Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 55 Why do I regret it the more I talk about it?
"Nixon himself? Of course not,"

John Morgan shook his head repeatedly:

"If it were his own fundraising gala, you wouldn't see those exciting moments.

And if I take you to his fundraising dinner, you'll have to prepare at least $20 in fundraising.

Expensive and boring.

The host of this campaign dinner was Robert Finch, Nixon's assistant and manager of his presidential campaign.

He is a senior member of the Elephant Party and has failed in two previous attempts to run for parliament.

Without an acquaintance to introduce you to this kind of fundraising dinner, it's impossible for most people to attend it for the first time, no matter how much money they donate. Tonight I'll take you to see it for yourself."

Lin Ran couldn't help but feel a little bit of anticipation in his heart, impart, right?

Room 3, south side, 313rd floor, Academic Affairs Building, Columbia University.

Siegel and Horkheimer sat on a Bauhaus-style brown leather armchair, with sunlight shining through the classic New York iron-framed checkered sofa onto the round teak coffee table between them.

The sunlight happened to shine on the latest issue of "Advances in Mathematics" magazine brought by Siegel, lighting up Randolph Lin's name.

"Max, you are such a bad guy that I can't stay at the University of Göttingen anymore.

If you hadn't told me earlier that Randolph had proved Fermat's conjecture, my colleagues at the University of Göttingen would now consider me a traitor who no longer cares about Göttingen because of my retirement."

In front of Doylin, Siegel was the accused, and now in front of Horkheimer, it was Siegel's turn to play the accuser.

"I'm sorry, but science itself knows no borders. No matter where Randolph is, he is still your student and a graduate of the University of Göttingen, right?

His achievements are in no way without the support of the University of Göttingen, which nurtured him. Horkheimer argued:
“Just as philosophers should not serve the development of specific disciplines, but should protect the negative dimension of thought.

Mathematicians work for all of humanity, not just for a particular university. Mathematicians are not about measurable achievements.

(“Treat ideas as quantifiable ‘results’ is a sign of the self-destruction of Enlightenment rationality.” - Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment)
Siegel was getting angry: "You guy."

It would have been fine if he had just been accused by Doylin, but what made Siegel even more upset was that he found himself in the right but couldn't win the argument.

When it comes to debate, mathematicians really seem to have no idea what to do with philosophers.

"No, you are cheating!" Siegel really couldn't stand it.

Horkheimer raised his eyebrows: "How is it a lie?

Is Randolph a mathematical genius? Is he qualified to get a doctorate in mathematics from your University of Göttingen?"

When Horkheimer took Lin Ran to Göttingen, he said that he would guarantee with his credit that Lin Ran was definitely qualified.

Because of his credibility, old friendship, and the fact that they were both German Jews, Siegel reluctantly agreed.

Siegel was speechless. He really couldn't say no. If Lin Ran was not qualified, then there would be no mathematics PhD graduates from the University of Göttingen in the future.

"No, what I meant by deception is that you didn't explain the whole story to me.

Einstein proposed a grand unified theory in physics, and Randolph proposed a grand unified theory in mathematics.

Even compared to Einstein, his greatest advantage is his youth. He is the mathematician most likely to approach Gauss's level after him, and he has the potential to realize a grand unified theory."

Siegel took a deep breath and continued, "You never made it clear to me that Randolph's talent is far from being described as genius.

There are countless geniuses in mathematics, but he is unique. In number theory, I can even conclude that he is already the equivalent of Gauss. Mathematics has no borders; mathematical achievements are constantly flowing, but mathematicians do. If Randolph were in Göttingen, Göttingen might be able to recreate the glory of Gauss's time.

After that, Siegel sighed again and consoled himself that the falling out with Horkheimer had not helped him in bringing Randolph back to Göttingen.

"Oh, Max, I don't blame you. Indeed, you are right. After all, Randolph graduated from the University of Göttingen, and no one can change that.

Göttingen produced Gauss, Riemann, and Hilbert, and now there is Randolph, which is also good.

But when he comes back later, you must help me persuade him to teach in Göttingen."

This was why Professor Horkheimer urgently asked him to return to school.

Siegel was waiting.

"Professor, Professor Siegel, good afternoon. These are the special pastries I brought back from Hong Kong. Please try them." Lin Ran placed the pastries in his hand on the coffee table between the two of them, and then sat down on the chair.

"Okay, Randolph, I read your paper. It's so well written, including the ABC conjecture. The more I think about it, the more interesting it becomes.

Fermat's Last Theorem can indeed be seen as a corollary of the ABC conjecture.

For example, certain exponential equations have only finite solutions, which is consistent with the sparsity of high-quality triples predicted by your ABC conjecture.

The growth of rad(abc) is related to the distribution of prime factors of aaa, bbb, and ccc.

The linear form logarithm theory you proposed can be used to analyze logarithmic relationships involving prime factors.

For example, for some triples, you can estimate whether the expression of logclograd(abc) is close to zero. The lower bound estimate can help show that this approach is strictly restricted, thereby supporting the sparsity judgment of your ABC conjecture.

Fermat's Last Theorem, Fermat's Diophantine Theorem, Linear Logarithm Theory and ABC Conjecture were constructed by you into a whole big puzzle.

New problems are derived from past problems, and new theories are summarized from past problems.

This big puzzle piece you constructed vaguely aligns with your Randolph Program.

That's great. "

Mathematicians who can solve problems are great, but mathematicians who can raise questions are even greater.

Why is it important to pass on knowledge among mathematicians? Because with the guidance of a big master, his intuition can help him understand which problems are easy to solve, and then he can pass these easy-to-solve problems to his students.

It is equivalent to a big guy helping you find the monsters, allowing you to practice with the monsters first, and then slowly move from the monsters to the boss. The training path is very clear.

Otherwise, you will have no ability and confidence if you fight the boss right away.

Moreover, you can publish papers while killing monsters, and the papers you publish can help you find a teaching position and stay in academia.

It includes the process from small monsters to bosses, and can also help you develop top-level mathematical taste.

It is equivalent to following a big boss who can provide you with stable work, systematic training, and elegant mathematical taste.

For a university's mathematics department, a mathematician of Gauss's caliber is enough to make them a center of mathematics. Don't you see that Euler's results were eaten up by the Russian mathematical community for two hundred years?

In Siegel's opinion, Randolph, who was only in his early twenties, was already a mathematician of this level.

Why the hell do I regret it the more I talk about it, Siegel thought.

(End of this chapter)