Chapter 823: Letter From IMU

In fact, Lu Zhou hoped Han Mengqi would give up on pure mathematics because of that question.

Even though this was an open-ended question, anyone in this field knew that this question wasn’t easy to answer.

Because it was related to a classic Riemann zeta function problem.

Which was, the transcendental value of the Riemann zeta function at the odd positive integer points.

Just like He Changwen had said, this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by laymen.

She had to be extremely talented, self-learn the relevant knowledge of number theory, collect the literature regarding the Riemann zeta function, and conduct some research on her own…

But then again, if she was indeed really talented in the field of pure mathematics, Lu Zhou would be happy to accept her as a student.

Lu Zhou had been thinking about a problem recently.

The “medal” he received from a higher level civilization some time ago revealed a very important piece of information to him.

Which was that human beings were not alone in this universe. Human beings had even been observed by higher-level civilizations, but they hadn’t been contacted yet.

There were many possible reasons for this. It could be due to the long distances in space, or it could also be due to the cultural differences of the other civilizations. Or, the other civilizations could have already disappeared thousands of years ago…

Regardless of which scenario was true, so far, the system had information about a high-level civilization. It was likely the only way he could obtain information regarding this higher-level civilization.

It seemed like if he wanted to crack open the secrets of the system, he had to have level 10 in all of his disciplines.

If he wanted to upgrade his disciplines to level 10, he would first have to level up his mathematics to level 10 first. This was because his mathematics level set the upper limits for the levels of his other disciplines.

The only problem was that 3 million experience points wasn’t that easy to obtain.

Only the mathematical crown of the world—the Riemann hypothesis—could provide this much experience points.

The “Control of Earth and Moon” mission was under control. After the Magpie Bridge increased the lunar transfer capacity to a new magnitude, both the Moon Palace and the lunar research facility would be completed. It was only a matter of time.

Because of this, all of Lu Zhou’s extra time was used to study mathematics.

From his past experiences, he realized that the project he was currently working on had a high probability of being a system mission in the future. Even though he didn’t know what this probability was, it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

The day after he assigned the zeta function “exam” to Han Mengqi, Lu Zhou walked into his office at 8 o’clock in the morning. He placed his laptop on the table and asked Assistant Zhao to make him a cup of instant coffee. He then sat at his desk and began working.

Zhao Huan walked toward his desk with a cup of warm coffee. After she placed the coffee on his desk, she took out a document and spoke softly.

“Professor, after you left work yesterday, Principal Xu came here. He told me to give you this.”

Class of Youth conference meeting notes?

After looking at the document title, Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows. He reached over and flipped through the pages.

“I’ll find some time to read through it, thanks.”

“Okay, professor!”

Assistant Zhao nodded and walked back to her desk.

Lu Zhou leaned on his desk and drank his coffee while reading through the conference notes.

Generally speaking, the Jin Ling University Class of Youth program was going pretty smoothly. They received approval from the relevant government departments, and they were about to select the first cohort of students.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and looked at He Changwen, who was sitting nearby reading theses. Lu Zhou spoke.

“Changwen, I have something for you to do.”

He Changwen, who was bored out of his mind, suddenly looked up with excitement.

“No problem, professor, what research project is it?”

He had been a PhD student under Lu Zhou for nearly three years. Even though he made some progress, it wasn’t much. He wasn’t particularly talented, and Lu Zhou was too busy. Most of the thesis was done by him alone.

Now that Lu Zhou suddenly said he had something to do, he was very excited.

“Uh… not a research project.”

Lu Zhou looked at how excited he was and knew what he was thinking.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t want to hurt his feelings, now was not the time to give him a research project.

After clearing his throat, Lu Zhou continued, “The day after tomorrow, attend the discussion class in Room 101 at Building A. They’re all undergraduate students. Be careful when you select the topic, don’t let them feel overwhelmed. I need you to prepare a discussion outline and bring it to me tomorrow.”

The moment He Changwen heard that it was a discussion class for undergraduate students, he began to frown.

“Professor, can’t you give me something more challenging?”

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and said, “Do it properly, this is an important exercise… If you do this well, you will have many challenging tasks waiting for you.”

“Yes, sir…”

Lu Zhou was about to start working when a chat window popped up on his laptop.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have new mail ヾ (● ゚▽ ゚●)]

Xiao Ai: [Email link]

Lu Zhou put down his pen and clicked on the link Xiao Ai sent him.

He saw an unread email lying in his inbox.

When he saw the IMU icon on the email, he looked surprised.

International Mathematical Union?

Lu Zhou quickly opened the email and began reading it.

[Dear Professor Lu Zhou, I’m sorry to disturb you amid your busy schedule. According to the votes of all the representatives at the last International Congress of Mathematicians, the next International Congress of Mathematicians will be held at St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2022. On behalf of IMU, I would like to send you an invitation and hope that you will be able to give a 60-minute report at the St. Petersburg International Congress of Mathematicians…

[If you are interested, we will send you a formal written invitation. If you are busy with research and don’t have time to participate, please let us know…

[Herald Holden, Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union.]

After Lu Zhou carefully read the email, he contemplated for a bit before typing a reply.

[Dear Professor Herald Holden, I am honored to receive your invitation.

[I am planning on attending the International Congress of Mathematicians at St. Petersburg, but I cannot guarantee that I will be there. If everything goes according to plan and I am able to attend, I will upload the content for my 60-minute report prior to the deadline.]

Lu Zhou clicked “Send”.

After all of this was done, he leaned back in his office chair and looked outside the window.

Time really flies by…

It’s nearly been four years since the last mathematicians congress.

Lu Zhou looked at the view outside his window and couldn’t help but think back to four years ago.

Back then, he was still a professor at Princeton, studying the secrets of the Navier–Stokes equations. His life now was much more meaningful and fulfilling.

He started to get nostalgic.

He wondered how his Princeton friends were doing…

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