The effort of a cup of coffee is enough to happen a lot. .

Just as Lu Zhou returned to the bed and lie in the system space, the University of Montreal, Canada, thousands of kilometers away from Princeton, the British mathematician Andrew Granville (andrewgra female ille) is browsing the arxiv web page.

This is one of the things he has to do every day, sometimes after the morning run, sometimes before going to bed.

Although most professors like to throw the work of stalking arxiv's latest research progress to the doctoral or master's students in the lab, Granville likes to do it on this matter.

Although the quality of the papers on arxiv without peer review is mixed, many newcomers have come up with some very creative ideas, but they are very instructive...just not perfect.

Roughly looking at the appearance of about ten papers, Granville yawned and was about to get up and go to sleep.

However, at this time, his personal page suddenly received an alert from a website, and it happened to come from the two tag analytic number theory and prime number issues he was concerned about.

Granville frowned, and obsessive-compulsive disorder prompted him to open a reminder.

However, after seeing the title of the article, his mouth could not help but groan.

"Even any number greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers"

Isn't this the Euler statement of Goldbach's conjecture?

In general, this paper will be thrown into the "general math" partition, and this partition has long been blocked by his settings.

Granville didn't know why the paper triggered a reminder, but it was probably a bug on the site or a staff negligence.

Shaking his head, when he planned to close the laptop to sleep, he suddenly noticed the name of the contributor.

then……

He is stunned.

Luzhou?

Last year's Cole Number Theory Award winner?

Zhou Gu Guess, the twin prime guess, the prover of the Polignac conjecture?

The meaning of this paper is... This year he proved the Goldbach conjecture?

Wtf? !

Granville was so violent and instantly awake!

The original sleepiness was swept away, but he did not move, but sat in the chair for a full half minute.

Then he looked at the calendar and confirmed that it was May, not April 1.

There are more than fifty pages in the paper, but this is nothing compared to the amount of information contained in the title.

"There was a solution to Goldbach's conjecture... this is impossible."

With a whisper in his mouth, Granville opened the paper and followed the abstract of the paper, looking down and down.

Then, in this paper, he read it for a night...

......

On the other side, a Parisian high school on the other side of the Atlantic is conducting a lecture on the proof of the weak Goldbach conjecture.

The speaker, naturally, is the certifier of this conjecture, Harold Helfgott.

"...the end of the round method at the weak Goldbach guess, we can prove that any odd number greater than 7 can be expressed as the sum of three odd prime numbers, but it is difficult to generalize it to even numbers."

"Of course, my proof is far from perfect, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. But if everyone here is interested in studying this issue in depth, I suggest you change your mind and reconsider the issue."

The lecture came to an end.

Next, it is the questioning session.

It is not only the professors and researchers of the Paris High School but also the students who sit here.

After waiting for a long time, a young man stood up and spoke.

"Professor Helfgott, how long do you think it will take to resolve the Goldbach conjecture?"

Helfgot thought and replied: "It depends on whether our tools for solving problems are existing or unprecedented. In fact, if I can, I hope that it will never be solved. 瞧瞧 We have already got What? We have improved the old screening method, created the round method and the secret rate method, etc... Not my greed, but I am sure that we can still gain more treasures through this proposition."

The lecture is over.

The audience gave a round of applause and sent Professor Helfgot to the lecture hall.

Did not stop here, he carried a briefcase and walked in the direction of the office.

Pushing the door open and heading for his position, but before he sat down to drink, his students walked over to him with a horrified look.

"Professor! I saw a paper on Goldbach's conjecture on arxiv!"

Helfgot put the briefcase on the table, and there was no change in his expression. He said in an unhurried voice, "Amos, I told you many times, the article on arxiv should be selective. Look. There is only one Perelman, and there will probably be only one. You should look at the classic publications I have given you, not some of the ones that have not been peer reviewed."

Mathematics is different from computers. For the computer industry, an idea is two months behind, which may mean a century. Therefore, many people like to occupy the pit first, then add, will use arxiv frequently.

And mathematics, to tell the truth, is based on only one idea, and the meaning is really small.

Amos is very helpless. He knows that his boss doesn't like arxiv, but he tries to explain: "But the professor, the author of this article is the winner of the Cole Number Theory Award last year! It is impossible for his paper to be ruined. ”

Helfgott squinted slightly and his expression was very surprised.

It is not because of the name of the Cole number theory award, this name is already a cloud for people like him. But last year's Cole Prize winner, he knew who it was. Because at the academic exchange meeting in Berkeley, California, the Chinese young man left a good impression on him.

just……

Such a big guess proves why it is still on arxiv?

The look was slightly neat, and Helfgott felt that he should treat the paper with caution. I can't miss such a big result because of the prejudice against arxiv.

I took out the glasses from my pocket and saw him immediately saying, "Print the paper for me."

"Okay, Professor!"

Amos went back to the computer with great enthusiasm and started the printer.

With a burst of humming sound, the 50 pages of the a4 paper, which was still hot, was sent to the hands of Helfgot.

Professor Helfgott pushed the glasses and pulled a pen from the pen holder and looked at the contents of the paper on a line-by-line basis.

Time passes by.

Amos waited for a long time and did not wait for the reaction he expected.

Finally, he waited a little anxious, could not help but whispered.

"Professor, is he right?"

"...I'm not sure." Professor Herfgot shook his head and put down the pen in his hand, saying carefully, "But I didn't find the obvious problem."

It is impossible to prove this kind of major conjecture in a short time. It is not only that he needs time, but also the peers who study this direction also need time.

Leaning on the chair, Professor Helfgott closed his eyes and meditated for a while.

After about five minutes, he finally opened his eyes, as if he was talking to his student Amos, and he said to himself.

"...he used a completely new method. I can see the shadow of the sieve method on it. I can also see the closed-track integral and the residue theorem. These are obviously traces of the circle method... Of course, the most screaming Or he introduced the concept of group theory in his own theoretical framework. I have seen similar ideas in Professor Zellberg's paper, but it is not so pure. As for whether he proved it or not, I dare not To make a final decision, I need to ask other people's opinions..."