Chapter 68: Shocking Paper Author

When Pomerance heard that the paper in his hand solved the problem of the intervals between infinite Carmichael numbers, his slightly cloudy eyes behind his metal-framed reading glasses suddenly burst into a gleam of light, and his whole state became much more energetic than before.

"Mr. Holt, has anyone really solved the final interval problem of Carmichael numbers?"

"Whether this problem, which has troubled the field of number theory for nine years, has been successfully proven and solved, I think it is up to you, professor, to make the final judgment."

Holt replied with a smile on his face, then picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip elegantly.

When he noticed the change in Pomerance's expression, he knew in his heart that his trip was not wrong.

Pomerance is indeed the most suitable person to review this paper and represents the absolute authority on the study of Carmichael numbers.

The brief conversation between the two evoked forgotten memories in Pomerance's mind, and he thought of the exciting scene when he and his two old friends proved the infinite number of Carmichael numbers.

Unfortunately, when they tried to prove the intervals between these infinite number of Carmichael numbers.

New difficulties arose.

They believed that given a sufficiently large number X, there must be a Carmichael number between X and 2X.

Unfortunately, no one has completed this proof until now.

He thought he might never see the proof, but unexpectedly the Annals of Mathematics brought him such a huge surprise.

As his thoughts reached this point, Pomerance became more and more impatient, holding the paper tightly in his right hand.

"Please give me a moment Mr. Holt."

"of course."

"I will stay here until the results come out." Holt said with certainty.

After receiving Holt's reply, Pomerance immediately returned to his desk and began to verify the proof method mentioned in the paper.

As for Holt, he just sat on the sofa, waiting for the final result.

For mathematicians.

When you are immersed in a math problem that interests you, you often don't notice the passage of time.

As the sunlight outside the window gradually shifted, Pomerance's expression gradually changed from serious to excited.

In the end, he couldn't control his emotions anymore and expressed his feelings out loud.

“This proof method is simply brilliant!”

"genius."

“Whoever invented it must have been a mathematical genius.”

Holt was attracted by Pomerance's voice, and when he saw the excited expression on the other's face, he quickly stood up and walked over.

"How's it going, Professor Pomerance?"

"The author of this paper used a new sieving method, which led to the conclusion that when n>3300, there is always a Carmichael number between n and 2n." Pomerance raised his eyes, took a deep breath, and told Holt his judgment on this paper.

Holt confirmed: "So the problem of the spacing between infinite Carmichael numbers is completely solved?"

"Yes."

Pomerance nodded and answered with a firm look.

After hearing this result, Holt finally felt relieved.

Facts have proved that his judgment was not wrong, and the field of number theory is really about to usher in another sensation.

Most importantly, the Annals of Mathematics will also be able to increase its influence.

You should know that there are four top journals in the field of mathematics. If there is no continuous injection of fresh blood with high-quality papers, their impact factors will lag behind the other ones and become the bottom.

As the current editor-in-chief of the Editorial Board of Annals of Mathematics, it is his responsibility to ensure the stable operation and high quality of the journal.

Now it can be said that he only has one thought in his mind, which is to return to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as soon as possible.

Get this paper published in the latest journal.

But just as he was about to leave, he heard Pomerance ask with great hope.

"Mr. Holt, could you please tell me the author of this paper, and which country and which school he is from?"

"School of Mathematics, Qinghua University." Holt did not hide this information from Pomerance.

After all, once the paper is published, the author's information will also appear in the journal.

"Which professor from Qinghua University is it?" Pomerance continued to ask Holt, "I really want to communicate with him face to face."

At this time, the expression on Holt's face began to become a little unnatural.

He paused for a few seconds before answering again.

"This author is a freshman who just entered the School of Mathematics at Qinghua University this year."

"Just turned eighteen."

“And he is both the corresponding author and the first author.”

Holt had mixed feelings when talking about this. He was relatively calm when he first saw the information filled out by the author of the paper, because there are many young geniuses with high mathematical talent around the world.

But now we know that the other party has successfully proved the problem of the intervals between infinite Carmichael numbers.

But I feel it is a little unbelievable.

A problem that has plagued the mathematics community for so long was finally solved completely by a new college student.

I really don't know whether to be happy or ashamed.

The former proves that there is a promising future for mathematics, while the latter shows that the current level of mathematicians is limited.

Although more of those mathematicians did not concentrate on studying Carmichael numbers.

There are too many unsolved problems in mathematics. At the same time, Pomerance's face, which was wrinkled by time, was full of shock. He never expected that his unsolved problem would be proved by such a young student.

"He's only 18 years old, but he seems to have a very high level of talent and understanding in mathematics."

"I have no regrets seeing this issue resolved."

The final emotional expression gave such a high evaluation, which brought the paper in hand to a perfect end.

After leaving Pomerance's office, Holt did not stay there for too long and caught the nearest flight back to Princeton Research Institute.

……

……

The National Day holiday seemed to be as long as seven days, but it passed very quickly. Excluding the time spent on traveling back and forth, it seemed as if I had just arrived home and had to pick up my luggage and rush to school.

During the few days Xu Yuan spent in the library, he basically finished his sophomore courses such as probability theory and statistics.

It can be said to be a full harvest.

He did not pay much attention to the thesis, but Tang Shihong would definitely notify him as soon as possible if there was a reply to the email.

Anyway, given the quality of the paper, it is absolutely impossible for it to be rejected.

Unless the editorial board of the Annals of Mathematics has lost their minds.

As professional courses returned to normal, the pace of school also got back on track.

Except for being dragged around the campus by Li Zhenya and others sometimes, I spent most of my time studying in the dormitory.

Or go to the library to look up information.

That day, Xu Yuan did not follow Li Zhenya and others to attend professional courses, but came to the Engineering Mechanics Department classroom alone.

Since he has become famous in the department recently, some professional course teachers said that they have not seen him for such a long time since the start of the semester, so in order to avoid embarrassment when meeting him in the future, he had to come over more often to show his face.

In addition, the teacher of this morning's theoretical mechanics course is quite special.

The other party was a professor at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics of the Department of Engineering Mechanics, and happened to be his graduate supervisor in his previous life.

Because according to the requirements of the Department of Mechanics, both academicians and famous professors must teach undergraduate students.

-

"Has the top scorer in mathematics in our class arrived today? If not, let's start the lecture now."

At ten o'clock in the morning in the Shaw Science and Technology Building, Xu Chongxing walked into the classroom with a teacup in one hand and an ordinary handbag in the other. He put the things on the podium and asked the students as usual.

Although Xu Chongxing is thin and not very tall, he exudes a strong aura and is a mentor who is quite strict with his students.

He personally did not approve of Xu Yuan's choice, and always felt that even if one was very talented, he would become mediocre by studying two majors at the same time, even though the study of engineering mechanics could not be separated from mathematics.

Instead of being distracted frequently, it is better to specialize in a certain area.

The key point is that he didn't see this student in several classes. Although the school allowed the other party to choose courses freely, he couldn't help feeling dissatisfied.

How can you pass the midterm and final exams, get credits and obtain a degree if you don’t even attend classes?

At this moment, Xu Yuan was sitting in the audience with an embarrassed look on his face. Although he had heard that a teacher often mentioned him in class, he did not expect that this person would be Professor Xu Chongxing from the Institute of Fluid Mechanics.

And based on his understanding of his mentor in his previous life, saying this is basically a criticism of him.

But since I attended class on time today, I definitely can't pretend I didn't hear it.

After a little mental preparation, I immediately raised my hand to respond.

"I'm here."

Almost as soon as these two words were shouted out, the other students in the classroom immediately looked over.

Whether it was the post in the school forum about the principal personally delivering the admission notice, or the passionate speech at the freshman ceremony, Xu Yuan demonstrated his strong strength that far surpassed other freshmen.

I'm sure everyone is familiar with this.

Especially the students in the third class of the Department of Engineering Mechanics learned that Xu Yuan was also studying this major.

I am even more looking forward to what will happen in the classroom, just to see if this freshman representative is really that outstanding.

As a result, the National Day had already passed and I didn’t even see anyone.

Today I finally met the real person, how could I not take a few more glances at him.

"It seems that he is really the freshman representative who won the gold medal and the top scorer in the International Mathematical Olympiad."

"What was his name?"

"This is a real boss. He is studying for two bachelor's degrees at the same time. Even if I am killed, I can't do it."

"I think he overestimates himself a bit. He will probably give up engineering mechanics before his sophomore year."

"It's possible. I've never seen him attend classes."

"You even dared to skip Professor Xu's class. I'm afraid you're done for if you get caught today."

Xu Yuan had regained his composure by this time, and was not affected by the whispers around him.

After all, he is the one who knows best whether he can get an engineering degree.

Xu Chongxing was obviously a little surprised by Xu Yuan's appearance, but he did not criticize anything specifically. He put on his glasses, looked at him carefully for a few seconds, and waved his hand in response.

"Since you are here, sit down and listen to the class carefully."

Logically, he should be happy that things have calmed down, but Xu Yuan knew his mentor's character very well.

There is a high probability that there will be other things happening later, so it is impossible to get through it comfortably.

Fortunately, the relevant knowledge of engineering mechanics was stored in his mind, so he didn't have to worry about anything.

(End of this chapter)