Top Student: Wasteland Technology Invasion

Yueyang University.

One hour ago.

After collecting all the exam papers, Li Zheng finally got his phone back, thinking of calling his tutor to report the situation.

But after thinking about it carefully, he decided it would be more appropriate for Lin Chuan to bring it up in front of his tutor after the results of his exam paper came out.

Otherwise, many things cannot be explained clearly over the phone.

At this point, Li Zheng was actually somewhat relieved, because the entrance test for the Qiushi class was difficult, and most students submitted blank papers.

On average, the stronger students can only solve two problems.

He could grade them with ease.

With red pen strokes across the exam paper, it didn't take long for Li Zheng to carry the paper and, with mixed emotions, quickly walk towards his advisor, Professor Tang's office.

"Professor, the average score of this year's freshmen is about 35 points lower than that of previous years, and there are also quite a few who submitted blank papers."

"Two people got full marks, one person got five correct answers, and three people got four correct answers."

Li Zheng reported the situation truthfully.

In the office, Tang Beichen tapped his index finger on the desk while opening the lid of his thermos to drink water.

Li Zheng was well aware that his mentor was seriously considering the matter.

As expected, after listening, Professor Tang asked, "The one who got full marks is Xie Zhixing, who is the other? Kong Jia, or Zheng Quanxun?"

The two people Professor Tang mentioned were students from the School of Mathematics who had participated in the CMO.

Li Zheng shook his head. "Kong Jia got 5 right, and Zheng Quanxun got 4 right."

"Who is that?" Li Zheng's answer surprised Professor Tang.

Li Zheng did not reply directly, but instead pulled out a test paper and placed it in front of Tang Beichen. "Teacher, look, this is Lin Chuan's test paper. He got a perfect score."

Upon hearing this, Professor Tang raised an eyebrow slightly, then quickly spread out the test paper.

"Yes, yes, all correct. Lin Chuan is quite something. He's already self-studied a whole series of courses, including 'Higher Algebra,' 'Mathematical Analysis,' 'Linear Algebra,' and 'Functional Analysis.' Especially the last big problem, the proof was concise and skillful. Truly impressive." Tang Beichen nodded in appreciation. "Xiao Li, are you familiar with Lin Chuan? Tell me about him."

Li Zheng was prepared. "Professor, Lin Chuan is from Zhang'an County, Chuzhou City, Yueyang Province. He scored 682 on the college entrance exam, including 145 in mathematics. He was originally going to the Computer Science Department of the School of Information Science, but he almost ended up being transferred to the School of Mathematics."

"Very good. I didn't expect this child to have such a strong mathematical talent. It's a good thing we didn't let him go to the School of Information Science, otherwise it would be a real pity."

Li Zheng had lost count of how many times he had heard his mentor praise Lin Chuan today.

You should know that the professor is always very serious, and the students rarely hang around in front of him when they have nothing to do.

"Mentor, there's actually something else..."

"you say."

Li Zheng quickly described Lin Chuan's extremely focused state while answering the questions, as well as the things he scribbled on the draft paper.

"It seems that Lin Chuan finished answering the questions a long time ago. I don't know what he was writing on so many draft papers. He walked quickly at the time, and the students didn't have their phones with them, so they couldn't report it in time. But maybe the students are overthinking it."

"Hmm." Professor Tang nodded, not taking the matter too seriously.

After finishing his report, Li Zheng turned and left.

Having done research under his mentor for so long, he knew his mentor's temperament very well and didn't want anyone to bother him too much.

Even the student workstations in the office are basically just for show; there isn't even a student to serve tea or water.

"Wait a minute, Xiao Li."

"Please speak, mentor."

"There's a short class on Modern Algebra tomorrow afternoon. Please inform Xie Zhixing and Lin Chuan to attend."

"Professor, isn't it a bit too early? Xie Zhixing is alright, he has a background in competitions, but Lin Chuan might not be able to keep up if he goes straight to learning 'Modern Algebra'."

Tang Beichen smiled and shook his head. "Little Li, do you know what a genius is? Before, I thought that apart from the students who had already entered the Qiushi Class, Xie Zhixing was the only genius in this year's Mathematics Department. Due to some psychological reasons, he was unable to enter the Qiushi Class immediately. I am very pleased that he was able to take the exam today."

"I didn't expect there would be another Lin Chuan! However, they are already more than a month behind the other students in the Qiushi Class. It's necessary for them to catch up and learn something different."

"Yes, mentor, I'll go and inform them."

……

In front of the library.

After Lu Zhiwei gave a brief self-introduction, so as not to disturb other students, Lin Chuan packed up his things, picked up his laptop, and walked out of the library with him.

"Lin Chuan, you were just reading 'Algebraic Geometry.' What year are you in?"

"Hello Professor Lu, I am a first-year student in the Applied Mathematics Class 2 of the School of Mathematics."

"Wow!" Lu Zhiwei raised an eyebrow.

He really didn't expect Lin Chuan to be a freshman, and not even in the Qiushi Class.

Students in regular classes are already studying "Algebraic Geometry" right from the start of the semester, and they are also writing papers that are clearly beyond the academic level of their peers.

That's truly remarkable.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Lin Chuan in front of us is pretending to know what he doesn't, deliberately coming up with a very profound paper title to attract attention.

But that deep state of studying mathematics doesn't seem like forgery...

After some thought, Professor Lu finally spoke up: "Lin Chuan, I see you're researching non-self-adjoint matrices. Could you explain the differences in spectral properties between them and self-adjoint matrices, as well as their eigenvalue representations?"

Understanding that the other party was testing him, Lin Chuan didn't intend to hide anything or play dumb. After a moment's thought, he said, "A self-adjoint matrix satisfies A*=A, and is symmetric in real space and Hermitian in complex space. Its eigenvalues ​​are all real numbers and its eigenvectors are orthogonal. Its spectrum is a real subset and can be diagonalized using the spectral theorem. Non-self-adjoint matrices do not have this property..."

Professor Lu's brows furrowed more and more as he listened.

Over the decades, he has seen too many geniuses, including students who skipped several grades and went on to graduate school at a young age.

However, such students often show extraordinary mathematical talent at a very young age, and they are basically involved in competitions and enter the Qiushi Class.

It's so strange that someone like Lin Chuan, who is not very well-known in the school, appears in the Applied Mathematics Class 2!

In an instant, Professor Lu, who had not been teaching on the front line for many years, suddenly had the idea of ​​taking on students, even a first-year undergraduate student.

Forcibly suppressing a smile and maintaining the dignity befitting a professor, Lu Zhiwei nodded slightly. "Well said. By the way, do you have plans to choose a mentor?"

Lin Chuan looked up at the middle-aged professor in front of him. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the other man was tensing his facial muscles.

Shouldn't I be the one feeling nervous in a situation like this?

Without time to think further, Lin Chuan shook his head. "No, the college organized a test for the Qiushi Class this morning. We don't know the results yet. I want to wait until the results come out before we talk about it."

"I've mentored several students, some of whom went on to Princeton and Cambridge..." Professor Lu paused for a moment, waiting for the next sentence.

Lin Chuan nodded. "Mm."

Seeing that Lin Chuan completely ignored his hints, Professor Lu could only say, "Lin Chuan, give me your phone number and your dorm room number."

"it is good."

Lin Chuan couldn't possibly refuse a professor who proactively added him as a friend.

He took out a pen and quickly wrote his name, phone number, and dormitory room number on a piece of draft paper, then handed it to Professor Lu Zhiwei.