The top student must be diligent.

Chapter 176 Interview
On major social platforms, people are still discussing what the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem is, and what the significance of this problem will be after it is solved. At the same time, on major hot search lists, [Xiao Yi proves the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem] is still ranked first.

But now, the second place has been occupied by [Xiao Yi won the Fields Medal], and the popularity of this hot search is still soaring, and it is no problem to surpass the first place.

Especially those netizens who learned during the day that Xiao Yi might win the Fields Medal at the ICM opening ceremony in the evening, quite a number of them did not sleep until 12:30 in the middle of the night and kept watching the live broadcast, so they also witnessed Xiao Yi stepping onto the podium with their own eyes.

As a result, they became one of the main driving forces behind the spread of this matter.

Finally, all major group chats, forums and other platforms were filled with discussions about this matter.
For example, in Tieba.

The Mathematics Forum probably never thought that their forum would one day be on the hot list of forums, and a post in the forum, [Breaking news! Xiao Shen really won the Fields Medal!], directly ranked first in the hot list.

Friends from all walks of life flocked to this post and joined the discussion.

Although the forum users can be extremely aggressive on various controversial issues, they all expressed high praise on this matter.

[Awesome! The first mainland mathematician to win the Fields Medal, what a genius!]

[Amazing! And he is only 28 years old this year, which is incredible. He is nine years younger than Jean-Pierre Serre who won the award at the age of ! ]

[No, buddy, I'm also 19 years old? Does that mean I can win the Nobel Prize by the end of the year? ]

[Humor, have you finished your homework? Hurry up and do your homework]

[Humor, 19-year-olds are already in college, doing Gouba's homework, have you ever been to college? ]

[Hello, you don’t do homework in college, right? What kind of fake college are you attending?]

[I have always recognized the aggressiveness of the 8u people, and this can also cause a quarrel]

[No, this is not cheating? This is not cheating? This is not cheating? ]

[Xiao Shen: If it’s not closed, it’s open? If it’s not closed, it’s open? If it’s not closed, it’s open? ]

[I traveled back from 50 years later. I will tell you a secret. 50 years later, Xiao Yi revealed that he was an alien, and the next day the earth was ruled by aliens. So don’t believe Xiao Yi￥……%&……! @￥#]

[Brother? Keep talking? ]

[I guess they have been sanctioned by aliens (sad)]

[Maybe it's the Space-Time Administration? (Sad)]

[This is really awesome, the Fields Medal, the Nobel Prize in mathematics. If I could win this award, wouldn't I be able to easily become a counselor at Kyoto University?]

[No, buddy... do you really think so, or are you joking? ]

[Either way is a bit too humorous]

[Look at your achievements. If I could win this award, wouldn't the president of Kyoto University invite me to be their lecturer? ]

【Discharged from hospital! 】

……

With the heated discussions on major forums and platforms, this night in China seemed a little uneasy.

Of course, the same is true abroad. Although ordinary people don’t know much about these things in the academic world, if a genius comparable to Einstein appears, it will naturally cause widespread discussion.

At the same time, when the time came to the second day, major news media around the world also began their second effort.

In the interview, Terence Tao gave his opinion on the reporter's question "Do you think Xiao Yi is too young to win the Fields Medal?"

"Well, compared to the ages of all the winners of the Fields Medal in history, Xiao Yi is certainly too young."

"Of course you have to understand that I am speaking from an objective perspective, not a subjective one. After all, 19 years old is quite young for any major award."

"If you ask me whether I think this is a good thing or a bad thing, then I would say you are narrow-minded."

"This matter has been discussed for a long time. I agree with a sentence I saw before: the Fields Medal, as an award with a limited age limit, is used to reward mathematicians who are young enough and can make significant achievements in mathematics. Therefore, as long as a mathematician reaches the threshold of the award, the younger he is, the more he should be awarded. This can fully demonstrate the purpose of the Fields Medal, which is also in line with the wishes of Mr. John C. Fields."

"It's like the two lines of Latin on the Fields Medal: To transcend one's own mind and master the world. Mathematicians all over the world give this award for their outstanding works."

"So, Xiao Yi deserves such an award."

In response to Tao's answer, the reporter continued to ask: "Don't you think this is a bit unfair to those mathematicians who are about to turn 40 and have the opportunity to win the Fields Medal?"

Tao Zhexuan smiled: "No, I think it's fair, because they should compete with the other three main areas, not with Xiao Yi."

"If you insist on asking them to compete with Xiao Yi, it would be unfair to them."

"Listen to me, even in the history of mathematics, there are not many people who dare to compete with a person who proved the twin prime conjecture, the Goldbach conjecture, the Landau-Siegel zero-point conjecture, and the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problems."

……

In addition to Terence Tao, many other well-known scholars have also been interviewed and asked the same questions.

Faltings's answer was very blunt: "The Fields Medal is not for people with incompetent abilities. Let Xiao Yi wait for four more years for someone who can only win the Fields Medal by luck? Who is he?"

Deligne's answer was rather sarcastic: "This person must be a strong candidate to prove the Riemann hypothesis, right?"

In addition, physicist Edward Witten was also interviewed. He did not say anything about this matter, but just smiled and praised the International Mathematical Union: "IMU is indeed a very courageous academic organization. Just like when they awarded me the Fields Medal, I was quite surprised at the time. Now they can award the award to a 19-year-old young man, which fully proves that they really abide by the rules of the award, and do not rely entirely on some stupid conventions."

"In this regard, I think the Nobel Prize selection committee is worth learning from."

The reporter probably didn't expect Witten to take this opportunity to criticize the Nobel Prize selection committee, and immediately asked: "Do you say that because the Nobel Prize is always awarded to those old scientists?"

Edward Witten waved his hand and said, "That's not the case. After all, I am also an old scientist. Although it is highly unlikely that I will be awarded the Nobel Prize, I just think that Xiao Yi has proved the existence of the mass gap and is fully qualified to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Unfortunately, God knows how many years those guys on the Nobel Prize Committee will have to wait before awarding the prize to Xiao Yi."

When the reporter heard him say this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately asked: "Do you think Xiao Yi is also qualified to win the Nobel Prize in Physics?"

19-year-old Nobel Prize candidate in Physics!

Wow, what a sensational headline! It’s enough to stand out from all the Fields Medal news!
In response, Witten nodded and said, "Of course. First of all, the mass gap phenomenon has already been discovered in experiments, and now it can be mathematically proved, which is a theoretical recognition of this phenomenon."

"After all, you have to know that physics is a discipline that emphasizes the combination of experiments and theories. Neither is indispensable. Otherwise, the mass gap problem would not be listed as one of the Millennium Problems."

"In addition, Xiao Yi's conclusions have also brought many important results to the physics community. For example, the matter about the mass of the W boson some time ago, and the X field discovered from it. For now, the existence of the X field has been indirectly proved through the mass of the W boson. Although we still need to strive to discover it directly, these results are also real."
The reporter laughed. At this moment, he had even thought of the headline for the news: [Just won the Fields Medal, will he win the Nobel Prize again? ]

Although Xiao Yi may not necessarily win the Nobel Prize, the gimmick of this title must be maximized.

Studying journalism.

……

The Guardian reporter who interviewed Edward Witten published a press release with this title, which was a huge success. For a while, everyone was discussing whether Xiao Yi could win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

As a result, Xiao Yi himself was also questioned.

"Brother Xiao, I heard that you are going to win the Nobel Prize in Physics?"

Just as Xiao Yi was eating his third serving of Russian braised beef in the past few days, he heard Ye Cheng's question from the side.

Xiao Yi, who had just taken a bite of beef and a mouthful of rice, was immediately choked by this question.

After taking a sip of the drink beside him, he looked at Ye Cheng beside him speechlessly and asked, "Where did you hear this? How come I didn't know that I was going to win the Nobel Prize?"

Just won the Fields Medal and now the Nobel Prize?
I wouldn't even dream of doing this.
Although he also acknowledged that his achievements were good enough to win the Nobel Prize, the Nobel Prize has no age limit, so it is not as special as the Fields Medal. Basically everyone has to line up to win the prize, unless the achievement is really very important.

For example, Mr. Yang Zhenning’s law of parity non-conservation was proposed in 1956 and he won the award in 1957.

However, the importance of proving the mass gap problem is not as great as that of the law of parity non-conservation. After all, the former is a phenomenon that had been discovered in experiments long ago, while the latter was completely opposed by the physics community at the time. For example, Wolfgang Pauli once said that he was willing to place a high bet that parity non-conservation was wrong, and Richard Feynman also bet with others that he was willing to lose $1 if parity non-conservation was confirmed. The final result was that the physics community was slapped in the face.

Therefore, if Xiao Yi wants to win the Nobel Prize, he will probably have to wait in line, or wait for evidence of the existence of X particles to be found in a particle accelerator.
"Isn't that what's being spread out there now?"

Ye Cheng said.

Xiao Yi rolled his eyes and said, "Don't believe these things. How can you get the Nobel Prize so easily?"

But at this moment, another voice came from the side: "But no matter what, you are now a candidate." Xiao Yi was stunned, turned his head and saw several unfamiliar Chinese people who had walked up to him at some point.

The middle-aged man who had just spoken smiled and handed him his work ID, introducing himself: "Hello, Xiao Yi, I am Liang Qiuhao, the station chief of CCTV's correspondent station in Russia."

Xiao Yi took a look at his work ID and immediately showed a surprised expression.

It’s from CCTV?

"Hello, Stationmaster Liang."

He nodded, shook hands with Liang Qiuhao, and then asked, "Stationmaster Liang, is there something you want to talk to me about?"
Liang Qiuhao laughed and said, "Of course!"

"According to the instructions of our station director, we have come here specifically to interview you. The interview process will also be reported on the news."

"After all, you are the first mathematician in our continent to win the Fields Medal. You are the pride of our people. If we don't interview you specifically, we would be remiss."

Xiao Yi waved his hand modestly: "No, no, I just try my best to do my job well."

Liang Qiuhao just smiled and didn't say much, and continued to ask: "So, look, if we interview now, are you free?"

Xiao Yi's gaze turned to the Russian stewed beef in front of him.

Liang Qiuhao noticed his gaze, then laughed and said, "Of course we are not in a hurry, you can finish your food first, after all, it is shameful to waste food."

Xiao Yi smiled: "Thank you for your understanding."

Then he didn't say anything else and started eating his food.
Beside him, although Ye Cheng didn't say anything, he witnessed it all.

At this moment, he was completely stunned, with only one sentence left in his mind: "Fuck, Brother Xiao is going to be on CCTV!"

……

After finishing their meal quickly, Xiao Yi followed Liang Qiuhao and the others to the interview location, which was a small conference hall in the convention center next door, which also had a small draggable blackboard.

After all, the best place to interview a mathematician is next to a blackboard.

After some preparation, Xiao Yi finally felt a little emotional in his heart. Everyone else had accepted the interview, and now he couldn't avoid it either.

Then he said, "I'm ready, let's start."

Liang Qiuhao nodded, then made an OK gesture to the photographer next to him.

The interview officially begins.

However, the first question Liang Qiuhao asked had nothing to do with this International Congress of Mathematicians.

"First of all, I want to know what inspired you to reach such a level in your studies, or in your academic research?" Liang Qiuhao said, "I believe many people want to know what your source of motivation is."

Xiao Yi: “…”

The first question he asked was one that forced him to lie.

The truth: I want to renew the buff.
Fake: "Maybe it's the desire for those difficult questions."

"A math teacher who once helped me a lot would probably feel the same way."

"I like to study difficult problems and the pleasure of solving them, so when I was in my second year of high school, I really liked to solve those competition-level problems..."

Xiao Yi recalled what supported him to continue learning back then.

And obviously, persistence in solving difficult problems is the most important point.

Well... this is not a lie to some extent, it really comes from my heart.

Liang Qiuhao couldn't help but laugh and said, "However, there are many people who take difficult problems as their goal, but not many people have the ability to constantly solve them."

"This is your talent."

Xiao Yi shrugged and said, "Maybe, but I think the importance of diligence is still very important."

"Back then, I was..."

Looking back on the time when I had to study for at least 14.4 hours every day...

Humph, who can still say that he can achieve his current results without his own efforts?

After listening to Xiao Yidi's story, Liang Qiuhao showed a surprised expression. Studying for thirteen or fourteen hours every day?
Do you even have to think about problems while eating?
"This also proves the saying that genius is 1% talent and 99% perspiration."

"Yeah." Xiao Yi nodded in agreement.

indeed!

Afterwards, Liang Qiuhao finally asked about things related to this conference.

"But it's all worth it, and your efforts are now rewarded."

"The Fields Medal is the highest honor in mathematics, and there has been a lot of discussion recently about you winning this award, especially your age. Nineteen is undoubtedly a very young age for a Fields Medal. So, did you feel any changes before and after the award was announced?"

"From calm to happy." Xiao Yi chuckled, still saying: "If I get it, I'm lucky, if I lose it, I'm doomed."

"Fortunately, there are many philosophical concepts in our culture that can help me adapt to this situation."

"So I was able to wait calmly before the award was announced, and I was lucky to finally get the award, so I am naturally happy about it."

"Of course, another reason is that I know I am still young and I will have plenty of opportunities to win this award in the future."

"After all, as everyone says, the Fields Medal is already in my pocket, the only question is when I get it."

Hearing Xiao Yi's answer, Liang Qiuhao was surprised again. He probably didn't expect that Xiao Yi was not only young, but also had so many academic achievements, and also had such a high level of mentality, being humble yet confident.

Liang Qiuhao could only sigh, perhaps only this kind of state of mind was worthy of such an achievement.

The interview continues.

In the following interview, Liang Qiuhao also asked questions about the academic value of the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem proved by Xiao Yi.

There aren't many questions. After all, it's going to be on the news, and there's not enough time to ask so many questions.

Xiao Yi spoke eloquently about each question, fully demonstrating his demeanor as a top scholar.

Finally, he asked the last question: "Finally, do you have any words of advice for all the scholars in our country?"

Xiao Yi pondered for a moment, and finally said: "Always stay curious about the problem."

Liang Qiuhao just smiled after hearing this simple sentence, and finally said, "Thank you for your answer, and my interview ends here."

He made a gesture to the photographer next to him, and the photographer stopped taking pictures.

Liang Qiuhao said to Xiao Yi with emotion: "Only when I really come into contact with scholars like you can I feel that kind of vast feeling. Hmm...how should I put it? It's probably like a deep and majestic mountain."

Xiao Yi smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Okay, our interview clips will be sent back to the domestic station soon, and you can see it on the news tonight."

Liang Qiuhao smiled and said, “I believe that your interview will set an example and bring inspiration to many people in the country.”

Xiao Yi nodded: "I hope so."

Liang Qiuhao smiled and said, "Believe me, my judgment is still very accurate."

……

(End of this chapter)