Chapter 451: Evasive Answer

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

Winning the award made Lu Zhou excited for a while, and he was busy with various social events that came with the award. However, it didn’t disturb his research schedule.

As he said, whether it was the Fields Medal or the Nobel Prize, the awards weren’t the reason for research; it was only the icing on the cake.

There were greater, better things waiting for him.

Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

Lu Zhou gave Connie a USB and spoke while yawning.

“I’ve already completed the relevant mathematical model. I’ve made some predictions regarding the positions of the zero-dispersion electronic band structure. As for whether or not it is reliable, that would depend on your experiment results.”

Even though this mathematical model wasn’t something he was dying to complete, once he immersed himself in the interesting research, time quickly flew by.

Connie took the USB and looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised expression as he said, “You already finished it?”

“I’m just skilled…” Lu Zhou rubbed his eyebags and said, “When you’re able to integrate the things I have taught you, plus once you develop an intuition toward numbers, I’m sure you can do the same.”

Connie frowned and said, “But Professor Lu, your theorems are way too difficult.”

What he actually wanted to say was that if he ever reached that level, he would be able to win a Fields Medal as well.

“Because it’s difficult, that’s why you have to learn it.” Lu Zhou patted Connie’s shoulder and to encourage him, he said, “If one day I’m no longer at Princeton, you’ll have to be the one to pass on my theorems.”

Connie was stunned. “No longer at Princeton? Are you planning on leaving?”

Lu Zhou laughed and gave an evasive answer by saying, “Just a hypothetical situation. Regardless of whether or not I’m here, science and knowledge must continue to be passed on. You and Jerick have the best understanding of my computational materials theory. Compared to Jerick, you have more experience in experiments… Of course, his mathematics might be a bit stronger. So work hard, academia prospers because of communication. I can only create the knowledge; the work of spreading it depends on you guys.”

Connie nodded seriously and said, “I’ll try my best, Professor Lu.”

Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction and patted his shoulder again. Without saying anything else, Lu Zhou turned around and left.

…

The research on superconducting materials was carried out step by step while Lu Zhou was still doing his other job.

The students didn’t take a long time to choose their graduation thesis topic. Even Hardy successfully chose a research topic by the middle of the month.

Although Hardy was a little too playful, he was still decently skilled.

Since he was able to step into the doors of Princeton, it meant that his talent and diligence were way beyond ordinary people.

For example, the Collatz conjecture that the three of them worked on…

Although Lu Zhou was the one that set the initial framework, Vera was the one that did the majority of the work. However, like what Vera said, she couldn’t have completed it as smoothly as she did without the help from the other two students.

After looking at all of the students’ proposed topics, Lu Zhou spent an afternoon chatting with his students one by one. He also gave his opinion on their research topic and which field they should focus on.

Qin Yue and Hardy should focus on analytic number theory, while Vera, who was almost like Lu Zhou, was an all-rounder.

Although this path was very difficult, with her talent and love for mathematics, it was worth a try.

Once the PhD students chose their topics, it was time for the master’s students to also choose their thesis topic.

Under Lu Zhou’s suggestion, Jerick chose applied mathematics, or more specifically, computational materials.

This field was full of potential, especially since the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year was given to the “Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure” thesis.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was Wei Wen’s decision.

This genius student, who once lost to Lu Zhou at the mathematical modeling competition, not only chosen his thesis topic, but he even finished writing the thesis itself.

Lu Zhou: “Actually I wanted to chat with you after you have chosen your topic to see if I can help you with anything, but it seems like you have your own plans… If so, show me your thesis.”

“Okay, Professor!”

Although Wei Wen was very proud to be the first to complete his thesis, he couldn’t help but feel a little worried when he gave his thesis to Lu Zhou.

After all, he didn’t consult his supervisor’s opinion when he chose his thesis topic.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t a nitpicking person, and he was fine with Wei Wen making his own decisions.

Lu Zhou quickly finished reading his thesis and began to think. After a minute or so, he gave a simple evaluation.

“The study of coherent states of non-harmonic oscillators in a Hilbert space is a classic problem, both in quantum mechanics and in theoretical physics. It’s not that popular, but there are many places to dive into deep research. As for your thesis, there are some problems starting from the fourth section. I suggest you modify it before thinking about publishing.”

Wei Wen’s research direction was functional analysis. Right now, he focused on Hilbert space related problems. Lu Zhou guessed that his future research direction was probably mathematical physics.

Lu Zhou gave the thesis back to Wei Wen and spoke with a pleasant smile.

“Other than some minor issues, your thesis is well written. You can try to streamline it and submit it to PRL.”

When Wei Wen heard his suggestion, he was stunned. With a stiff expression, he looked a little distressed.

“Will PRL accept it?”

PRL was the acronym for “Physical Review Letters”, a legendary top physics journal.

Publishing in PRL didn’t necessarily mean that one was an expert. However, a PRL publication was worthy of being celebrated on any university’s official website.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and smiled as he said, “Scared?”

Wei Wen quickly calmed himself down and shook his head. “Nope.”

Lu Zhou nodded with approval. He then smiled as he said, “It’s not easy to produce results in the field of theoretical physics. It’s even more difficult to convince others your results are important. However, one thing you should know is that you should always believe in yourself. You must believe your research is correct and good enough. Only then, can you convince others.”

Wei Wen: “… I understand.”

Lu Zhou looked at Wei Wen’s distressed expression and knew what he was worried about.

Therefore, he spoke in a relaxed tone, “Of course, if PRL rejects your thesis, I’d suggest you try Physics Today as it’s slightly easier. Whether it’s PRL or PT, as long as your thesis is accepted, I’ll let you graduate. I hope you can concentrate on your research and don’t let the pressure of graduation get to your head.”

Physics Today had a similar style to PRL, and it accepted all types of physics thesis.

Honestly, it was a bit difficult for Wei Wen to submit to PRL.

But PT was a lot more realistic.

Wei Wen sighed in relief and looked determined.

“I will try my best!”

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