CHAPTER 432: CHAPTER 144 FOCUSING ON KEY RESEARCH PROJECTS! _2

Once the three had expressed their opinions, Qiao Yu spoke up: "How about I take my mom out for a walk first?"

Before Tian Yanzhen could respond, Yuan Zhengxin laughed and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Go ahead, but Qiao Xi, don’t let Qiao Yu wander too far. We’ll go out for a meal after our discussion."

"Okay, Grandmaster."

With that, Qiao Yu stood up, walked over to Qiao Xi, and said, "Mom, let’s go and let the professors discuss things. I’ll take you out for a bit."

"Alright." Qiao Xi stood up, nodded to her mentor, her son’s advisor, and Professor Zhang Yuantang opposite her, then took Qiao Yu’s hand and walked out of Tian Yanzhen’s office.

...

"Another achievement?" Qiao Xi asked her son after leaving Tian Yanzhen’s office.

"Yes, a major one." Without the exaggeration and excitement of reporting to Elder Yuan, Qiao Yu spoke earnestly.

"Oh." After responding, they had already exited the small building. Qiao Xi felt that the interaction with Qiao Yu today was a bit novel.

The last time she came was just to see Qiao Yu, but this time she would be settling in Beijing for a while, starting her university life formally.

Qiao Yu had also transformed from just her son to something like a classmate or even a fellow student.

"Why don’t you ask about my major achievement?" Qiao Yu couldn’t resist and turned to look at Qiao Xi.

Qiao Xi confidently said, "Because even if you tell me, I wouldn’t understand."

Qiao Yu reckoned this might be one reason Elder Yuan took a liking to his mother.

He even suspected Qiao Xi herself wasn’t aware she possessed the ability to get straight to the essence of any issue, leaving him helpless every time.

But this didn’t stop Qiao Yu from proudly explaining: "I constructed an axiomatic system that allows number theory and geometry to be discussed within the same framework.

In other words, I can research number theory, you can study geometry, and we can still collaborate on projects. I will decompose number theory problems that need solving.

Then, I can appoint you to my team specifically to handle geometric analysis and proofs. So, Qiao Xi, you need to study hard."

"Qiao Yu!" Qiao Xi stopped, looking at her beloved son.

"What?" Feeling good about his performance, Qiao Yu glanced at his always gentle mother.

"What did you just call me?"

"Qiao Xi, what’s wrong? The world is dynamic, and addresses can change too. At home, of course, I should call you Mom, but we’re at school now.

Yes, our current relationship at school is... ouch, ouch... Mom, Mom, stop pinching, my ear’s gonna fall off, it hurts..."

"So, what should you call me at school in the future?"

"Mom, it has to be Mom."

"Hmm, Qiao Yu, you’re just like when you were little, so well-behaved!"

...

The professors in the office naturally didn’t care about the little interlude between mother and son in the yard.

After all, they understood better than Qiao Yu the significance of this imaginative concept to the mathematical community.

From the Langlands Program to the Geometric Langlands Program... The Western mathematical community has long sought to bridge different research areas in mathematics.

Especially the Langlands Program, which has always been recognized as one of the most ambitious and influential theories in modern mathematics.

Its core idea attempts to establish a deep connection between two seemingly unrelated fields in mathematics: number theory and representation theory.

And through this connection, it aims to provide a new unified perspective to build a bridge between different branches of mathematics.

Qiao Yu, by constructing a geometric environment using tools like modal distance and modal convolution, attempted to geometrize number theory.

Even though Qiao Yu, unlike the Langlands Program, did not propose multiple interrelated sub-conjectures trying to clarify the correspondence between Galois representation, autonomous forms, and L-functions, etc.,

Qiao Yu achieved a de facto conceptual unification. If successful, no, once successful, it would completely redefine the way number theory problems are studied worldwide.

Moreover, in some sense, those sub-conjectures of the Langlands Program could also be incorporated into Qiao Yu’s constructed framework for research.

Clearly, this would be a milestone work in mathematical history.

For many, this seemingly ordinary day may well be witnessing and participating in history.

...

"This project must apply for the Natural Science Foundation." After Qiao Yu left the office, Tian Yanzhen spoke directly.

Yuan Zhengxin nodded and then said unceremoniously, "Qiao Yu is our joint student."

Zhang Yuantang couldn’t resist asking, "Qiao Yu is already a graduate student? If I remember correctly, Huaxia used to require at least graduate-level projects to apply for the National Science Foundation, right?"

Tian Yanzhen smiled and explained, "That was in the past. Starting from the year before last, outstanding undergraduates have been allowed to apply for the Natural Science Foundation.

Currently, eight universities in China permit excellent undergraduates to apply for the National Natural Science Foundation. Our Yanbei University and Huaqing University are among these eight."

Zhang Yuantang opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.

Wow, undergraduates can apply for National Science Foundation projects.

Of course, it’s not that Zhang Yuantang thought Qiao Yu’s idea was unworthy of applying for the National Science Foundation, but he felt that Qiao Yu was simply an exception.