Chapter 251: Worthy Opponent

Although the ceremony for the Crafoord Prize ended, the celebration party had just begun.

After the ceremony ended, Lu Zhou walked out of the Stockholm Concert Hall and was about to take the bus to Stockholm City Hall.

However, the second he walked out of the Stockholm Concert Hall, he was ambushed by reporters, and all kinds of microphones and cameras were pushed in his face.

A well-dressed female reporter walked up and quickly asked.

“Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, I’m a reporter from CTV. Can I please interview you?”

CTV?

Lu Zhou did not want to do interviews, but CTV was a different story.

After all, CTV was a reputable media outlet.

Lu Zhou looked at the young female reporter and said, “Of course.”

The reporter smiled and asked, “As the first Chinese scholar to receive the reward, how do you feel right now? Any thoughts?”

“Excited, pleased, thankful…”

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then listed the names of people that had helped him.

The female reporter asked, “We all know that the Goldbach’s conjecture is one of the crowns in the field of number theory. The story of Chin Jungrun’s “1+2” has also inspired a young generation of mathematicians in China. Many people are still confused about the problem of “1+1″. So, what is the meaning of mathematics for you?”

Lu Zhou did not answer this question directly. Instead, he pondered over it for a moment before he suddenly asked, “What do you think the meaning of science is?”

The reporter had not expected a question, but she smiled and replied smoothly, “I think it should change the world. All of the modern wealth has built on the foundation of science and technology.”

Lu Zhou nodded in approval.

Not bad, this reporter was smart.

At least smarter than the previous ones he dealt with.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was happy to converse with her.

What was the meaning of mathematics?

Was it to pretend to be smart?

Of course not.

Even though bragging and showing off knowledge was part of mathematics, Lu Zhou felt like it was the byproduct of a chemical reaction. It was necessary.

Just like how mathematicians were usually handsome, but being handsome did not mean that one would be good at mathematics.

The meaning of mathematics…

Lu Zhou looked at the cameras and smiled before he said, “You’re right, the meaning of science is to change the world.”

“… And the meaning of mathematics is to change science.”

…

Like the Nobel Prize, after the Crafoord Prize award ceremony, there was a grand celebration banquet in the Blue Hall on the first floor of Stockholm City Hall.

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The King and Queen of Sweden as well as many great scientists of the Academy of Sciences were there. They were all gathered there to share the beauty of science.

In a sense, the Crafoord Prize was like a preview of the Nobel Prize. It allowed mathematicians to experience what it would feel like to actually win a Nobel Prize.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences organized this banquet with the rules of Nobel Prize in mind.

For example, the food would not be revealed before the banquet began.

The areas of party and dances were strictly separated. Eating was in the blue hall while dancing was in the gold hall. Everyone had their own assigned seat… This was the difference between European and American conferences.

Before the start of the banquet, Lu Zhou saw a lot of acquaintances and greeted them one by one.

Like Schultz, Helfgott…

The people that were too far away could not come, but most European mathematicians, especially those in the field of prime numbers, attended the banquet.

After attending many conferences, Lu Zhou actually noticed that the mathematics circle was actually quite small. One could almost count the number of big names on one’s hand.

However, the appearance of one big name surprised Lu Zhou.

This person was Faltings, the godfather of algebraic geometry.

His name left a mark in Princeton.

In 1994, he left Princeton after teaching as Professor for more than 10 years and returned to his hometown in Germany.

As of now, he was the director of the Max Planck Institue for Mathematics and the editor of one of the top mathematics journals, Inventiones.

Although Max Planck Institute was not as famous as Princeton, it ranked quite high in the world of research institutions, especially in the field of physics and engineering. Max Planck Institute was undergoing a very nutty project.

Compared to Charles Fefferman, Faltings’ mathematics at Princeton was in no way inferior.

Legend said that he played chess with Peter Sarnak once, and lost. However, the old man was not worried. In fact, he said, “You’re better at chess, but I’m a better mathematician.”

In short, this German old man was very difficult to get along with. Nonetheless, he had the right to be cocky. After the death of Grothendieck, the throne of algebraic geometry would either be his or Deligne.

He dealt with Lu Zhou in the Goldbach’s conjecture proof thesis. He was one of the six reviewers. In fact, Mr. Faltings gave two impressive revision ideas.

This mathematics ability of this old man was really admirable. Although Lu Zhou made the two revisions smoothly, it was a lot of work.

Coincidentally, this old man sat right next to Lu Zhou.

What surprised Lu Zhou was that just when he was thinking if he should disturb Faltings, Faltings was the one to pick up a glass of champagne and said, “Congratulations on your Crafoord Prize, Professor Lu Zhou.”

“Thank you!”

Lu Zhou was deeply surprised as he toasted the old man gently.

Lu Zhou tasted the champagne and watched the old German man talked.

“A month ago, only three mathematicians had the potential to surpass me. That number just became four.”

When Lu Zhou heard this, he nearly choked on his champagne.

The f*ck?

Is this guy humble bragging?

I think I met my opponent…