From all-round academic master to chief scientist

French time, January 1st.

Lin Xiao came to Paris.

This city, known as the romantic capital of the world, is indeed as beautiful as described in various rumors. Especially the Eiffel Tower leaning on the Seine River cannot help but make people feel its architectural magnificence.

Of course, this is for foreign tourists who come here, and for locals living in Paris, they probably think "what's so good about the Eiffel Tower?"

However, for Lin Xiao, he did not feel these beautiful scenery very deeply. Just like although he listened to Jay Chou, he had no interest in the coffee on the Seine River and the Left Bank.

What he saw was the rigorous structural mechanics of the Eiffel Tower, the infinite mysteries hidden in the fluid movement of the Seine River, and the atmosphere of mathematics here.

After he arrived in Paris, he stayed in a hotel near No. 11, rue Pierre and Marie Curie. There was a mathematical institute on this street called the Institut Henri Poincaré, where the Bourbaki seminar was held. Held at the Poincaré Institute.

The start time of the Bourbaki seminar is January 5th, so there are still a few days left, so when Lin Xiao has nothing to do, he will come to the Poincaré Institute to participate in the afternoon tea party of mathematicians, and those who The friends chatted with each other, and occasionally some people would come up with a smile after recognizing him and discuss Lin's conjecture and so on.

On January 4, a welcome dinner for this Bourbaki seminar began at the Poincaré Institute.

Of course, there are many mathematicians attending this party, or there are many every time. After all, the number of mathematicians living in Paris is the largest in the world. It takes less than an hour's drive for them to attend the Bourbaki seminar. Only a short distance away, unless you live outside Paris.

There are differences between Paris and Big Paris. Little Paris refers to the main urban area of ​​Paris, which covers an area of ​​just over one hundred square kilometers. If converted into a square, the side length would be only ten kilometers, which is an area of ​​more than 16,000 square kilometers in Beijing. Less than one percent, even the area within the Sixth Ring Road of Beijing is more than 2,000 square kilometers.

During the party, Lin Xiao also saw some mathematicians whom he had met at the International Congress of Mathematicians, but these people were probably enjoying the party.

It is a European tradition to like to have parties. This welcome dinner is also in line with European traditions. There is red wine and dancing. Coupled with the openness of Europe and the traditional romance of France, maybe there will be a There are some stories about men and women tonight.

As a topical mathematical genius in the mathematics community, Lin Xiao is often called the modern version of Gauss. Coupled with his rather young and somewhat oriental handsome face, he has received a lot of attention from women. Less.

"Can I sit here?"

A French woman wearing a red dress sat next to him. Although she asked if she could sit down, she obviously didn't want to ask Lin Xiao's opinion. Xiu chatted aside, revealing the whiteness of her round thighs.

Lin Xiao glanced at her, and knowing what she meant, he said directly: "Sorry, I don't like women older than me."

The woman's face froze, but she still said, "How will you know if you don't try? I'm only 23 years old and I'm studying for a master's degree at the Ecole Normale Supérieure."

She pursed her red lips, stuck out her tongue, licked her lower lip gently, and then teased her big golden waves, full of the style of a Western woman.

École Normale Supérieure in Paris?

Lin Xiao was stunned. This is also a famous school in the field of mathematics. There have been 14 Fields Medal winners here. There is no doubt about its mathematical strength.

No wonder this woman is able to come here.

Then he said: "I am only 18 years old, you are five years older than me, forget it."

French woman: "..."

Then she said "merde" and left.

But at this time, Lin Xiao saw another woman walking towards him.

"I am seventeen years old this year~"

"Sister, you are not an adult even at the age of seventeen, you are harming me!"

"But in France, you can get married at the age of fifteen!"

"Do you know personal jurisdiction in the law? I am Chinese, so I am also subject to the jurisdiction of Chinese law here, and Chinese law stipulates that you can only get married when you are 22 years old!"

"..."

The third woman said, "I'm eighteen years old."

"I like people smaller than me."

"merde! # %..."

…

After successfully driving away the three enthusiastic women, Lin Xiao picked up the goblet, raised it to some of the male compatriots who were staring at him dumbfounded, gave a false toast, and then took a sip of the red cocktail inside - which was actually One-half red wine mixed with one-half Sprite.

Hidden merit and fame.

"Hahaha~ Future Professor Lin, your performance just now, if I talk about you when I write my autobiography in the future, I must include your performance today."

At this time, Lin Xiao heard a burst of hearty laughter from beside him.

After hearing "Future Professor Lin", Lin Xiao realized who it was. He turned around and saw a mathematician he was familiar with walking over.

Andrew Wiles.

Andrew Wiles was originally a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, but he returned to his alma mater, Oxford University, to teach eight years ago. The UK and France are not far apart, so he usually comes to attend BoE when he has time. Bucky seminar.

Lin Xiao couldn't laugh or cry: "Professor Wiles, please don't do this, I still want to save face."

"Oh? Then you have to explain to me why you rejected the invitations of the three ladies. It is not good to reject ladies."

Lin Xiao shrugged, "Hua Guo is reserved. If he is too enthusiastic, I will feel a little overwhelmed."

"Acceptance doesn't last a lifetime. If you try it once, you can leave some experience for the future."

Wiles said with a smile, while clinking glasses with Lin Xiao and pointing to his glass: "The color of your wine is wrong."

"Cocktail." Lin Xiao smiled and swung the glass, "It would be too casual to try this once."

"Cocktails? Don't we only serve red wine here?" Wiles was confused as to where the cocktails came from, but then he shook his head with emotion: "I really don't understand what you are thinking."

Lin Xiao smiled and said: "If your wife knew that you were talking to me about this, I'm afraid she would be dissatisfied, right?"

"Of course not. I am guiding a young man to establish a correct outlook on love and marriage, just like my wife Nada and I." Wiles smiled slightly and said, "You know, I am the first I failed to prove Fermat's Last Theorem for the first time, and without the support of Nada and my two daughters, it would probably be difficult for me to get through that period. Proving Fermat's Last Theorem was my childhood dream, and when I thought it was about to happen When you win, the blow of defeat is too hard to bear.”

"But in the end, I obviously succeeded, and I would say there's something magical about realizing one's childhood dream. Only a few people have this privilege, and I'm lucky to be one of them."

"The support from my family was the source of energy for my ultimate success. During those difficult days, one night I held my daughter Claire and told her a bedtime story, trying to coax her to sleep, but she did the opposite. He told me a story, saying that after Prometheus stole fire, he also suffered difficulties and torture, but in the end he escaped and completed his purpose."

"After that, I no longer feared or even avoided it. Later, in May 1994, my third daughter was born, and she gave me even more motivation. It wasn't until September that I finally succeeded."

Listening to Wiles' story, Lin Xiao nodded with some understanding, "You have a happy family."

"certainly."

There was happiness in Wiles's eyes, probably because the memories also brought him the touch of the past.

Then, he drank the red wine in the glass in one gulp, looked at the waiter next to him, and waved: "Do you still serve cocktails? Give me the same one as him."

The waiter looked confused: "We only have red wine here, and we have not prepared cocktails."

Wiles was stunned and looked at Lin Xiao, "This cocktail?"

"Okay, I admit it." Lin Xiao had no choice but to take out a bottle of Sprite from his arms.

He just went out to buy this. He couldn't stand the dry taste of the wine. Sometimes he even wondered why people liked drinking.

But when Wiles saw it, his eyes lit up: "Did you buy this outside?"

"Yes."

"Wait for me a moment, I'll buy a bottle too."

With that said, Wiles put down his wine glass and ran out. After a while, he came back with the same bottle of Sprite, then asked for another glass of red wine, poured some Sprite into it, and then took a sip.

He immediately praised: "This 'cocktail' is definitely a genius idea!"

Lin Xiao smiled, "Of course."

After taking a few sips, Wiles said again: "By the way, is the sieving method you shared on arxiv a few months ago about Goldbach's conjecture?"

"Yes."

"Oh? How is the situation now?"

“It hasn’t been studied yet, so I come here for inspiration.”

"Really? Then I wish you success." Wiles smiled slightly.

"I'd like to lend you some good words."

…

The welcome party was over, and the discussion class officially began the next day.

The seminar has four lectures a day, and the topics are generally quite broad. On the first day, there are several theories such as the stability reduction theorem and cohomology in finite fields.

For these theories, Lin Xiao could simply listen to them. The next day, there was a lecture that piqued Lin Xiao's interest. In this lecture, he shared his Lin's group transformation method and Lin's conjecture. The keynote speaker is Laurent Laforgue, the 2002 Fields Medal winner.

A Philippine Prize winner came to share his theory, and Lin Xiao certainly couldn't be absent.

Thanks to Xu Qingyu for the 1,500 starting coin reward. Thank you for your choices and decisions. Why should passers-by in life never forget the 100 starting coin reward?