Chapter 131 Strong Review Team
The few people who arrived early noticed Deligne and Witten, and quickly ended their conversation and greeted them: "Professor Deligne, Professor Witten, you are here too." They looked a little surprised when they said this.

When Holt approached them, he only wanted to review the manuscript, but when he came, he realized that he had approached so many people at the same time.

I thought this lineup that was better than usual was enough, but in the end, we also invited Deligne and Witten, the two mainstays.

Make them feel like you're making a fuss about nothing.

The key point is that now that these two big guys are here, it seems that they don’t play a big role here.

Someone soon took over the conversation and expressed dissatisfaction while frowning secretly.

"What's wrong with this Holt? It's just a paper. Shouldn't he just follow the procedure and find three reviewers to cross-check it? Why did he call all of us over?"

Others also echoed the central voice.

"I don't know what trick they are playing. It's a complete waste of time."

"Where are the Holts?"

"I hope he can give me a good reason later, otherwise the editorial board should consider changing the editor-in-chief."

"I have classes to attend later."

Deligne, who had already taken a rest on a chair, listened to everyone's words. Perhaps because he felt it was a bit noisy, he couldn't help but frown. After a little hesitation, he finally spoke: "Everyone should sit down first. It won't be too late to talk after Holt comes."

No one would question Deligne's authority, and everyone immediately quieted down after hearing this.

Find a seat and sit down for a while.

Witten, who was about to interrupt, glanced at Deligne and swallowed his words.

This bit of face still needs to be given.

that's it.

Five minutes passed quickly.

During this period, several familiar figures came.

Because the room was very quiet when they first came in, these people didn't say much.

However, they had all made up their minds that if Holt could not give a sufficient reason, they would complain to the editorial board.

At this moment, ten well-known scholars in the field of mathematics are sitting in this conference room.

There are two Fields Medal winners alone, so the lineup is quite strong.

No exaggeration at all.

Even an international mathematics academic exchange meeting might not be able to gather such a lineup.

What is quite interesting is that if they observe carefully, they will find that most of the people present are researchers in the field of number theory.

Compared to the others who looked slightly gloomy, Deligne was more curious.

He had been in more contact with Holt in the past two years, and especially got to know a mathematical genius like Xu Yuan. Judging from the quality of the papers that he had shown him, he should not be stupid enough to do anything to fool others.

What's more, most of them are from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

So he always felt that Holt must have his own considerations for calling so many people together.

This makes people look forward to it even more.

Maybe it will be a huge surprise.

The thought stayed here, and he immediately closed his eyes to recuperate.

Wait patiently for Holt to come over.

Fortunately, Holt did not delay too long. Soon he was seen running in with a cardboard box in his arms, gasping for breath from time to time.

Judging from his performance alone, it can be confirmed that the cardboard box in his arms is not light.

But this was obviously not the focus of everyone's attention. Before Holt could catch his breath, someone couldn't help but stand up and question him directly.

"Holt."

"Shouldn't you explain it?"

"You have to give us a good reason. What kind of thing requires calling so many people?" Those who like to watch the fun followed suit.

On the other hand, Holt still had a smile on his face. He was not angry because of other people's doubts. After putting the cardboard box in his hand on the table, he responded calmly.

"Please wait a moment, professors."

As he finished speaking, the two men felt embarrassed to continue talking.

There was a step, so I had to sit down temporarily in disappointment.

Holt looked around at this time, taking in the expressions of everyone present.

Only after everyone finally quieted down did I start introducing the details.

"Thank you very much for attending today's review meeting. The reason why I called you all here is mainly to complete the verification of the proof results of a paper. Please don't mind if I have delayed your time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Witten's voice came: "What kind of paper would make you take it so seriously?"

"It's about the field of number theory." Holt said truthfully with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Deligne's heart moved.

"Number Theory?"

He repeated the sentence in his mouth and continued to ask Holt: "Who is the author of the paper?"

"The authors of this paper are known to Professor Deligne. They are Xu Yuan from Qinghua University and a professor named Zhang Yitang." Holt smiled and answered Deligne's question without leaving any secrets about the author. Deligne couldn't help but smile when he heard that the author of the paper was indeed an acquaintance.

I muttered to myself, "I didn't expect he would go back to study number theory."

Naturally, everyone present was familiar with Xu Yuan. As an undergraduate freshman, he had submitted two papers to the Annals of Mathematics in succession, so he had some fame in the mathematics community.

Moreover, Deligne also gave an evaluation of the Prince of Mathematics in the published paper.

By this time.

Everyone began to become curious and wanted to know what this mathematical genius had solved in the field of number theory that made Holt take it so seriously that he even invited Deligne and Witten to come.

Witten didn't have the patience to listen to Holt's slow talk, and the next second he stood up and urged him on.

"Hurry up and get the paper out. If it's just ordinary progress, there's no need to keep so many people here."

"Everyone has their own things to do."

This statement was also recognized by others, who nodded in agreement.

Holt did not hesitate to open the cardboard box on the table to reveal the printed manuscript of the paper, while explaining to others in a deep voice.

"This paper is about the proof of the twin prime conjecture. Xu Yuan proved that there are infinite pairs of twin primes whose difference is less than 246. The whole paper is close to three-digit pages."

Almost at the moment when Holt's words were uttered, several scholars in the field of number theory, including Deligne, stood up at the same time.

There was a look of shock on his face.

"You just said it was a proof of the twin prime conjecture?"

"That's right." Holt heard someone confirm and nodded again.

This also made everyone's eyes widen, as they never expected that this paper was actually a study on twin prime numbers.

It is well known that twin prime numbers are the ultimate problem in the field of number theory. It was proposed at a mathematician's conference a hundred years ago, but to this day no scholar has been able to make any progress.

Not to mention proving it.

If Xu Yuan really made a breakthrough in the research of twin primes, then he is indeed worthy of today's review lineup.

Although Witten's main research area is not number theory, he also stood up with excitement in his eyes.

The previous dissatisfaction with Holt disappeared in an instant.

As a true mathematician, nothing is more exciting than witnessing the solution of difficult mathematical problems with your own eyes.

However, while they were still immersed in the joy brought by the news, Deligne had already taken the lead in getting the printed copy of the paper, and did not even bother to return to his seat to check it directly.

Seeing this, the others naturally no longer hesitated and took the printed manuscripts of the paper from Holt to study.

Whether the results of the paper are ultimately verified to be valid or contain errors, it will be a major event in the number theory community.

It is a great honor to be a reviewer.

Seeing that his goal was finally achieved, Holt took the empty cardboard box off the table and breathed a sigh of relief.

After he invited the reviewers, he was a few minutes late because he was printing the paper in the office. After all, the number of pages, nearly three digits, was indeed a lot.

Fortunately, things have been going smoothly so far, and all we need to do next is wait patiently for the results of the reviewers.

Determine whether Xu Yuan and Zhang Yitang's proof paper is valid.

Of course, deep down, he certainly hopes that Xu Yuan will succeed and make great progress in the field of number theory. Publishing the paper in the Annals of Mathematics can greatly enhance its influence.

At this point, everyone finally understood why Holt wanted to find so many people to participate in the review.

In addition to the importance of the twin prime conjecture, the number of pages in the paper is indeed very large.

After all, the formula process in the paper needs to be verified to ensure the rigor, logical consistency and accuracy of the entire paper. This workload cannot be solved by just a few mathematicians.

Everyone held the paper and read it carefully, their faces gradually becoming filled with surprise and excitement.

Afterwards, they all took a writing board to do calculations and verifications.

When we encounter something we don’t understand, we will ask each other for help for fear of making mistakes.

Since this was not something that could be solved in a short period of time, Holt was willing to become an errand boy, pouring water and delivering food to Deligne and the others, trying his best to cooperate without wasting time.

Of course, he didn't need to worry about anything, as everyone was completely attracted after reading the paper.

At this point, even if we announce that we will stop verifying the paper, the ten professors including Delignewitten will not agree.

We have to come to a conclusion no matter what.

As time passed, darkness soon replaced day and enveloped the city.

But the lights were still on at the headquarters of the Editorial Board of the Annals of Mathematics, and many internationally renowned mathematicians were busy and energetic. Looking around, one could see mathematical symbols written on the writing board, and it was obvious that they had decided to eat and stay here tonight.

Fortunately, Holt had the foresight to choose such a spacious conference hall.

It was already the second half of the night. Perhaps because the verification of the paper's results had reached the most critical stage, everyone's faces were visibly solemn.

However, he did not seem tired at all and was still full of energy.

On the contrary, Holt had been busy for a long time and was already a little exhausted. He could only sit on the chair and wait for the final result.

At this time, as Deligne was the first to verify the last step, he stopped writing and looked at the formula on the writing board with excitement.

"Iim inf(pn+1-pn)<246"

"The result is valid. They really proved that there are infinite pairs of twin primes whose difference is less than 246. This is the biggest breakthrough in the field of number theory ever!"

(End of this chapter)