I was a top student in America.

Chapter 109 New Project Launch (Please Subscribe)

Under Arjun's guidance, Li Ao quickly became familiar with the project process and obtained several core documents: a description of the two-dimensional lattice model, boundary parameter scanning records, and script records for discrete energy simulation.

He spent the entire morning reviewing these documents, without rushing to derive the formulas or immediately modifying the code.

According to the division of labor table, he and Amber were mainly responsible for estimating the discrete energy lower bound under boundary weights.

The specific work involves organizing the boundary layer output and low-energy modes, analyzing the boundary terms using discrete trace inequalities, and attempting to compress the constants in the spectral estimation.

In other words, they must mathematically explain why the lower bound in the numerical simulation loosens.

This part of the work relies heavily on mathematical analysis and numerical spectral estimation.

Assigning this task to a high school student sounds a bit absurd, but considering Li Ao's background, it's actually quite a good fit.

Around 10 a.m., three doctoral students pushed open the door and entered.

Judging from the dark circles under their eyes, they must have stayed up late last night.

The girl at the front was carrying a cup of coffee. She saw Li Ao as soon as she entered, put the cup down next to the monitor, and came over to greet him: "You must be Leo? Professor Rudy mentioned you to me beforehand."

She had a friendly smile on her face, but she looked exhausted.

Looking at the girl with slightly disheveled hair, Li Ao guessed who she was, so he stood up and went to greet her: "Hello, are you Amber?"

"It's me." Amber gestured for him to sit down, explaining with a hint of apology, "Last night, Carter, Nicole, and I were checking border crossings, and we didn't get back to the apartment until after 3 a.m. Otherwise, I would have gone to pick you up with Arjun this morning—"

After a brief chat, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Li Ao learned that the other two were named Carter and Nicole, both doctoral students in Rudy's group.

In just a few words, he had formed a basic assessment of Amber.

This is a capable person who will proactively take on the details of a project.

Amber glanced at the document on Li Ao's screen, then sat down next to him and started talking: "I've read your paper on two-dimensional discrete averaging of convex functions several times these past few days. The method for handling the averaging error of discrete grids in it will definitely come in handy in this project, and might just be the breakthrough we're looking for. With you on board, I feel much more at ease."

"By the way, David always praises you whenever he mentions you, and I'm really curious to see how far you can go."

"David was my teaching assistant at the math summer camp, and he helped me a lot," Li Ao replied calmly.

Just then, a series of light footsteps came from the doorway.

"I brought some energy bars and donuts. Those who haven't had breakfast can have something to eat first." Isabella walked into the office carrying a paper bag and began distributing them one by one.

She clearly often brought snacks for everyone, and Ah-Qiong and the others skillfully reached out to take them.

The project team has been operating at a high intensity recently, and it's common to eat coffee for breakfast. Having some food to tide them over is always a good thing.

When she reached Li Ao's table, Isabella seemed to still be thinking about the misunderstanding from their first meeting yesterday, and specially left him two energy bars: "Leo, these are for you."

"Thank you." Li Ao nodded and accepted it.

Isabella seemed much more relaxed today, less anxious than yesterday.

Before Li Ao joined, she was the only undergraduate in this office, working among a group of PhDs, and the pressure she faced was unimaginable.

Now that a high school student who didn't even go to college has joined the team, she's no longer the least experienced one.

Although Li Ao already has two SCI papers, she believes she still has an advantage in terms of the amount of time she has spent working with physical models and project processes.

After all, a person's energy is limited. From the summer vacation until now, it has only been a few months. It is rare to be able to produce a mathematical paper in such a short time. It is impossible to be proficient in all aspects of engineering experience.

Thinking of this, she shared her experience as someone who had been there: "Leo, just take your time getting used to things when you first join the crew, don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you encounter anything you don't understand, feel free to ask Arjun and Amber. That's what I did at first too."

"Understood, thank you," Li Ao replied.

In the following time, Li Ao quickly went through all the documents and accurately identified the core pain points that were causing the project to stall.

Under weak boundary coupling conditions, this two-dimensional lattice model performs well, and the discrete energy lower bound basically matches the numerical results, which is more than enough to meet the needs of interim reports.

However, once the boundary weights increase, or the mesh refinement causes local high-frequency oscillations near the boundary, the lower bound estimation will become significantly looser.

Such flawed data is clearly unconvincing.

From a mathematical perspective, the root cause lies in the fact that the boundary correction remainder has encroached on too much of the lower bound remainder, which means that the structure of the boundary weights must be re-analyzed.

Amber's mathematical foundation and numerical calculation ability are outstanding, so she naturally took the lead in this core derivation work, and staying up late for several nights in a row was inevitable.

Considering that the project team's interim meeting is at the beginning of next month, the time left for them is quite tight.

At noon, everyone went to Hutchinson Commons for lunch to celebrate Li Ao's official joining of the group.

Coincidentally, they had just sat down when they ran into Professor Rudy, who had just finished his meeting.

"How are you feeling?" Rudy sat down opposite Li Ao and casually asked in a gentle tone.

This was the first time Li Ao had eaten with the project team, but he appeared perfectly normal.

Upon hearing Professor Rudy's question, he stopped what he was doing, thought for a moment, and replied, "It's more complicated than I imagined."

"That's normal." Rudy smiled. "The proof of discrete energy stability does indeed rely on mathematical estimation, but the physical model itself is just as crucial as the subsequent numerical implementation. However, I believe you'll get the hang of it quickly."

When Professor Jensen initially recommended Li Ao, Rudy's biggest concern was that the topic was highly interdisciplinary and complex, so he declined the proposal and instead seconded Amber.

It wasn't until he learned that Li Ao was equally skilled in numerical computation and C++ programming that he changed his mind and personally went to the mathematics department to request his services.

He clearly had high expectations for this high school student.

Upon hearing these words, Isabella, Carter, and the others sitting next to him couldn't help but glance at Li Ao, their expressions revealing their surprise.

Professor Rudy is always rigorous and rarely shows such straightforward optimism towards a young person.

Of course, being able to publish an SCI paper during high school is certainly a sign of genius, but Rudy, as a physics professor at the University of Chicago, has seen far too many talented people.

It is still extraordinary that he can place this level of trust in a newcomer who has just joined the team.

If Professor Jensen from the mathematics department had said this, people could understand.

However, everyone tacitly understood and did not speak out on the spot.

The extent to which this high school student can contribute to the project will be revealed through subsequent work.