From University Lecturer to Chief Academician

Wang Hao put down the phone, and suddenly became a little depressed. He wanted to find more Mersenne primes and make a million dollars in one go, but in the end...

GIMPS is a poor household?

What kind of Mersenne prime is this looking for? What's the point?

Zhang Zhiqiang couldn't help asking, "There is no bonus... shall we continue?"

"Of course continue!"

At some point, Chen Qinghua came over, pointed to the handwritten sign at the door, and said seriously, "Look, what is the name of this laboratory? Mason Mathematical Science Laboratory?"

"Are we looking for Mason numbers to get bonuses? No, we are for scientific research, for mathematical research!"

"As long as the server can still be used and the computer can persist, we must continue to test!"

"..."

"..."

Wang Hao and Zhang Zhiqiang looked at each other, and suddenly realized that Luan Haiping hated Chen Qinghua for a reason.

This old man really has no bottom line.

The so-called 'Mason Mathematical Sciences Laboratory' was a fabrication. How could he say it with the cheek to express his admiration for mathematical research?

In fact, isn't it just for show, are you planning to spend money to expand the laboratory?

All right.

After all, it is for the development of the laboratory, and it is not a complete deception. At least the purpose is very good.

Detection, continue.

Wang Hao didn't care much about the test results. GIMPS couldn't pay enough bonuses, and it didn't matter whether it could detect Mersenne primes or not.

Even knowing in my heart that GIMPS has no money, it still feels like a million dollar loss.

In terms of the content of this research, without the attractiveness of the bonus, it is really meaningless to continue to verify other Mason numbers.

There is only one number that makes sense right now, and it is a number calculated by simple verification——

7XXXXXXXX.

This is a nine-digit number.

The two functions he molded have intersection lines, and as long as the numbers on the intersection lines are prime numbers, the corresponding Mersenne numbers must be Mersenne prime numbers.

From this, you can use the program to easily calculate a few numbers.

Wang Hao calculated a total of seven numbers, and the calculation will become very complicated due to the influence of exponential complexity.

Among the Mersenne prime numbers corresponding to the seven exponents, the first six have been verified, and only the largest one remains unverified.

The exponent of this number is a nine-digit number starting with 'seven', and GIMPS's Mason number calculation has not yet reached the nine-digit level.

For the nine digits starting with 'seven', the corresponding Mersenne number is calculated and tested for primality. With the hardware capabilities of the computer laboratory, it takes more than 500 hours to fire up the firepower, and there may even be problems such as insufficient storage space for numbers. , If there is a slight error in the calculation, all the efforts will be in vain.

The reason why this number is valuable is that the Mersenne prime it corresponds to must be a number in the billionth digit.

EFF once offered a reward for super large prime numbers, setting up a prize of 50,000 US dollars for the first person to discover a prime number with more than one million digits, and setting up a reward of 100,000 US dollars for the person who found a prime number with more than 10 million digits.

At the same time, 150,000 US dollars was set up to reward those who discover prime numbers with digits greater than 100 million.

Of course.

The calculation of the primality test and verification of the billion-digit number will have a huge cost, but at the same time, the first person or organization to discover the billion-digit prime number will also win the honor of being included in the annals of mathematics.

The $150,000 is just a bonus. What is really attractive is the honor of discovering the largest prime number.

"This number may be worth more than the 5 million lottery ticket." Wang Hao has a bottom line for valuation.

With some expectation, he left the computer laboratory with Chen Qinghua, went to the big classroom of the teaching building, and was ready to be interviewed by reporters.

Journalists couldn't wait.

Among the dozens of reporters who came, some even waited for two days just to be able to interview Wang Hao. They have been waiting for all the prime numbers to be verified, and the public opinion seems to have no momentum to stop, so they have to continue to wait interviewed.

Some reporters were also very dissatisfied. They felt that Wang Hao was playing a big game, but there was no good way to do it. When they came, the computer laboratory made it clear to the outside world that Wang Hao would not make it public until the results of the Mersenne number test came out. be interviewed.

It is also because of this that the reporters look forward to it even more. They all know that Wang Hao will definitely talk about the issue of "results" that the public is most concerned about.

The number of reporters who came here was relatively large, and the interviews were arranged in a large classroom.

Wang Hao sat in the center of the podium, looking at the reporters sitting there, he had a sense of sight as if he was giving a lecture to the students, and the various sound equipment hanging on the podium, as well as the cameras on both sides , There is another feeling of a star attending a press conference.

Zhang Zhiqiang sat next to him like an assistant. He was supporting Wang Hao and showed his face on behalf of the computer laboratory.

The news interview officially started.

A reporter on the right first asked, "Professor Wang Hao, the Mersenne number science laboratory has found five Mersenne prime numbers in a row. Many people are concerned about whether you have found the law of Mersenne prime numbers? Can you put Find all the Mersenne primes?"

Wang Hao shook his head and said, "I did find some laws of Mersenne prime numbers, but my research did not cover all Mersenne prime numbers, so it is not perfect from a mathematical point of view."

The next reporter asked directly, "Professor Wang Hao, can you introduce your results to us?"

"sure."

Wang Haoren explained seriously, "Based on the research on Mersenne prime numbers, I created two functions, which covered a part of Mersenne prime numbers, and the ratio was about two-thirds."

"Two functions look like this."

Wang Hao found a sense of giving a lecture. He picked up the chalk, turned around and drew a three-dimensional coordinate on the blackboard, and drew a function image. However, due to the limited level of drawing, the function image was a bit complicated, and it was revised many times in a row. Still dissatisfied, I could only shake my head in the end, and drew another simpler function graph.

"This is the two functions I created, one is a calculation function, and the other is a decision function."

"We can see that there are many regions inside the decision function."

"And the closer the coordinate points of these areas are to the edge, I think the corresponding Mersenne number will be stronger. There is also a possibility that it itself is a Mersenne prime number."

"The coordinate point at the edge of the judgment, as long as it corresponds to a Mersenne number, it must be a Mersenne prime number."

Wang Hao turned around and said seriously, "I mentioned the word primality just now. In numbers, a prime number is a prime number, and a non-prime number is a non-prime number. But in my research, the definition of primality is that it can be decomposed. The fewer the factors, the higher the primality..."

"You can understand it this way. For example, the prime property of 9 is stronger than that of 12, because the factor of 9 is only 3, while the factor of 12 has 3 and 2."

"Balabala~~~"

Wang Hao entered the teaching state and began to talk about his own research seriously. He was not explaining the detailed content of the research, but just giving an introduction to everyone.

A row of professors standing next to them listened with gusto, and felt that they had understood everything.

The reporters in the middle were all stunned. Even if some of them had higher academic qualifications, they just went to better universities. After all, they all graduated from media or journalism, or they must have majored in liberal arts, even if a few were engineering graduates. , involved in complex mathematics can only surrender.

At the beginning of Wang Hao's talk, they could no longer listen to it. They just wanted to record it with a video camera and a voice recorder, and then slowly organize and study it after returning home, or send it all directly to the report.

Some people were also bitter, "I'm here for the interview, why did I listen to the math class? And the people next to me listened so seriously..."

"If it is seen that I don't understand at all, will I be despised for being low-educated?"

"Be sure to pretend to understand!"

Many journalists think so.

A very strange situation suddenly appeared in the classroom. It was obviously a news interview activity, but it seemed to be a math class, and everyone in the audience listened very carefully and nodded frequently.

This atmosphere also gave Wang Hao a sense of accomplishment as a teacher.

have a look!

Who can make journalists understand the mathematics content they say?

He spoke more energetically.

This 'one class' lasted for about twenty minutes, until a reporter couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted the question by taking advantage of the gap, Wang Hao finally ended the 'teaching'.

Sorry, it's not over yet!

Many journalists who listened carefully felt exhausted, but the professional job of interviewing still let them know how to do it.

When the interview continued normally, the reporters were a little 'scared', and found that Wang Hao had a tendency to explain mathematics, so they hurriedly shouted, "I'm fine."

Next.

next...

The media reporters are not all friendly. There is a reporter from "News Weekly" named Hou Lijun, who is best at creating hot spots by "digging traps" and "finding problems".

It was the first time for Hou Lijun to interview scholars and scientific research results, but he also thought of how to ask questions, and immediately said, "Professor Wang Hao, is the purpose of your research just to find Mersenne prime numbers?"

The word 'only' made the question sound a bit weird.

Wang Hao frowned slightly, but still said, "To be precise, the original research was just an application of the effective and irrelevant carry algorithm. That was my algorithm research."

"A friend named Patrick Rosh suggested that the algorithm can be applied to find Mersenne prime numbers. I thought his idea was very good, so I studied it seriously."

Hou Lijun continued to ask, "If the purpose of your research is to find Mersenne prime numbers, then what is the point? We are not mathematicians, but we also know that Mersenne prime numbers are some very large numbers, millions of digits, thousands of Wanbit, completely divorced from reality."

Many reporters recognized Hou Lijun, privately said that the other party was good at making traps and guiding public opinion, and at the same time wanted to see how Wang Hao would answer.

"has no meaning?"

On the contrary, Wang Hao laughed, "My reporter friend, your question is really funny. I don't think I am qualified to answer this question, because you are not only questioning my research, but also questioning GIMPS and the whole world. The work of many mathematicians even questions the existence of mathematics as a discipline."

Wang Haodao, "When our generation was in elementary school, there was a story about Mr. Chen Jingrun in the textbooks. His most important achievement was to advance the proof of Goldbach's conjecture, that is, to prove '1+2'."

"Your question is also applicable. Even if it proves Goldbach's conjecture, what is the practical significance of proving '1+1'?"

"You are not just questioning my research, you are standing on the opposite side of the development of mathematics and technology!"

"Crack~~"

Shouts and applause erupted in the crowd of reporters.

The few answers Wang Hao said were very concise and did not directly respond to the question, but the examples he gave were very convincing.

What is the practical significance of searching for Mersenne prime numbers?

What is the practical significance of proving Goldbach's conjecture?

What is the practical significance of proving various mathematical conjectures?

Most of the research on advanced mathematics is meaningless in connection with reality, but many of the world's top high-IQ geniuses are engaged in the research of basic mathematics, because the development of the mathematical foundation is the foundation of scientific development.

Science \u0026 Technology.

Science is the support of technological development, and mathematical theory is the support of scientific development. Science is more difficult than technical research, and mathematical theory research is the most difficult.

Because of this, scholars engaged in the research of mathematical theory will stand at the top of the academic pyramid.

...

The press conference is over.

The reporters went back to write articles one after another, and the campus finally became quieter.

Hou Lijun was also a member of the writing public. After he went back and looked at the interview records, he was very unwilling to think about it, because he lost face during the interview.

When asking questions, he just wanted to let the other party answer, dig a "small hole" and make a small entertainment report, but the other party directly said that he stood on the opposite side of science, and won the support and applause of many journalists. .

The more Hou Lijun thought about it, the more unwilling he became. It would be fine if he were a successful scholar, but the other party is just a young man, does he think it's great to have a little achievement?

In terms of mathematics research, the other party is indeed beyond reproach, but aside from research factors, other aspects are not necessarily so.

Hou Lijun immediately looked up Wang Hao's information, and he only needed to do a little research to find out a piece of news - the Donggang Materials Laboratory incident.

Putting this incident on public opinion, it only caused some discussions, and it didn't reach a very popular level. However, as long as you analyze it critically, you can find something to criticize.

As a reporter who is good at grasping the hot spots of public opinion and writing news content, Hou Lijun has a very high "professional standard", and immediately thought of which direction to write.

At that time, Donggang's laboratory lost more than 10 million yuan!

If it is placed in the work of ordinary people, because of personal mistakes that bring tens of millions of losses to the company, will it be over just by being fired?

Of course not, the parties may still be held accountable!

However, Donggang University only dismissed Wang Hao without any other punishment. Wang Hao just "jumped a job" and left Donggang University to go to Xihai University to continue teaching and scientific research, which had no personal impact at all.

Of course.

Hou Lijun also knew that there would definitely be an impact. From a teaching position within the system to a temporary labor contract, it can be said that there is an essential difference, but most people don't think so deeply.

think about it.

The lecturer of Donggang University was dismissed and went to Xihai University as a lecturer. What is the difference?

Just job hopping.

Conversely, if ordinary people bring heavy losses to the company, even if they are just fired, it will definitely be difficult for the same industry to find a job again.

This is the key point of the report. Taking advantage of Wang Hao's continuous discovery of the hot spots of Mersenne prime numbers, he used his personal past to create controversy and heated discussions.

As for the news network, how the public thinks and evaluates this matter has nothing to do with him, Hou Lijun, he just speaks out the matter from a 'neutral' perspective.

Do normal news reports, explain what happened clearly, and don't make personal subjective evaluations.

Isn't that what the news media is supposed to do?

...

at the same time.

Many faculty and staff of Donggang University are talking about Wang Hao. One reason is that Wang Hao is the latest hot topic. It is rare for academic achievements to be popular. Wang Hao can be discussed across borders, and the results are indeed very remarkable.

Second, Wang Hao bears the label of "Donggang University".

Although he is a professor at Xihai University, he is studying at Donggang University for undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees. He can be regarded as a pure "Donggang native". The faculty and staff of Donggang have a natural sense of closeness to him.

Of course, there are also people who hate the name Wang Hao.

Alloy Materials Laboratory.

Ma Wenjun came to Zhou Xiaolong's office, "Professor Zhou, have you summarized the data from the experiments of the previous two days?"

"It was made by my students, and it has been submitted. I will look for it." Zhou Xiaolong replied. After searching for a long time, he found a copy and handed it to Ma Wenjun.

He then said, "What's the use of analyzing and analyzing, anyway, this can't be done."

Ma Wenjun frowned slightly, and said, "Professor Zhou, pay attention to your words. We are working on projects normally. Even if we can't produce results, the data in the research process is still very important."

"Yes Yes."

Zhou Xiaolong said two consecutive 'yes' indifferently, then shook his head and said, "Old Ma, I feel that you and Mr. Chen are more and more similar, but unfortunately you are doing data, not materials."

As he said that, he closed the file page and noticed the news page of the browser. There was an article on it, "Wang Hao's research covers two-thirds of Mersenne prime numbers." This person surnamed Wang is obviously a young doctor who just graduated..."

Ma Wenjun also lowered his face worriedly. After the Pearl City Computer Conference, he knew that Wang Hao couldn't be suppressed at all, and he didn't have the qualifications to do so.

If it is in the field of material research and development, he can overwhelm the other party, and even if he wants to apply for a small project, he will not be approved for funding.

However, the other party is engaged in mathematical research, and he doesn't even need funding at all. What can he do?

Ma Wenjun and Zhou Xiaolong watched the news together, and felt more and more worried. They didn't know whether they were comforting themselves or Zhou Xiaolong, "Don't worry, that matter has already been closed, and there is nothing to investigate."

"The past is all in the past. No matter how famous he becomes, what can he do if he becomes an academician?"

"Now the media doesn't report it anymore. After his achievements are more and more famous, there will be no media to dig deeper into the past. National scientific research must have a positive image, right?"

"Don't worry, don't worry..."

Ma Wenjun walked out muttering, then turned his head to look at the door, with a hint of disdain in his eyes, Zhou Xiaolong?

Stupid one!

If Zhou Xiaolong was not Chen Jianlin's student, how could he have a foothold in the Alloy Materials Laboratory?

Now Ma Wenjun no longer wants to continue. He just wants to finish the work in hand and finish the project in hand quickly, so he finds a reason to leave Donggang University and leave the country.

The premise is that you earn enough money.

If you have money, you can go abroad in style!

(seeking a monthly ticket)