Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 51: You’re so awesome, why didn’t you say so earlier? (Please read on!)

I regret it. I really regret it.

Carl Ludwig Siegel was one of the greatest number theorists of the 20th century. He returned to the University of Göttingen from Princeton after the war in 1947. His research interests covered analytic number theory, Diophantine equations, modular forms, and quadratic form theory.

He was also a representative figure in the reconstruction of the Göttingen Mathematical Center throughout the 1950s, and attracted a large number of students and visiting scholars with his lectures.

It was also because of Siegel's fame that Horkheimer came to him and asked him to accept a nominally Chinese student.

Horkheimer also specially brought this Chinese student named Randolph Lin to the University of Göttingen to meet him. Siegel had a good impression of this young Chinese student, and the two had a very pleasant conversation. He could sense from the conversation that the other party had a solid mathematical foundation and was more than qualified to get a Ph.D. in mathematics from Göttingen.

So whether it was because of his good impression of Lin Ran or for Horkheimer's sake, Siegel agreed and even cooperated with the other party to add Randolph Lin's existence to the archives of the Göttingen Department of Mathematics.

He was the head of the Department of Mathematics in Göttingen throughout the 1950s, and in that era when archives were not digitized, it was not difficult to add someone.

But the subsequent developments were a little beyond Siegel's expectations.

You should have told me earlier that you solved Fermat's last conjecture. Can't you give an academic report at the University of Göttingen?
You should have told me earlier that you had the Randolph Program that could unify mathematics. With the connections that I, Siegel, have painstakingly cultivated over the years on the European continent, wouldn't it be easy for me to call on all the mathematicians in Germany to make a pilgrimage to Göttingen?
You should have told me earlier that you created such a useful tool as linear logarithm theory. It is not impossible for me to find a way to get you the title of Emperor of Number Theory.

Siegel's regret cannot be described in words.

Even inside the University of Göttingen, he was looked at strangely by other professors, who thought he was a traitor to Göttingen. How could they let him go to Columbia University when they had such a great student?

Max Doehling, holding the latest issue of Advances in Mathematics, is the current head of the Göttingen Mathematics Department.

He was the most restrained professor in the Department of Mathematics in Göttingen, but I couldn't help but run to his office to ask him, how could you let Randolph run away.

"No, I..." Siegel couldn't think of any excuse, "No, this..." "This matter."

"In short, this matter is very complicated." Siegel finally found an explanation. "Yes, in short, this matter is not that simple."

He promised Horkheimer that he didn't want to tell the truth.

I don't want to do this because in front of old friends, it's okay that I'm awesome, but my students are also so awesome, it's really an honor.

When he led a team to Paris for an academic visit not long ago, Grothendieck talked about Randolph and said that he envied his students for being able to achieve greater results than him. As an old man who was about to retire, Siegel felt as happy as eating watermelon in summer.

Including newspapers in Berlin, they all mentioned in their reports that mathematician Siegel's student Randolph Linn proved the Fermat conjecture that has puzzled the mathematical community for more than 300 years.

By the way, I also praised him a lot.

Lin Ran is his last disciple. If he doesn't consider the University of Göttingen, this will definitely be a good thing for him.

But this is Göttingen, the Göttingen that recovered after the war, the Göttingen that wanted to return to its position as a center of mathematics.

What’s even worse is that the strategy of the Göttingen Mathematics Department to recover after the war was to start with number theory.

Why? Because number theory conjectures are well-known and accessible to the average person. By solving a few major problems, they can regain their position as a mathematical powerhouse in public opinion. They can then leverage this fame to attract talented young people, expand beyond number theory into geometry and algebra, and rebuild the mathematical center over decades.

You talk about Fermat's Last Theorem, Goldbach's Conjecture, and the Twin Prime Conjecture, these famous problems in number theory, and wild self-media can explain them to you in detail. You talk about the relationship between modular forms, Galois representation and L series. Who in the outside world knows what you are talking about?
Reconstructing from number theory is the fastest and most effective way.

This is what Siegel thought, and he was a master in the field of number theory, and so did his successor Max Doeling, who was also a master in the field of number theory.

At least four successive heads of the Department of Mathematics in Göttingen were engaged in number theory.

As a result, everyone was studying number theory and wanted to rebuild Göttingen, but you actually handed over such a world-class achievement as proving Fermat's conjecture to Columbia University?

He endured it last time, but this time when he saw the latest "New Advances in Mathematics", Doylin really couldn't help it.

Hearing Siegel's evasive remarks, Doylin couldn't hold back any longer and immediately started talking passionately:
"Professor, back then, the University of Göttingen was a holy place for mathematics, and the names of great masters like Gauss, Riemann, and Hilbert remain in the history of mathematics.

But since the Dark Ages, we have lost countless masters, and the glory of Göttingen has long faded.

Now, we finally have a chance for revival, and you let a man like Randolph slip away from us! Who are you doing a favor to?

Whether I went to the University of Bonn or the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, the mathematicians there were secretly laughing at us!
As the former department head and the current department head, isn’t our goal to make the University of Göttingen the center of world mathematics again?
We were once the Mecca of mathematics, attracting the world's attention. But now, we need every potential soul to rebuild this temple, and you gave Randolph, who may be the most promising soul of this century, and whose current achievements alone make him one of the most important mathematicians in the field of number theory of this century, to New York.

You are throwing Hilbert's legacy into the water! If Randolph had stayed, his light would have illuminated Göttingen instead of Columbia University taking advantage of it."

I'm singing like crazy, I can't hold it back anymore.

"If Randolph had gone to Princeton, I could understand it, after all, Princeton has many famous mathematicians, but he went to Columbia University, a university with no other attractions except the smell of money.

Is it that we can't afford this money?

If you had told me at the time that Randolph was only one step away from solving Fermat's conjecture and how much annual salary he would ask for, I would have approached the school, the council members of the city of Göttingen, and Sartorius for sponsorship.

But Professor, you completely concealed the fact that you have such a gifted student."

Siegel was speechless. He was left speechless. If he didn't know the inside story, he would have felt that he had done something unforgivable to the resurgence of Göttingen.

But he didn't.

"Em" Siegel really didn't know what to say.

After Doylin finished his rant, he calmed down. Thinking about Professor Siegel, who had returned to Göttingen permanently from Princeton in 1947 to help rebuild Göttingen, he didn't want to say anything harsh:

"Professor, can you invite Randolph back to teach in Göttingen?"

　em asks for a monthly ticket and a follow-up reader

　　Crow is updating rapidly
　　
　
(End of this chapter)