Chapter 149: Deligne's Learning Talent that Shocked Him

After walking just two steps, Xu Chuan suddenly remembered another question.

He stopped and looked at Pahiya Miris who was standing still, and asked curiously: "I remember you just said that you studied under Professor Marian Mirzakhani?"

Pahiya Miris thought that there was room for reversal, her eyes lit up, and she walked over quickly.

"Yes, my supervisor is Mirzakhani."

"You said you are a doctoral student at Princeton? But if I remember correctly, Professor Marian Mirzakhani seems to work at Stanford University?"

Xu Chuan asked in surprise, why did Professor Marian Mirzakhani's students come to Princeton?

Exchange students?

That shouldn't be the case. For most people, if they can study under a Fields Medal winner, this is almost the best choice, and there is no need to exchange to Princeton to study.

Hearing this, Pahiya Miris shook her head and said with some disappointment: "Professor Mirzakhani was my supervisor during my graduate studies. I came to Princeton in 2012."

Xu Chuan suddenly realized that the girl in front of him was really unlucky.

She followed Professor Marian Mirzakhani during her graduate studies and went to Princeton for further studies in 2012, but only two years later, Professor Mirzakhani won the Fields Medal.

Although going to Princeton for further studies is a very good choice and you can learn a lot, correspondingly, following a Fields Medal mentor can get more resources, status and other things.

Not everyone can compare with him and be able to become a disciple of two Fields Medal winners after entering Princeton.

I think the girl named Pahiya in front of him missed this opportunity.

Back in the dormitory, Xu Chuan cleaned the dormitory and sorted out the luggage he brought.

Princeton University's resources are still quite sufficient, such as accommodation rooms and so on. There are as many as five residential colleges for accommodation alone.

Each residential college includes a series of dormitories, a cafeteria, and other facilities include study rooms, libraries, stages, darkrooms, etc.

But there are still many single rooms like his, but not everyone can apply for them.

Even if you are a doctoral student at Princeton, if you apply for accommodation without the help of your supervisor, you will probably only be able to apply for a double or triple room.

Xu Chuan does not have high requirements for accommodation. He can accept double rooms or multi-person rooms, but single rooms are obviously better.

After all, sometimes he often stays up late or even all night when he is studying or studying. If he lives with others, it will definitely affect others.

There is no such trouble in a single dormitory, and he can do whatever he wants.

After simply cleaning the room and sorting out the luggage he brought, Xu Chuan got up and went downstairs to the off-campus eating club for dinner, and then went to bed to adjust the time difference.

Princeton University is the only school among the eight Ivy League schools located in a village famous for its food. This school is famous for its unique celebrity chef visiting school activities. Every week you can taste the special food cooked by famous chefs in person at the school.

But unfortunately, these famous chefs are basically chefs of various Western cuisines, and they don’t know Chinese cuisine.

If you want to eat Chinese food in Princeton, you have to go to some special ‘restaurants’ near the campus, or special ‘eating clubs’, which provide Chinese food.

He has been here for more than ten years, and he knows which food tastes best for him.

However, Xu Chuan underestimated his influence. When he appeared in the Daqian Meishilin restaurant outside Princeton and was recognized, the whole restaurant suddenly became agitated.

Xu Chuan greatly underestimated the temptation of an 18-year-old popular candidate for the Fields Award to the mathematics professor of Princeton University.

In particular, when these professors basically knew that he would come to Princeton to study, they had already told their assistants or students that if they met him, they must recruit him.

So when eating, Xu Chuan encountered people constantly coming up to him to chat, hand in business cards, and recommend mentors.

After a meal, he received more than ten business cards.

One of them was handed to him by the owner of the Daqian Meishilin restaurant.

The boss is a Chinese, who is big and strong, but he is very good at cooking fish, whether it is freshwater fish or marine fish.

Especially the boiled fish fillet, which can be said to be the authentic hometown taste.

But unfortunately, most of the students in Princeton basically don't eat boiled fish made with freshwater fish such as grass carp, silver carp, and black fish.

In the eyes of most foreigners, Chinese food is either too spicy, too salty, or too light, and it is not suitable for the stomach at all.

In this regard, Xu Chuan can only say that you really only deserve to eat hamburgers, sandwiches and French fries.

After politely declining all the students and assistants who came to recommend a mentor and publicly stating that he already had a mentor, the next time was much quieter, and no more people came to chat with him.

After adjusting the pace of life and time difference for a day or two, Xu Chuan almost completely adapted to the lifestyle in Princeton, and received invitations from various clubs of Princeton University.

It is worth mentioning that in Princeton, the various clubs established around the entire campus are a very beautiful cultural landscape.

In Princeton, a "pocket" university, there are only more than a thousand freshmen each year, but there are more than 300 student organizations, 38 sports clubs, and more than a dozen pastors and campus centers for students to pray.

These student organizations and clubs constitute many campus cultures of Princeton, and they are clearly divided into classes. Many of them are highly exclusive, or in other words, they are contemptuous.

For example, the eating club.

Princeton has 11 eating clubs, 5 of which are open to all, and 6 require screening.

Compared with fraternities and sororities, or other social organizations, eating clubs have a unique selection process called the "bicker" process, and the students here get to know each other with the members of the eating club in the form of academic "debates".

Obviously, the students in eating clubs that need to be screened before they can enter, such as the Ivy League eating club, are all top students.

But don't simply think that this is a structure similar to the student union in China.

Here, the top clubs can provide student members with many aspects of help and free guidance such as study abroad applications, career planning, academic exchanges, etc., and will also hold study abroad lectures and salons regularly, and invite students from other prestigious schools such as Harvard and Yale and workplace elites to share valuable experience in study abroad applications and job hunting with members.

This is a platform for high-end social and DIY resource sharing, so there will be multiple screenings and step-by-step screening of talents.

Of course, these multiple screenings are completely non-existent rules for real top talents.

Just like the Ivy League Club, the top club in Princeton University, Xu Chuan has not applied for this life, and the other party has taken the initiative to send him an invitation letter.

In comparison, the situation of going through the application, traditional ancient debates and other steps to join the club in the previous life is simply incomparable, and there is a world of difference between the two.

It can only be said that geniuses or capable people are welcome everywhere.

After dealing with invitations from clubs and student organizations, Xu Chuan retreated to his dormitory and prepared to concentrate on completing the data calculation of the "proton radius mystery" problem.

But at this moment, he received a call from his mentor Deligne.

Putting down the manuscript in his hand, Xu Chuan came to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Most of the time, his two mentors, Deligne and Witten, basically do research at the institute. As for the classes at Princeton University, if they are in a good mood or have a big class, they will go there. The rest of the time is basically handed over to their assistants or students.

For big guys of their level, this operation is normal.

Knocking on the door of the office, Xu Chuan walked in. In the office, an old man in long sleeves was sitting at the table.

"Mentor."

Xu Chuan greeted, Deligne looked up and put down the ballpoint pen in his hand.

"How have you adapted in the past two days? Have you adjusted to the time difference?"

Xu Chuan: "Thank you for your concern, I have almost adjusted."

Deligne: "That's good. Get used to life here as soon as possible and get into the state of study and research as soon as possible. Witten is still waiting for you."

Xu Chuan nodded: "I will do my best to speed up and improve."

Hearing this, Deligne smiled and said: "Don't be so anxious. Study and research should be combined with daily life. Princeton still has many interesting clubs and student organizations, such as rugby, football, and skating. You can get in touch with these. After all, the body is the most important."

Deligne advised with a smile. He was not worried that the student in front of him would not work hard in study and research.

Whether it was him, Witten, or other professors in Princeton, they had taught students from China.

Not to mention other things, in terms of diligence and hard work, no students from any other country in Princeton can compare with students from China.

Sometimes, apart from eating, sleeping and studying, they have almost no other entertainment activities.

Such students cannot be said to be bad, but they lack a little spirituality and communication necessary for academic research.

Sometimes, it is this spirituality and communication that can push a person further on the academic path.

It is not advisable to do academic research behind closed doors. Except for the "weird guy" Perelman, there are almost no researchers who have produced major results behind closed doors.

Inspiration and sparks are born in communication and collision, and a person's thinking is always limited.

So Deligne hopes that Xu Chuan can go out more, make some friends, and keep absorbing knowledge from the outside world.

Xu Chuan naturally understands this and nodded in agreement.

Although his way of learning and research is a bit similar to Perelman's ascetic research method, he never denies the importance of communicating with top peers.

"By the way, this is for you."

After a brief chat, Professor Deligne took out a piece of paper similar to a certificate from the drawer, put it on the table, and pushed it to Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan picked up the paper from the table with some curiosity and took a look.

"Student aid?"

Deligne nodded and said, "Well, when I was handling the admission procedures for you, I also applied for a full scholarship for you. You can take it to the Academic Affairs Office later, and your tuition and accommodation fees can be waived. I will also give you a living allowance of 100,000 Mi Jin, which can be used for daily living subsidies."

After a pause, Professor Deligne added, "Of course, with your grades, you can apply for it yourself."

Holding the scholarship in his hand, Xu Chuan thanked Professor Deligne.

But neither he nor Deligne cared about this thing.

Princeton's scholarship, that is, a full scholarship that includes a scholarship + scholarship + exemption of tuition and miscellaneous fees, is difficult to get, especially for the doctoral stage, the competition is very fierce.

After all, Princeton University's tuition is ridiculously expensive.

Not to mention the doctoral graduate stage, the tuition for undergraduates alone is more than 50,000 Mi Jin per year, which is 350,000 per year.

In addition to tuition, there are also accommodation fees, meal fees, other miscellaneous fees, etc.

Adding up all the things, the tuition fee for studying alone is at least 70,000 to 80,000 RMB, which is almost 500,000 CNY.

Ordinary families can't afford such high tuition fees at all.

Full scholarships can reduce all tuition and accommodation fees, and give you an additional living allowance, so they will naturally be fought over by countless people.

However, the application for full scholarships is also based on individual.

For Xu Chuan, he is qualified to be a full professor at Princeton directly, and can write applications and recommendation letters for other students. Now he is enrolled as a doctoral student. As long as he applies for a full scholarship, Princeton will definitely approve it, no matter how strict the review system is.

For a genius boy who can prove a world-class mathematical conjecture at the age of 18, no matter which school he goes to, scholarships and so on are almost destined.

Even if he doesn't want it, the school will give it to him.

After dealing with these trivial matters, Xu Chuan settled down at Princeton University and began to concentrate on perfecting the calculation method of the "proton radius mystery".

If it is an ordinary doctoral student, after worshipping a mentor, he will definitely have the work of teaching assistant, scientific research laboratory assistant, etc.

Xu Chuan is no exception. Professor Deligne arranged a teaching assistant for him, but he did not force him to work as a teaching assistant. He asked him to complete Professor Witten's requirements first.

Deligne was not worried that this student would neglect his mathematical knowledge. Although the problem of "proton radius mystery" is in the physics world, since Xu Chuan's research starts from mathematics, it is ultimately a mathematical study.

The days passed one by one, and in the blink of an eye, time came to the beginning of July.

In this month, in addition to perfecting the calculation method of "proton radius mystery" every day, Xu Chuan also followed Professor Deligne to learn other mathematical knowledge.

Focusing on number theory and differential equations that Xu Chuan wanted to learn, the old professor occasionally taught him some mathematics in algebraic geometry.

After all, he studied under the Pope of algebraic geometry, Mr. Grothendieck, and algebraic geometry can be said to be a required course.

This more than one month of study has given Xu Chuan a deeper understanding of his mathematics mentor.

There is nothing wrong with his choice.

Although this mentor has been known as the Pope's student all his life, which is an honor and an inescapable tragedy. But the old man's knowledge is really boundless, giving people a sense of unfathomable depth that can't be seen at all.

In the past month, almost all the various problems he encountered in the process of learning number theory were answered and inspired by this old man.

Xu Chuan was surprised by Professor Deligne's knowledge, and Professor Deligne was also surprised and even shocked by Xu Chuan's talent.

In this month, Xu Chuan mainly learned knowledge about analytic number theory from him, and there was no cover in front of him.

At the beginning, this young genius still had many misunderstandings and did not understand analytic number theory.

But in just one month, he was able to use multiplicative number theory in analytic number theory to study the properties of multiplicative generating functions with him to explore the problem of prime number distribution.

Although multiplicative number theory is only a part of analytic number theory, it still shocked him greatly.

It is worthy of being a young genius who solved a world-class conjecture at the age of 18. His terrifying learning speed and mathematical talent can be said to be the first person he has met in his decades of teaching at Princeton.

Even Terence Tao, who is known as the 'Mozart of Mathematics', showed a talent for mathematics that was inferior to this young man when he was studying at Princeton.