Chapter 1038 International Congress of Mathematicians

It was not until this moment that Chang Haonan realized that he had accidentally made a mistake.

Fortunately, it is only 2002, and a certain four-character company has just emerged from the quagmire of the Internet bubble and has barely gained a foothold. This sentence has not yet become an Internet meme along with the emoticons of a certain CCTV host.

Given his current identity, it wouldn't seem out of place if he said it that way.

However, perhaps because the tone and demeanor of the answer was too natural, and there was no sign of deliberateness at all, Academician Wu on the other side took it seriously and for a moment he couldn't think of what to say next -

He originally thought that Chang Haonan had achieved such status and honor at such a young age, and was worried that the latter would not be able to grasp it.

And I came here specifically just now with the intention of giving you a little reminder before the award ceremony.

But it turned out that it was completely different from what I expected...

So much so that his worries immediately jumped 180 degrees and came to another level:

"Uh... Professor Chang, times have changed... There's no need to overemphasize being indifferent to fame and fortune... Personal values and social values don't conflict with each other..."

Chang Haonan had just mentioned it casually when recalling the world famous paintings before his rebirth. Now that he was praised by Academician Wu as being "indifferent to fame and fortune", he was still quite nervous.

However, before he could reply, several other people came over from not far away and interrupted the topic in a timely manner.

"Wen Jun."

Although Chang Haonan's vision was blocked, when he heard the other party addressing Academician Wu in this way, he obviously must be a well-known figure in the mathematics community.

It has to be at the level of the old seniors.

At the same time, Wu Wenjun also turned sideways and looked at the people walking behind him.

He also gave up the seat in front of Chang Haonan.

And just as the latter had just speculated, the man was thin, slightly hunched, and even much older than Wu Wenjun.

He looked to be at least ninety years old.

"When you go on stage later..."

The leader seemed to want to say something, but before he could finish his words, he noticed Chang Haonan standing next to him.

Then the sound stopped abruptly.

But his slightly cloudy eyes revealed more curiosity, indicating that he did not recognize the person in front of him.

Of course, this is normal.

The reason why Chang Haonan collaborated with Perelman to publish that paper was mainly because he accidentally discovered a new key to solving the Poincare conjecture while studying manifold learning algorithms.

It was not intentional.

Therefore, after that wave of earth-shattering events, he quickly returned to the direction of applied research.

Apart from a few limited-scale lectures, he has not made any long-term or intensive appearances in the mathematics community.

And for the same reason, Chang Haonan was also somewhat confused at this time.

He had indeed recognized photos of many famous mathematicians before he came.

But as we all know, the appearance of elderly people in their 80s is not very recognizable in many cases.

And the level of aging may reach a new level every year.

If you are not very familiar with it, it is normal not to recognize it...

Fortunately, Wu Wenjun quickly stepped forward, bent down and held the other person's hand, and then gestured in the direction of Chang Haonan:

"Teacher, this is Professor Chang Haonan."

This sentence is apparently introducing Chang Haonan.

But in fact, it also hints at the old man's identity.

Therefore, Chang Haonan quickly saluted the other party:

"Senior Chen, it's an honor to meet you here."

But considering that the other person's arms were supported, I didn't go forward to shake hands.

Chen Xingshen, mentor of Wu Wenjun and Qiu Chengtong, has a pioneering historical position in the field of differential geometry.

He is also one of the absolute big names in the Chinese mathematics community.

In fact, the reason why China was determined to actively strive for the right to host the International Congress of Mathematicians was largely due to the suggestions of teachers and students Chen and Qiu.

The successful holding of the event in 2002 was also due to the strong support of this predecessor.

However, Chen Shengshen was already 91 years old at this time and his health condition was not good.

Therefore, Chang Haonan thought that the other party would not come in person.

Chen Shengshen did not answer immediately, but stared at Chang Haonan's face for a long time.

Then he slowly said:

"This conference can be held in Beijing, thanks to your achievement at that time, Professor Chang..."

Chang Haonan quickly shook his head:

“This is really an exaggeration…”

"You and Mr. Qiu have been working on this for many years, and the entire Chinese mathematics community has seen it. You can't attribute all the credit to me just because I was lucky and produced some results before the final results were announced."

As he was talking, Chen Shengshen was helped by everyone and sat down at a nearby seat:

"Xiao Qiu and I did contribute a little bit...but the value of this conference to Chinese mathematics research is mostly reflected in you."

"To put it more directly, after Mr. Chen and Mr. Su, it was you who first brought the Chinese mathematics community close to... or even to the top."

This sentence made everyone around stunned.

Then he turned his attention to Chang Haonan.

The Chen Su mentioned by Chen Shengshen naturally does not include himself, but refers to Chen Jiangong and Su Buqing, two mathematicians active in the 1930s and 1940s.

After that, although many Chinese names, including his own, have shone in the mathematical world, they are all Chinese after all, and the achievements they have made cannot be considered as belonging to China.

"In fact, after you proved the Poincare conjecture, Cheng Tong told me that he wanted to invite you to teach at Princeton University."

After a short pause, Chen Shengshen continued:

"But I had already returned to China and had some understanding of your situation, so I stopped him..."

"I really don't have any plans to teach abroad..."

Chang Haonan made no attempt to hide this.

In fact, although he has been busy with many projects in recent years, he is not really too busy.

The reason why he disappeared at the speed of light after proving the Poincare conjecture was largely because he wanted to reduce his presence in the mathematical community.

Theoretical research is different from engineering research, and sometimes you need to work alone.

……

The discussion within the small circle did not last long.

As the time got closer to the opening ceremony, Wu Wenjun, the chairman of the conference, needed to prepare to go on stage to deliver a speech and was the first to leave the audience.

Not long after, a group of foreign mathematics giants who had rushed over from their residences also entered the venue one after another.

Although not many people can recognize Chang Haonan immediately, Chen Shengshen and Qiu Chengtong are quite famous after all.

As long as you get closer, it is not difficult to infer the identity of the former.

So in the short period of time that followed, Chang Haonan got to know a lot of people...

To be precise, many great gods——

Gerd Faltings, Pierre Deligne, Charles Fefferman…

They are all senior leaders who have made pioneering contributions in their respective fields.

Maxim Kontsevich, Andrew Wiles, Richard Hamilton, Edward Witten…

These were the ones that were first discovered on arXiv or were later called in to review the paper.

Laurent Lavoucher, Vladimir Vvodsky, Wendelin Werner, and, of course, Perelman...

Together with Chang Haonan, he is a popular candidate for this year's Philippine Awards.

Although the specific candidates for the Fields Medal and the nominees are kept absolutely confidential before the award ceremony, it is not difficult to guess a rough range for the top mathematics community, which is already small.

It’s just a matter of who the final winners will be and how many there will be.

Basically, everyone agreed that Chang Haonan and Perelman would definitely win the award.

But it is not in this session, there is actually some controversy.

After all, when awarding the Philippine Medal, in addition to achievement, the age of the recipient is also considered from a personal perspective.

In principle, the age of the winner cannot exceed 40 years.

So the selection committee sometimes prefers to award the prize to mathematicians aged 36-39.

Therefore, many people still have expectations for themselves, believing that this year the award will also follow convention and give priority to those nominees who "will be too late if they miss it."

Of course, Perelman is also exactly 36 years old this year.

But since it is said in principle, it means that the principle can be broken.

For example, Andrew Wiles in 98.

Not only did he win the award at the age of 45, but he even squeezed out an extra spot that year.

The Poincare conjecture was clearly worth the committee's decision to break the principle once again.

Then it would be normal for Perelman to win the award in the next year, 2006.

As for Chang Haonan...

If you calculate based on her age, she is only 26 years old.

Fortunately, regardless of what the top mathematicians do in private, at least they are decent in appearance.

Even for the Fields Award, there wouldn't be any open scenes of pulling down and competing for it.

So the atmosphere is quite harmonious.

Among this revolving crowd, there is one person who is quite special.