Wandering Spaceship in Deep Space - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: This Boy Is Only An Undergraduate!

After he reviewed the first few questions, Professor Wang Zhang glanced at Zhang Yuan and slowly said, “Your writing is pretty good and neat. Unlike those who stare at the computer for too long and can’t even write. Their handwriting is basically a dog’s scribble.”

Xu Yunjing turned red and thought, ‘Professor Wang isn’t talking about me, right? It can’t be! It must be someone else.’

Wang Zhong did not care about Xu Yunjing’s frantic expression. Based on his understanding, the first few questions were relatively simple and it was a student’s duty to answer them correctly.

When he continued his review, he noticed that the intermediate difficulty questions were also answered correctly.

His explanation of proof was pretty good, but his logic was somewhat weird; it was slightly different from the normal way of explaining the question.

In any case, it was still considered correct.

Wang Zhong took a deep breath and looked up at Zhang Yuan. His internal flames of fury had also gradually disappeared.

When he looked at him closely, the little guy was actually rather good looking and bore some resemblance to his father in his youth.

It had already been a long time since those days where both student and mentor had worked hard together three decades ago, but at the same time, that memory was just like yesterday.

Time had really passed by quickly!

The older generation would always feel nostalgic, and when he reviewed the paper until here, he thought, ‘Since you’ve already done these questions correctly, it means you still have some knowledge to back yourself up. I shall not investigate to see if you have taken the backdoor.’

It was impossible for an entire population of half a million people to be all saints. There would always be some residual habit they had acquired back on Earth, but it could only be slowly corrected in the future.

If everyone paid no heed to relations, then relationships between each individual would be too cold and unfeeling. However, if that sort of action festered to the entire human society and bureaucracy prevailed, it would be a disaster for the new civilization.

Wang Zhong continued to review the following questions.

‘Hm? These questions at the back are pretty difficult… and he answered them correctly! He’s good, very good!’

Even some smarter students were unable to correctly answer those questions correctly.

Wang Zhong’s rigid expression started to ease, which was a sign of his mood improving.

‘I’ve wronged the young man. With his strong grasp in maths, there is no need for him to rely on connections. For him, passing the astronaut test is as simple as ABC.’

When Xu Yunjing saw Professor Wang Zhong’s relaxed expression, she breathed a sigh of relief and she swallowed the words ‘you have given the wrong test papers’ that had been lodged in her throat.

‘Since that guy has gotten the right answers, I doubt it would change anything if I said that? Oh well, who cares!’

When it came to the last question…

A thin layer of sweat trickled down Professor Wang’s forehead and his expression turned serious.

Xu Yunjing looked on curiously. Even now, she did not understand how to prove the question. Even back then, she had been badly tortured during the test and did not manage to answer it.

“You solved this question on your own?” Wang Zhong could not help but ask.

In fact, he knew it was impossible to obtain the answers on the Internet since he was the one who had come up with this question.

“Yes,” Zhang Yuan answered.

“Xu Yunjing, do you understand this question?”

“Ah?” Xu Yunjing was surprised by the sudden mention of her and she was in a state of confusion.

“You didn’t answer this question during your test, right?”

Her face turned red and she hesitated for a long time before uttering a response, “N-nope, I didn’t answer it.”

“Zhang Yuan, explain to her how you solved the question.”

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment and said, “This constructed L-function has the following properties… we decompose the slide projective variety category to the natural inverse functor of h by using the cohomology theory…”

Xu Yunjing pretended to focus but she was actually sizing up this recently acquainted junior.

When it came to solving math questions, outstanding mathematicians had several methods.

The first method: If the problem was too difficult and could not be directly solved, they could try thinking in terms of logical equivalence.

For example: Fermat’s Last Theorem and Taniyama-Shimura conjecture. The famous mathematician Sir Andrew John Wiles proved Fermat’s Last Theorem with Taniyama-Shimura conjecture

The second method: If the problem was too difficult and could not be solved with logical equivalence, they could try tackling the problem in a more generalized format.

And what did that mean? By taking Fermat’s Last Theorem as an example, ABC conjecture is stronger and more generalized than Fermat’s Last Theorem. If ABC conjecture is true, then the former would be insignificant and the proof can be derived with just five sentences.

Even though it sounded simple, it was easier said than done.

When the vast majority of the people attempted questions, they would not think outside of the box or delve deeper into the essence of mathematics. Not many could draw inferences from one question.

After Zhang Yuan finished his explanation, Professor Wang nodded and said in satisfaction, “Do you understand now?”

Xu Yunjing was momentarily stunned and answered in a soft voice. “Erm… I think I understand.”

“Do you really understand the solution?” Wang Zhong furrowed his brows and said slowly, “then repeat Zhang Yuan’s explanation again.”

“…”

Xu Yunjing’s face turned red, feeling as if a thousand horses were galloping past her mind. She could only stick out her tongue in distress and said, “… I don’t quite understand it. I can only grasp the general idea of it.”

Based on her limited understanding, the proof of the last question used a very advanced L-Function that was similar to driving a bomb carrier and suddenly throwing out a nuclear bomb!

Which ultimately blew up the entire question right in her face.

The explosion was not only restricted to that particular question, but other similar types of questions had also been resolved in one go by that one explosion.

It was a typical higher dimensional suppression method that was filled with the beauty of violence.

Wang Zhong frowned. He knew that this postgraduate student he mentored was not considered a genius. After all, Xisha University was not one of the top two universities so the slightly mediocre quality of students was inevitable.

“No one will blame you if you don’t understand. Just don’t pretend that you understand it when you don’t in the future.”

He turned back and said to Zhang Yuan, “You have a pretty good thought process, but you’re making a big fuss over a minor issue. What research papers have you read? Motivic L-function should be the cutting-edge of mathematics.”

Zhang Yuan awkwardly said in response, “I’ve only read through some introductory papers, and cutting-edge math is too difficult for my current standard. But I know the nature of these functions so I just used them in passing.”

Used them in passing?

Xu Yunjing muttered to herself internally, ‘Then why wasn’t I able to use them in passing too?’

Professor Wang could not help but chuckle and said, “You used one of the most advanced mathematical theories to solve a question on a simple test paper? How can you use a theory if you yourself don’t understand it? You place so much trust in someone else’s research result, but what if it’s wrong?”

That was his usual behavior. In summary, rarely would he issue out praises.

But in reality, his heart was filled with appreciation for the young man.

What did scientific research require?

It was innovation—not the kind of person who followed the prescribed order or did things rigidly!

There were many out there who were great in solving questions, but turn out to be trash in scientific research! This was because they could only hover around their set of rules and regulations. The moment they encounter cutting-edge theories, they only have a single reaction: I can’t do it. I don’t understand this. This theory is simply foreign language to me!

They did not even dare to study it or have the spirit to explore the unknown!

“You’re right…” Zhang Yuan also felt that he had done wrong.

Wang Zhong’s expression slightly eased as he did not wish to destroy the young man’s confidence. “It’s better to be down-to-earth when you learn. Even though your method is considered correct, you yourself are not 100% sure. However, attempting the questions is better than not doing it so I’ll give you 99 marks for this set of test papers.”

Zhang Yuan tactifully acknowledged his mistake. “I’m sorry. These theories are all self-taught and I’ve deeply understood the lack of my knowledge and solid foundation. Therefore, I wish to further my studies…”

Self-taught…

Wang Zhong suddenly came to realization and words were now lodged in the back of his throat.

What was with the current situation?

He suddenly recalled that the boy before him was only an undergraduate!

…