the Millennium Problems are still worthy of their attention.

A Millennium Problem is equal to a Fields Medal. It is hard for them not to care about it.

Not to mention, the person who will solve this problem now is Xiao Yi.

Seeing that the International Congress of Mathematicians was about to be held, Xiao Yi was also the invited speaker for the conference.

Therefore, Professor Edward Witten's speculation that Xiao Yi would prove the mass gap problem in this report almost became an established fact in the mathematics community.

All the major news media rushed in like sharks smelling blood and reported on the incident.

After the CERN meeting, Professor Witten was interviewed by European News.

In an interview, he said: "If the Higgs field is the greatest achievement in physics at the end of the last century, then I dare say that the X-field will become the greatest achievement in the early 21st century."

"The Higgs mechanism helps us figure out why fermions, W bosons, and Z bosons have mass, while photons and gluons have zero mass. It helps us improve the standard model and also provides very important help for the study of cosmology."

"And the X-field will provide great help for us to further understand the strong interaction and even achieve the unification of the strong and weak interactions."

"I don't know if you have heard of the grand unified theory in physics. It is generally believed in physics that the unification of the three fundamental forces of electricity, weak force and magnetism is the grand unified theory, which has great significance for our understanding of the universe."

"...Obviously, Xiao Yi is not only an excellent mathematician, but also an excellent physicist. He mentioned that after observing a large number of W boson signals in the LHC and analyzing the possible problems, he intuitively connected it to a magical physical field that he derived during his research on the mass gap problem of the Yang-Mills equation, and finally confirmed the existence of the X field."

"This is something that only an outstanding physicist can do. If you want to ask whether he can inherit my abilities in mathematics and physics, then I think you are superficial. He is better at mathematics than I am. As for physics, he doesn't study string theory, so there is no question of inheritance."

"As for the Yang-Mills equation mass gap problem he mentioned... I don't know when he will be able to prove this problem, but what I want to say is that we can wait and see, and I believe he will bring us surprises."

Professor Witten's evaluation is very high. As a Fields Medal winner, he said that Xiao Yi's mathematical ability is better than his, which surprised people.

And his explanation of the X-field also enables ordinary people to understand the importance of this new physics achievement.

Of course, Witten was not the only one who was interviewed. In addition, Peter Higgs, who was 93 years old in the UK, also accepted an interview with the broadcaster.

"I am very happy to be able to hear about such a major discovery in the physics community at this age. Although I am always proud of the Higgs mechanism, I have always been very clear that the Higgs mechanism is not perfect. From a human perspective or even at a scale, no physics theory is perfect. What we can do is to improve our understanding of the world step by step."

"And the X-field will be the first important progress in this area in our physics community this century."

"Although I'm not sure whether I can see a more intuitive explanation of the X-field in the physics community at my age, well... it's probably impossible, but I still want to express my gratitude to Xiao Yi--"

"Thank you for letting me know that there is such a law of the universe before I go to meet God."

Peter Higgs, as the proposer of the Higgs mechanism and the predictor of the Higgs boson, his status in the physics community is definitely among the best in history. His evaluation has added more fuel to this fire.

……

In the café of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

"Oh my god, Xiao Yi is actually studying the mass gap problem!"

Peter Sanak sat down next to Deligne and Bombieri and exclaimed, pointing at the news on his mobile phone.

"I was wondering why I haven't heard of any research results from him in almost a year. It turns out he was busy planning this big thing."

Deligne rolled his eyes. "That's because you haven't paid any attention to him. Xiao Yi has devoted his energy to physics and materials for almost a year. He has published in PRL, JACS, and even Nature. Oh, don't forget the paper that CERN published in Science. Xiao Yi's name is also on it."

Sanak said, "Let's not talk about the paper in Science. There are nearly 2,000 authors, right?"

Regarding the paper jointly completed by CERN and the China Institute of High Energy Physics, Xiao Yi was naturally also among the authors.

However, for papers in the field of high-energy physics, because their projects are often completed by many people working together, and each person is responsible for processing certain data, anyone who has made a contribution will be listed as an author, regardless of whether they are the first or second author.

This is also a unique authorship rule in high-energy physics, which ensures that everyone who contributes to experiments and papers can get due authorship.

Deligne shrugged: "It's Science after all, and Xiao Yi is more or less the main person who completed their paper. Without the mathematical method Xiao Yi provided them, would they be able to find it?"

Sanak: "Let's not talk about this. It has nothing to do with mathematics. What I want to know now is, can we really witness the solution of a millennium problem at the Mathematician Congress?"

Deligne pointed to the entrance of the café and said, "Here, the real boss is here. You can ask him."

They turned around and saw Edward Witten walking in.

Sanak immediately waved and shouted, "Hey! Witten, when did you come back?"

When Witten heard the voice, he waved to them first, then went to the bar to ask the waiter to pour a cup of coffee, and then walked over.

"I came back last night. What happened?"

"Of course it's about CERN. Xiao Yi didn't tell you how far he has studied the mass gap problem?"

Witten took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “Didn’t the news say that? He just said that he was close to the final answer, but he didn’t know exactly where he was. After all, this is the key to his research.”

"Okay." Sanak had no choice but to give up.

Witten smiled and asked, "Why are you interested in physics now? You are so concerned about the mass gap problem."

Sanak waved his hand. “No, it’s just a mathematician’s concern for the Millennium Problem. What I want to know more is, if he really solves the mass gap problem, can he bring some new theories to the mathematical community? This is the key.

Witten nodded slightly: "That's right."

After taking another sip of coffee, he said with emotion: "I used to be very confident in my mathematics, so I also studied the mass gap problem for a while, but in the end I was able to conclude that no current mathematical method could help us make further breakthroughs in solving this problem."

"Especially in algebraic geometry and topology, Yang-Mills theory has a very deep connection with topology and geometry. Whether it is dealing with topological structures such as instanton solutions or geometric properties such as fiber bundles, more complex mathematical tools are needed. Unfortunately, I cannot create such complex mathematical tools."

"Hmm... maybe proving Hodge's conjecture can help our research?"

Witten said with a smile.

Deligne leaned back in his chair and said, "Let's believe Xiao Yi. He has created many great theories, and this one is probably no different."

Several people smiled and said, "You are right."

…Time passed quietly.

The discussion about the W boson gradually calmed down. Similarly, the discussion about the X field and the mass gap problem also gradually calmed down.

Of course, this is only relative to the situation that the whole society was discussing before. For the corresponding scientific community, the discussion about them has never stopped. At least in CERN, the discussion about X-field has never stopped.

During this period, they almost re-searched and analyzed all past data, trying to find a signal that could directly prove the existence of the X-field.

In addition, they are also making intensive preparations for the next launch of the LHC collision mission.

The most important thing is to ask the EU for money.

"Congressman Davis, really! If the existence of the X-field can be found, it will be enough to train at least 20 Nobel Prize winners in physics for us! So what we need now is more funding so that we can carry out a larger upgrade of the LHC."

"I remember you said last time there were 15 people. Are you sure you weren't lying to me?"

"Ah...really? Haha, actually, it's like this. We have recently discovered more important details through research. If you ask Professor Wilczek, he will definitely tell you the same thing. I am willing to bet on Professor Wilczek's honor as a Nobel Prize winner in Physics and promise you this!"

"I think what you said is really exaggerated. Even for the Higgs boson, there have only been three Nobel Prizes, with a total of seven physicists winning them. How could there be 7 in this X-field?"

(Oh no, why does this congressman seem to understand something?)
"That's because you don't have a deep enough understanding of the significance of the X-field. The X-field can help us understand the strong interaction and unify the strong interaction with the weak interaction. You see, if you count it this way, there are at least two Nobel Prizes. In the future, we will discuss what the X-field is specifically and other fields. 2 is a conservative estimate!"

“Is this true or false?”

"Can I still lie to you?"

……

People in CERN all have their own things to do. On the other side, in St. Petersburg, as the day of the International Congress of Mathematicians draws closer, the staff of the conference organizing committee also have their own things to do.

In a meeting, the chairman of the organizing committee, Berezovsky, called together their correspondents and asked, "Have all the correspondents submitted their report titles?"

"Only half of my people have paid, and the other half have not."

"Same here."

"+1"

"..."

"Isn't there still a week left before the deadline? I guess they won't submit it before the deadline."

Berezovsky frowned and said, "In any case, send them an email to inform them to submit it quickly. It's just an introduction, not a paper."

"Yes!"

There are less than four months left until the conference begins. Generally speaking, all conference presenters need to submit the topics of their reports three months in advance, so that it will be easier for the organizing committee to prepare posters and promote their report titles on the official website of the conference.

In this way, the participants of the conference can browse the information of these reports on the official website and select the reports of interest, so that they can participate in the reports when the conference is held.

This was certainly not a difficult task. After they sent out the notice, they began to receive report summaries from the reporters intermittently a few days later.

Until the last day before the deadline.

Berezovsky called another meeting and asked, “Have all the briefs for the reports been received?”

"I have collected all of them here."

"I have collected them all, too."

Soon, several contact persons said they had received the message.

However, there was still one contact who, at the last moment, weakly raised his hand and said, "I'm still short of one person..."

Berezovsky immediately frowned and asked, "Who is it? How could you not take your report seriously?"

"Uh, it's Xiao Yi."

Everyone was stunned.

Xiao Yi?
That's okay.

Berezovsky's expression froze, and he guessed, "Maybe he is working on the key to solving the quality gap problem."

After thinking for a while, he finally said, "Well... then you can send him a message and give him another month's grace period. By the way, I wish him success in completing the proof."

Everyone sighed, saying that he was indeed a big shot and would give leniency as soon as he said so.

However, I feel relieved when I think that they are solving the millennium problem.

This kind of problem is a bit special and should be treated accordingly.

Someone jokingly asked: "What if he hasn't finished it in a month?"

Berezovsky shrugged and said, "Then give me another month. The reason why we require submission three months before the start of the report is to allow for some extra time when dealing with this kind of thing."

Everyone nodded, it made sense.

However, at this moment, the contact person who was in contact with Xiao Yi suddenly exclaimed: "Wait! Xiao Yi sent me an email. He sent me the topic of his report!"

Everyone in the conference room was stunned.

"what?!"

Berezovsky also ran over quickly, "Let me see, what did he send?!"

Others also gathered around.

Then, they saw an email displayed on the computer in front of the liaison officer.

The sender was Xiao Yi, and the title of the email was: [There is a strictly positive mass gap in Yang-Mills theory]

All of a sudden, everyone present showed shock on their faces.

Xiao Yi, finished?!
…………

……

"【Ruthless Link】 has been in effect for more than 150 days, and a high-value academic paper has been completed, and the level has been raised to level 5."

"The skill effect has been changed as follows: For every hour of learning, the learning efficiency will be increased by 2 times, up to a maximum of 20 times."

“Also, a new additional effect can now be randomly generated.”

"Additional effects are being randomly generated..."

"Congratulations to the host! Gained additional effect: [Material Mastery]!"

(End of this chapter)