Chapter 426: Professor Lu’s Fields Medal

While Lu Zhou and Schultz were talking about the Langlands program, the other two Fields Medal winners were also talking about their award-winning thoughts.

Birkar looked at his medal and began to reminisce about his flee from Iran to UK. “… When I escaped Kurdistan, I never thought this day would come. I didn’t even know any English when I enrolled at the University of Nottingham.”

From overcoming his cultural and language barriers, from becoming the main contributor to the field of double rational geometry, from proving the finiteness of the Fano plane, as well as solving many problems of the minimal model program, all of these reasons were why Birkar was able to win the Fields Medal.

“It’s not easy,” Venkatesh said, “I’ve never experienced such tragic things in Australia. We are really lucky.”

During the Iran-Iraq war in the ’80s, being a mathematician wasn’t an easy thing.

“It’s fine, that’s the past,” Birkar said as he placed his medal in his briefcase. He smiled and said, “Kurdistan isn’t a place that ignites children’s interest in mathematics. I hope that by winning this award, I can put a smile on the faces of the 40 million people in Kurdistan.”

After that, the International Mathematical Union also awarded the Nevanlinna Prize, the highest award in the field of mathematical computing. The winner was Professor Daskalakis.

After all of the award ceremonies, the opening ceremony of the conference came to an end.

A local Rio de Janeiro culture dance group gave a unique Brazilian performance to the conference participants.

Lu Zhou looked at the people who were dressed as Inca Native Americans and thought that their crowns looked like a peacock’s feathers. Compared to dancing, Lu Zhou felt that it looked more like a piece of performance art.

He didn’t know what was so interesting about the so-called dance.

Maybe, this was the difference between cultures.

…

After the performance, Director Mori announced the end of the opening ceremony.

Most of the participants left the venue in a happy mood.

Lu Zhou stood up and was about to leave as well. However, when he went to the venue restaurant to grab some lunch, he was surrounded by reporters.

A CTV reporter asked the first question.

A young female reporter with professional makeup asked, “Hello, Professor Lu, may I ask how does it feel to be the first Chinese scholar to win this medal?”

This question was a little difficult.

Excited? Delighted? Fulfilled?

They all didn’t seem appropriate.

Lu Zhou didn’t know how to describe his feelings.

He looked at the camera that was being pointed toward him and smiled as he replied, “It’s okay.”

The cameraman nearly dropped the camera.

It’s okay…

The Fields Medal is okay… Professor Lu!

If we broadcast this interview, people will think it’s a joke.

The female reporter’s hand trembled a little. However, she quickly composed herself and asked a different question.

“I heard you’re very famous at Jin Ling University and that many young students aspire to be like you. Since you’re standing on this international stage right now, do you have anything to say to them?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Remember your roots; fight for your success!”

Lu Zhou wasn’t the only one surrounded by reporters; the other three winners were also receiving attention.

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Especially Birkar.

Although his academic achievements were slightly inferior to the other three winners, Birkar’s unique background made him extra sought after by western media.

But this kind of attention wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Birkar was annoyed by the reporters, and he was about to leave when something awkward happened.

“Wait a minute, where’s my medal?”

All of the cameras began to point at Birkar.

Birkar anxiously looked around for his medal.

Professor Viana, the head of the conference committee, noticed the commotion and quickly came over.

“What happened?”

“My medal; it was just in my briefcase…” Birkar said in disbelief. He was about to look in his briefcase.

He quickly found out that not only did his gold medal disappear, but his briefcase that contained his phone and wallet also disappeared.

Professor Viana quickly realized the seriousness of the problem. He then looked at his assistant and sighed.

“Call the police.”

The assistant nodded and took out his cellphone.

The organizer of the conference didn’t want to make things worse, but they didn’t have a better solution other than to call the police.

The news of the disappearance of the Fields Medal quickly spread around; it caused a lot of commotion in the venue.

Not long after, the briefcase was found near the hotel, but the phone, wallet, and medal inside were gone.

Due to the principle of shared knowledge, the mathematics conference didn’t restrict anyone from attending. Anyone could freely present their academic opinions and discuss academic topics with other attendees.

However, no one expected that a thief was able to attend the conference.

The spokesperson of the International Mathematical Union expressed his disappointment with the security and safety standards in Rio de Janeiro to the media. He also said that if the medal was found, a special ceremony would be held for the unfortunate award winner.

Lu Zhou, who just escaped the reporter, heard about Birkar’s troubles from Hardy.

He felt deeply sympathetic for his Kurdistan friend as he subconsciously touched his own medal.

Thankfully, his medal was still there.

Hardy listened to the argument happening around him and had an uncomfortable look on his face.

“Professor, I don’t want to say this, but the public security situation in Rio de Janeiro isn’t that good. If you want to go outside, please remember to keep your wallet and medal safe.”

Hardy didn’t look like he was joking, so Lu Zhou nodded silently.

“… I will.”

When Lu Zhou left the conference venue, he decided to wander around the conference site.

The reports at the International Congress of Mathematicians were all of the highest quality, and other than the 45 and 60-minute reports, there were also 10-minute reports for normal scholars where any participant interested in reporting could apply.

The conference reports were divided into more than 20 different mathematical fields, each of which could be further subdivided.

This was an opportunity to understand the latest research trends in the academic community, and Lu Zhou obviously wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

Just as Lu Zhou was wandering around the hallways while contemplating on which report he should listen to, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

“Professor Lu, long time no see!”