Chapter 279 - 279 A Seminar! What Did You See?
279 A Seminar! What Did You See?
Professor Vincent turned to the first page.
Today, he was going to catch the shortcomings of the thesis and let his students know what it meant to be the first to succeed!
However, Professor Vincent was stunned by the title.
“The proof of ‘Hodge’s conjecture’?!” Professor Vincent’s voice was out of tune as he said in disbelief, “Luo Feng studied this?”
“Yes!” Christine nodded proudly. After all, she had helped too.
Professor Vincent rubbed his eyes. He could not believe what he was seeing. He really did not know much about this, but he had already said it just now…
A huge subject like mathematics had already been refined into countless subjects. An all-rounded mathematician had not appeared for many years.
Professor Vincent mainly studied algebra, but Hodge’s conjecture was more geometric.
To be honest, it was really outside his range of knowledge.
Christine was right! D*mmit!
“Professor, why don’t… I tell you about it?” Christine said carefully, trying not to hurt Professor Vincent’s pride.
“No need!” Professor Vincent suppressed his displeasure and closed the thesis. “I’ll study it myself. You can go back first.”
…
In the Dean’s office of the Mathematics Faculty.
Professor Vincent and the Dean sat in a row and stared at Professor Jing opposite them.
“How is it, Old Jing? You’ve been reading it for a week. Did you understand anything?” Professor Vincent asked anxiously.
Professor Jing was the one who recruited Luo Feng back then. His research direction was also geometric.
“What can I understand in a week?” Professor Jing put down the photocopied paper helplessly. “Besides, I’m not the authority to decide whether these arguments are correct or not.”
Professor Vincent and the Dean of the Mathematics Faculty swallowed their saliva and were speechless.
This was really not modesty. Just proving a result did not mean completion after all. On the contrary, this was the beginning of the debate.
It was one of the seven difficult questions in the mathematics world after all. No one had a standard answer. Anyone could say two sentences, but they might not be able to find the correct answer.
Even though Professor Jing was considered a mathematics expert in the country, his influence internationally was still a little small.
In other words, it was not up to him to decide.
“The school recruited an impressive student… who went to the Finance Faculty,” the Dean of the Mathematics Faculty said regretfully. “Now, it’s troublesome. How reliable is this proof with your experience?”
Professor Jing paused. “I didn’t find anything wrong. It can be said that Luo Feng’s proof process is very simple… From my personal point of view… Is he really a freshman?”
“You were the one who recruited him. Tell me how reliable he is!”
Professor Jing still did not believe it. Luo Feng’s identity also affected his judgment. He tried his best to ignore this point. “The reliability is about 70%! The other 30% is because I haven’t understood it yet.”
“70%!” The Dean of the Mathematics Faculty was shocked. “How about we hold a math seminar? It won’t make a fool of ourselves, right?”
“The seminar is fine!” Professor Jing was the first to agree.
“We’re all busy researching. We can’t make a fool of ourselves.” Professor Vincent also needed to hear the analysis of other big shots.
Oxford was a famous school that had been around for a hundred years. The reputation it had accumulated was going to come in handy at this moment! With their influence, it would not be a problem to invite a big shot to discuss it.
“What if the argument is wrong?” The Dean of the Mathematics Faculty asked worriedly.
To hold a seminar for a freshman’s thesis, only to find out that it was wrong. If this were to spread, wouldn’t people laugh one’s head off?
Professor Jing and Professor Vincent did not speak.
They only cared about academics. The Dean was worried about the school’s honor.
If they did not hold a seminar, they would bring Luo Feng’s thesis with them when they went out to participate in the seminar. It would just take more time.
After hesitating for a moment, the Dean of the Mathematics Faculty made up his mind. “It’s common for mathematical arguments to meet problems! Luo Feng’s standard is quite good! ro be able to write this thesis! I’ll snatch him from you later!”
“Okay!” Professor Vincent really needed teammates!
The three of them had high hopes for Luo Feng.
Professor Vincent suddenly felt a little regretful as soon as he left the office. There was a 1/10,000 chance that Luo Feng’s argument was completely correct. Then, if his thesis was successfully published, it meant that he could graduate early!
“That’s not right! How can I take in Luo Feng as my disciple if he escapes?” Vincent finally remembered the main point.
Professor Jing had heard about the bet between Luo Feng and Professor Vincent and could not help but roll his eyes at him. “I say, do you want Luo Feng to succeed or fail?”
“I… I don’t know either,” Professor Vincent said sadly.
Seeing this, Professor Jing felt that it was better to let Luo Feng decide.
It was his thesis after . If the thesis was wrong, Luo Feng would bear the pressure.
Therefore, Professor Jing called Luo Feng over and told him that they were preparing to have a seminar and discuss the thesis. The decision to participate or not was up to Luo Feng.
“Sure!” Luo Feng also needed Oxford to lead the way and successfully publish the article.
“Think about it carefully,” Professor Jing reminded. “If you fail, it will affect the school’s reputation.”
“I’m confident!” Luo Feng’s eyes burned.
He had never failed in this aspect! He would definitely be recognized!
“That’s good!” Professor Jing praised his courage. “Then the seminar will be in a month! Do you have any objections?”
“No.”
After discussing it, Luo Feng left the office.
When he reached the corner, Professor Vincent suddenly stopped him.
“Professor, what’s the matter?” Luo Feng asked curiously.
Professor Vincent looked at Luo Feng’s young face. It was still a little unrealistic. He cleared his throat and said, “I just want to tell you that failure in academics is a common thing. Don’t feel pressured, understand?”
Luo Feng paused. He understood.
Professor Vincent was encouraging him.
“Understood! Thank you, Professor!”
Then, he strode forward without looking back.
…
The seminar invitation was sent out on the day that the decision was made.
Time was tight for academics, and they had to arrange their schedules in advance after all.
Oxford had organized a huge conference this time. The big names in the country were all invited. Almost all the connections that the mathematics professors had were used.
“About Hodge’s conjecture? From Oxford University?”
The person who received the invitation was surprised.
There were only a few people in the world who were qualified to study Hodge’s conjecture after all.
They couldn’t help but look at the name of the author of the thesis. Was it the one they remembered?
“Luo Feng? Who?” Different people asked the same question.
After some investigation, they heard that Luo Feng was a first-year student at Oxford University. His major was finance, but he actually dared to study mathematics!
Most of the people who received the invitation were uninterested. They really didn’t want to attend if it weren’t for their pride.