Chapter 774 Shock in the Mathematics World

In fact, Tian Gang was not the only one who was curious about Chang Haonan.

United States, New Jersey.

In the editorial office of the Annals of Mathematics of Princeton University Press.

Shortly after arriving for work, Richard Hamilton walked into the office of senior editor Mikael Lagerstedt.

"Professor Hamilton?"

The latter raised his head and was a little surprised when he saw the identity of the visitor:

"How did you..."

"Of course it's because of the paper you gave me for review a few days ago."

Hamilton sat across from Lagerstedt and took out a manuscript from his briefcase:

"I came to Princeton to attend a conference, so I brought it to you on the way."

In the 90s, review comments were still in the parallel stage of online and offline review. There were not many people like him who wrote review comments by hand and then sent them back to the editorial department.

But there are still not many cases where it is delivered in person.

Ragstetter quickly took it into his hands:

"This...so fast?"

From the time I sent the review invitation to the other party, less than a week has passed.

For a mathematics paper, especially one that can be published in a mathematics journal, this review speed is... very abnormal.

In particular, the author of the paper also claims that his research will help solve the Poincaré conjecture.

It generally means that there is a serious basic error somewhere in the article, so that there is no need to read the following content at all.

In other words, it was written by Min Ke.

Serious mathematicians, no matter how good they are, would not do such a bad job.

Thinking of this, Ragstetter's expression was a bit ugly.

The editorial office itself is responsible for pre-reviewing the submitted manuscripts.

Papers with serious problems like that should not be sent to reviewers.

If an inaccurate article is really sent for review, or it is sent to a big boss like Hamilton, it will be a huge blow to him, and even to the reputation of the entire Mathematics Annual.

Ragstetter suddenly felt a little regretful.

As an editor of a mathematics journal, he graduated from the Princeton Department of Mathematics with a master's degree, but he knew that he was not an academic material, so he became an editor.

After finding this paper in his mailbox, he read it again.

I found that I seemed to be able to understand.

In addition, the author also wrote about the Poincaré conjecture, so he decided to submit it directly to several big guys in the field of differential geometry for review.

"I knew... there must be something wrong with the paper that even I can understand..."

"Such articles from unknown research institutions and unknown scholars should be more cautious and handed over to some lesser-known second- and third-rate professors for review..."

Ragstetter thought in annoyance as he opened the manuscript that Hamilton had brought.

Then I saw——

Suggested for publication.

"what?"

Ragstedt, who had already done enough psychological preparation, didn't even react for a while.

After being stunned for a while, he raised his head and looked at Hamilton opposite:

"You mean...this paper can be published directly?"

The latter was also stunned.

Lagerstedt has been an editor at the Annals of Mathematics for almost thirty years, and he can ask such nonsensical questions, just like Perelman suddenly asking him whether 1 + 1 is equal to 2.

His first reaction must be - there must be some other deep meaning behind this.

However, Hamilton thought for a long time and couldn't think of any other meaning besides the literal meaning, so he had no choice but to nod:

"Strictly speaking, it is recommended to be published directly. I am only one of the reviewers. Doesn't the final decision rest with your editorial department?"

"No...I mean..."

Fortunately, at this time, Lagerstedt's IQ gradually began to regain the high ground:

"I mean, I didn't expect you to give review comments so quickly."

"Speaking of this, I am very interested in this author."

Hamilton sat up straight and said solemnly.

"So... this article can really help prove the Poincaré conjecture, as he said?"

Ragstetter also gradually relaxed.

"Yes."

Hamilton nodded, then suddenly smiled.

"what happened?"

Ragstetter's heart was filled with doubts.

"Nothing, I remembered something interesting..."

Hamilton waved his hand.

In fact, he was thinking of the words at the end of the paper that he copied at his own expense.

Mathematics is boring to most people, but not necessarily to mathematicians.

At least Hamilton didn't mind adding some witty language to the paper.

"Cough-cough-"

After slightly adjusting his tone, he cleared his throat and continued:

"The two proofs given in this paper are two tools that the differential geometry community has been looking for. Although they cannot be directly said to be the key to unlocking the Poincaré conjecture, they are at least a step forward in a possible direction. ”

"I think Perelman would be very interested in this article. Before he returned to Russia last year, he was studying the use of Ricci flow to prove the Poincaré conjecture."

Hearing this name, Ragstetter also felt helpless:

"I originally thought about sending the paper to Professor Perreman, but I was worried that he wouldn't reply to us for a long time..."

Grigory Perelman's character is quite eccentric, fitting many people's stereotype of the "weird Russian genius."

"It doesn't matter, he will always see it."

Hamilton waved his hand and then returned to the previous topic:

"What I just wanted to say is not the content of this article itself, but the author's way of writing the paper, or the way he thinks."

Ragstedt didn't reply, just showed a puzzled expression.

"This article is an expansion based on the theory of Ricci flow. Although it cannot be regarded as establishing a completely new theoretical framework, it still involves some new concepts and new methods. Logically speaking, it should take a long time to complete Understand.”

Hamilton paused here, but continued:

"But when I read this paper, I hardly felt any obstacles in understanding. You must know that combinatorial Ricci flow is the most cutting-edge research field in the field of differential geometry. Even if it is me, or Perelman, I want to explain It is also quite difficult to understand a brand new result..."

Ragstetter nodded, indicating that he understood what the other party meant——

No wonder he thought he could understand it before.

"The author seems to know where readers like us will encounter difficulties in understanding. Almost every step he writes in the paper explains these links accurately."

Hamilton held his chin in one hand with a serious expression:

"This reminds me...teacher, to be precise, the enlightenment teacher."

"What do you mean?"

Hamilton took a deep breath and replied:

"Only people whose thinking level is much higher than that of readers can write articles in this way."

Ragstetter's pupils shrank suddenly.

If others say this, that's fine.

But this is Richard Hamilton.

The mind is higher than him, so what kind of monster is it?

For a moment, the two people in the office were speechless.

After a while, Hamilton spoke again:

"The wonderful proof that Fermat did not write has made mathematicians around the world work hard for more than 300 years."