Volume 1: Student Life Chapter 489: Physicists Conference
Yenching University.
Inside the meeting room of the administration building.
The meeting being held at this moment was chaired by Principal Qiu himself.
Those who attended the meeting included Dean Sun and Dean Zhou from the School of Mathematics, Dean Zheng and Dean Yang from the School of Physics, as well as many professors from the School of Mathematics and the School of Physics.
There is only one main content of this meeting.
That is to invite Chen Zhou to return to school.
To be precise, Yanda is preparing to re-hire Chen Zhou to teach at the school.
After SLAC announced the discovery of glueballs, the attention of the physics community was all focused on SLAC.
The same is true for the Physics Department of Yanda.
Especially the relationship between the Department of Physics of Yanda University and so many physics research institutes in Yenching made them pay close attention to this matter.
Dean Zheng of the School of Physics is himself a well-known expert in the field of high-energy physics.
At the same time, President Zheng is also the director of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where the Yenching Electron-Positron Collider is located.
This is the research institute with the largest number of J/ψ event samples in the world.
Originally, the people in the institute were full of energy every day.
We were counting on the discovery of the glue ball to win China a Nobel Prize in Physics.
But in the end, someone else got there first and discovered the rubber ball.
It is conceivable how great an impact this news had on President Zheng.
To the extent that, since the announcement of the SLAC news, everyone at the Institute of High Energy Physics, from top to bottom, has seemed to be wilting.
But this is understandable.
After all, who wouldn’t be discouraged if faced with this?
The results of our hard work for so many years are about to bear fruit and be rewarded.
But suddenly someone got there first and finished it in advance.
This sour and refreshing feeling is really hard to describe...
But that's what scientific research is all about.
Until you have completely solved a problem, no matter how many clues and arguments you have.
You can't say that this topic belongs to you.
Because when it comes to scientific research, everyone is fair.
The result is there, and before you get it, anyone has the chance to get there before you.
Therefore, although these researchers at the Institute of High Energy Physics feel helpless, they also feel indescribable sadness.
But they were convinced.
Especially when I saw another news released by SLAC at the same time that all collider laboratories would be shut down.
They even felt a touch of admiration.
Under such pressure, we were able to complete the collider experiment before the collider laboratory was shut down, and finally successfully discovered the collider.
This is already a very difficult task, but it adds a few more difficulties.
Therefore, people at the Institute of High Energy Physics, including President Zheng, are paying close attention to the follow-up news from SLAC.
But who could have imagined that as they kept paying attention, the Professor Friedman, as they had guessed, not only did not say a word, but there wasn't even any news at all.
What I waited for was a research paper on the glue ball experiment published by an emerging mathematician.
And this paper is related to SLAC's glueball experiment.
And this emerging mathematician is actually Chen Zhou, who won two major mathematics awards in China after the Chinese New Year some time ago.
Chen Zhou also stated at the time that his goal was the Goldbach conjecture and the Fields Medal to be awarded at the International Congress of Mathematicians next year.
This is not about physics research...
Moreover, this person has been conducting research on difficult mathematical problems.
In physics, all we know is that he conducted research on particle accelerators at the Yenching National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, working with the director of the Nuclear Physics and Nuclear Technology Laboratory.
Although the research paper was published with Chen Zhou as the first author.
The research results published in the paper are indeed amazing.
Including Chen Zhou, his subsequent undergraduate thesis in the Department of Physics at Yanda University was also very good.
However, these research results, whether compared horizontally or vertically, are still a long way from the discovery of glue balls.
Apart from this, they have never heard of any other research results of Chen Zhou in physics.
Including the six months that Chen Zhou has been at MIT, I haven't heard of any special contributions from him.
Even though Chen Zhou had previously posted his first draft of the paper on the preprint website e-Print arXiv.
But still no one connected the discovery of the rubber ball with him.
No one would believe that it was because of him that the rubber ball was discovered at SLAC.
On this point, researchers at the Institute of High Energy Physics and foreign physicists share the same view.
They all regarded that draft paper as the "homework" given by Friedman to Chen Zhou.
It was not until the final version of the paper completed by Chen Zhou was published in Physical Review Letters.
Everyone then realized that things might not be what they imagined.
But the more this happened, the greater the shock Chen Zhou brought to the researchers at the Institute of High Energy Physics.
After all, putting all these things together, no one would have thought that the discovery of the glue ball was made by a young Chinese mathematician.
While the Institute of High Energy Physics was helpless, Dean Zheng immediately realized that Chen Zhou was following the joint training program of Yanda University and MIT.
So, as soon as he returned to Yan University, he immediately went to see Dean Zhou.
After the two of them discussed it, they decided to join forces with the people from the School of Mathematics to give suggestions to the school and Principal Qiu.
However, they have not yet set out to look for people from the School of Mathematics.
Dean Sun and Dean Zhou of the School of Mathematics found them first.
The idea is the same, which is to just do it.
So, we had this meeting at Yanda today.
It has to be said that Yanda attaches great importance to this matter.
The school's academician president, the president and vice president of the two "madhouses", and many well-known domestic professors gathered together just to discuss Chen Zhou's matter.
However, the progress of the entire meeting was not fast.
It’s not because of anything that was discussed at the meeting, or whether there was any agreement or disagreement.
Facing such a student who may soon win the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Fields Medal.
No one present could find any reason not to keep him.
But how to implement this?
In other words, does Chen Zhou have such an idea and would like to stay abroad for a while?
It's all uncertain.
Moreover, no matter what, from Chen Zhou's point of view, he has not yet completed the joint training program.
Chen Zhou has not yet completed his master's and doctoral studies at MIT.
Although this is somewhat insignificant to Chen Zhou.
But judging from his past performance, he should intend to continue his studies and graduate with a doctorate.
This idea was not said by others.
The idea was proposed by Professor Wu Xiping from the School of Mathematics at Yanda University, who is most familiar with Chen Zhou.
As soon as this idea was put forward, it was immediately agreed by Professor Zhang Zhongyuan of the School of Mathematics and Dean Yang of the School of Physics.
It can be said that among the professors at Yan University, those who know Chen Zhou best all think so.
"Then when will he graduate?" Principal Qiu said thoughtfully.
Wu Xiping shook his head: "Although, judging from his current academic achievements, he can graduate at any time, but it is hard to say exactly when."
Dean Yang also said: "He is taking the joint training program, and he also has a double degree in mathematics and physics. It is really hard to determine the time. It depends on what topic he wants to use as his graduation thesis."
Principal Qiu frowned slightly. If that was the case, it would be hard to determine the time.
But the most important thing is whether Chen Zhou has plans to return to China.
Although Chen Zhou had previously responded clearly to the issue of studying abroad because of the "Banner of Young Talents" incident.
However, no one knows whether a person will change his or her mind after a period of time.
Moreover, given the academic achievements Chen Zhou has made so far and will make in the future, MIT will certainly try its best to retain him.
"Actually, time is not the most important thing. The key still depends on Chen Zhou's own ideas." Dean Sun said at the right time.
After hearing what President Sun said, the conference room fell silent again.
The human heart is the hardest to guess, and no one is willing to guess it.
In fact, not all the people sitting here hope that Chen Zhou will come back.
If a scholar who has won both the Nobel Prize and the Fields Medal returns to China, it will cause great changes.
But they may not be able to adapt to this change.
The resources that originally belonged to them are also likely to change.
This was already evident when Chen Zhou completed his first project of the "Ten Thousand Talents Plan" abroad.
"I think he will come back after graduation."
A voice broke the silence.
Everyone in the conference room looked at the person who spoke.
Wu Xiping quietly winked at his old friend beside him, signaling him not to say anything nonsense, as this was no trivial matter.
But Zhang Zhongyuan ignored Wu Xiping's look and continued, "I know Chen Zhou to some extent. What he said will not change. So, I believe he will come back after graduation."
After a pause, Zhang Zhongyuan added: "Besides, I think, whether he comes back or not, we can't let such a talent go, right? We should be more proactive, instead of leaving the possibility to whether he comes back or not."
Only after he finished speaking did Zhang Zhongyuan look at Wu Xiping beside him.
But at this moment, Wu Xiping's eyes were full of helplessness.
However, Wu Xiping, who knew Zhang Zhongyuan's personality, also knew that if Zhang Zhongyuan didn't say these words, he would not be Zhang Zhongyuan.
"President, what Professor Zhang said makes sense. We cannot give up the initiative, and we should take action before SLAC's next news is announced." Dean Sun also said after looking at Zhang Zhongyuan.
Principal Qiu nodded slightly, but did not make a decision immediately.
Seeing this, Dean Zheng said, "It is now almost certain that Chen Zhou was responsible for the SLAC Glueball Experiment. While there are still some schools waiting and waiting for the next news from SLAC, we should really seize the initiative."
Now, the directors of the two major "madhouses" have said the same thing.
Principal Qiu no longer hesitated. He glanced at everyone present one by one and then said what he was thinking.
At this point, the discussion of this meeting has come to a conclusion.
Re-hiring Chen Zhou and arranging someone to contact him immediately became a planned matter.
Now, it’s time to discuss the selection of candidates.
On the selection of candidates, opinions were surprisingly unanimous.
Wu Xiping and Zhang Zhongyuan were elected with high votes.
Originally, Dean Yang was supposed to be included .
But I think it is a bit unreasonable that two mathematics professors are led by a physics professor.
So Dean Yang was passed over.
It was finally decided that Yanda would form a mathematics exchange team to go to MIT for academic exchanges and to visit students in the joint training program.
The meeting was over and everything was finalized.
Just wait for Chen Zhou to return to MIT.
The mathematics exchange group of Yanda University can communicate with MIT and then start academic visits.
After Wu Xiping and Zhang Zhongyuan walked out of the meeting room, they were called to President Sun's office.
Wu Xiping and Zhang Zhongyuan stayed in President Sun’s office for more than half an hour before leaving.
Dean Sun didn't say anything else, but just told the two of them to do their best to invite Chen Zhou back to Yanda.
In addition, at Yanda, it is not just the professorship of the Department of Mathematics or the Department of Physics that can be rehired, but dual professorships in both the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Physics.
It can be said that Yanda has invested a lot in facing such an outstanding talent who may win both the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Fields Medal.
As one of the two premier universities in China, teaching positions in its top departments are already coveted.
Not to mention, it is a dual teaching position in two top departments.
But at the same time, Yanda also hopes to change some inherent impressions through this incident.
Just as Wu Xiping and Zhang Zhongyuan were preparing, SLAC announced the next steps.
Just like last time, this time two pieces of news were released at the same time.
One piece of news is about the final experimental paper, submission status, author status, and the electronic version of the paper.
Since the submission has been completed and it is on an official website like SLAC, there is no need to worry about someone stealing this paper.
In a short period of time, the number of visits to SLAC's official website increased several times.
The number of downloads of this paper is even more frighteningly high.
This is enough to show how anxiously the physics community is waiting.
From this news, the entire physics community, the entire academic circle, and everyone who was paying attention to this matter confirmed one thing.
That is, the SLAC glueball experiment was indeed led by Chen Zhou.
Because, in the author information published by SLAC, the first author's name is Chen Zhou.
Although some people had guessed this situation from a paper that was published not long ago.
Some people have long believed with certainty that it was because of Chen Zhou that SLAC discovered the rubber ball.
Some people also believe that Chen Zhou’s paper was just a shadow, and the person who really led the jellyball experiment was Friedman.
But now, everyone is sure that it is Chen Zhou!
This young mathematician led the experiment that led to the discovery of glueballs!
This young mathematician is likely to win the Nobel Prize in Physics for this!
For a time, both major research institutions at home and foreign laboratories such as CERN began to frequently appear in media reports.
There is only one reason for reporting this.
Just to serve as a foil for Chen Zhou.
Especially CERN.
The questions they were asked were extremely profound.
"Why didn't you find the glue ball when you have the best collider in the world?"
In this regard, CERN could only officially affirm Chen Zhou's research and stated that scientific research is subject to uncertainty.
Chen Zhou naturally also saw the relevant reports.
After SLAC announced the news, his phone started ringing non-stop.
It was fine before, as people were the only ones asking for information.
Now...
When Chen Zhou saw the news from CERN, he just smiled and said to Cross: "It's not too difficult to snatch the rubber ball from CERN's mouth..."
And Cross just looked at Chen Zhou speechlessly.
In addition, another piece of news announced by SLAC was about the conference of physicists.
They decided to take this opportunity to hold a conference of physicists.
On the one hand, it will be a perfect ending to the shutdown of the collider laboratory.
On the other hand, it’s for the rubber ball.
