Tech Hammer

The full name of N-S equation is Navier-Stokes equation.

It is also one of the seven Millennium Mathematics Problems specifically listed by the Scientific Advisory Board of the Millennium Clay Mathematics Institute in the United States. It is mainly the equation of motion that describes the conservation of momentum in viscous incompressible fluids.

In layman's terms, it is probably the mathematical model expression of fluid mechanics.

How famous is this mathematical puzzle?

Let's put it this way, whoever can provide a result that all mathematicians agree with, whether it is proof or disproof, or just further promotes the explanation of this equation, will get one million US dollars from the Clay Mathematics Institute. Bounty.

If there had not been other more impressive mathematical achievements in recent years, such as solving the NP-complete problem or completely solving the four-color problem, basically the Fields Medal would have been collected.

In other words, if this paper written by the mathematician named Smith S. Front can really stand the test and gain widespread recognition in the world's theoretical mathematics community, it will basically be the next Phil. This is the award winner.

When Ning Wei saw this paper, he specifically checked the resume of this American mathematician. He was only 36 years old and did not exceed the maximum age limit of 40 years old for the Fields Medal.

And this person is indeed a master in theoretical mathematics, a standard mathematical genius. The kind who was admitted to Harvard at the age of 16 and is now a professor at Harvard and an academician of the National Academy of Sciences.

Of course, the fact that the journal "Nature" can publish this paper shows that this paper is still valid, and at least it has been recognized by a small range of the mathematics community.

Otherwise, as the world's top journal, it would be impossible to publish it directly.

However, just because Nature published this paper does not necessarily mean that the paper is correct.

Theoretical mathematics has developed to this point. Problems at the N-S level are no longer in the era when the first few reviewers can give definite review opinions.

Many similar problems are presented first, and then theoretical mathematicians from all over the world discuss them together and find faults. If they can't find faults, everyone can only give a thumbs up and praise the author for being awesome.

If the paper is overturned quickly, you can just say that the author is stupid.

However, there are definitely no obvious errors in the paper. After all, as a top journal, the jury of "Nature" is still very powerful. If any messy paper could be published in a magazine, it would not be regarded as a top academic journal.

Before, Ning Wei would definitely not waste time on this kind of paper.

After all, the things in the papers of the math tycoons cannot be understood by those who have majored in mathematics.

For the vast majority of undergraduates, studying these papers is nothing more than a waste of time.

But now Ning Wei really has the confidence.

…

Ning Wei soon became immersed in this paper.

The papers written by the boss are extremely proficient in the application of high-level mathematical language, which is why it is difficult for ordinary people to understand this type of paper. In the simplest mathematical language, for example, a, b, and c are arithmetic sequences, which can be expressed directly in mathematics as a+c=2b.

High-level mathematical languages ​​naturally use more and more complex mathematical expressions.

These expressions are often where dyslexia begins.

But at this time, Ning Wei's mind would automatically annotate the meanings of various expressions.

After adding the translations of various English terms, Ning Wei could even feel that his brain was running at high speed.

But he soon became immersed in the world constructed by this paper.

A new door is opening to him.

…

While Ning Wei was reading this paper, the world's theoretical mathematics community was actually in an uproar because of this paper.

In other words, it is not only the mathematics community, but also the physics community and related engineering communities.

Because the N-S equation describes physical fluid mechanics.

Of course, the N-S equation is not all of fluid mechanics. In practice, it often either fails or needs to be coupled with other equations.

For example, fluctuating hydrodynamics is used at small scales; rarefied gases have slip boundaries, and dsmc is used for thinner gases; Stokes Flow is used at mesoscopic scales; in some special cases, boltzmann equations or Burnett equations that are higher order than N-S equations are required.

In other words, even if the N-S equation is proven or disproven, it will not affect the current fluid mechanics. Water flows as it should, and airplanes fly in the sky as they should.

However, the entire academic community has always believed that the N-S equation can be used to describe the physical mechanism of fluid movement. Now that it has been falsified, doesn't it mean that all the previous models that used the N-S equation as the theoretical basis were built using a wrong theory?

You can imagine how crazy the entire academic world is at this time.

To put it bluntly, the entire academic world has already exploded because of this paper published in Nature.

Although everything seems calm to the outside world, that's because as academic scientists, when their ideas explode, they don't think about posting on Weibo first and outputting like crazy. The first choice must be to understand the paper first.

Then whether you are supporting or opposing, you must come up with something solid.

Therefore, there is often a lag before various controversies or breakthroughs in the scientific community reach the ears of ordinary people.

After all, it takes a long time for academic controversies and breakthroughs to affect ordinary people's lives. What most people are more concerned about is whether the celebrities washed their faces when they went out today.

The omnipotent Internet has greatly shortened the lag time.

But after all, this paper has just been published for more than a day, and the madness and controversy in the academic world have not yet had time to be known to math students like Ning Wei. Of course, the outside world is unlikely to have much reaction.

Or some niche public accounts have already reported it, and people in related majors have begun to discuss it in academic forums. But the real academic masters definitely don’t have time to deal with this at this time.

For example, the great masters of Peking University School of Mathematics.

As we all know, the School of Mathematics at Yanbei University is definitely No. 1 in China in the field of pure mathematics.

Probably even their opposite Wudaokou Vocational and Technical College dared not refute this.

After all, it is the legendary first of the four lunatic asylums at Yanbei University. A standard academic would mistakenly think that he is a fool when he goes in. It is not until he comes out that he realizes that he is actually quite smart.

Although it was already ten o'clock in the evening, the Yanbei International Mathematics Research Center by Weiming Lake was still brightly lit.

Several people in the office were sitting around their desks, reading this paper by Smith S. Front.

You can hear a pin drop in the office.

If Ning Wei had come to this office at this time, he would not even dare to breathe.

Because all seven people in the conference room are top scientists in Chinese number theory or mathematical physics, there are three professors with academician titles, and the remaining four are also leaders in the younger generation of Chinese mathematics and physics.