CHAPTER 631: CHAPTER 195: THE OPENING CEREMONY’S AWARD CEREMONY (PART 1)

The day before the official opening of the International Mathematicians Conference, Qiao Yu had a truly fulfilling experience.

He met with three small groups and discussed some developments in mathematics since the proposal of the Generalized Modal Axiomatic System. Then, he chatted with scholars from the International Mathematical Union’s Structure Committee about tomorrow’s opening speech.

Director Tian, whom he hadn’t seen all morning, finally appeared. They had a brief conversation, and in the afternoon, Qiao Yu went to see some old acquaintances.

It was evident that Director Tian still had a significant influence in the world of mathematics.

However, the thing that made Qiao Yu happiest was that a little after 4 PM Philadelphia time, he received the news that Elder Yuan and Qiao Xi had also arrived.

The news was relayed by Zheng Xiweng. At that time, Qiao Yu was chatting with the mathematicians of the Structure Committee in the meeting room.

Zheng Xiweng handed him a note stating that Elder Yuan and Qiao Xi had successfully arrived at the hotel.

This made Qiao Yu realize that Old Zheng’s team is indeed very professional. Even though they were always by his side, they had a clear understanding of the surrounding circumstances.

After patiently chatting with these mathematics bigwigs of the Structure Committee, the meeting ended promptly at 5 PM.

In fact, the content that would be presented in the report had already been submitted to the organizing committee. Today’s meeting, rather than being an academic exchange, was more about a group of bigwigs collectively showcasing their presence in front of this legendary newcomer in the field of mathematics.

This year’s IMU Structure Committee members, he only knew one person, who was also the only publicly known Structure Committee chairman—Pierre Derini. The others were meeting for the first time.

After bidding farewell to these world mathematics bigwigs he met for the first time, Qiao Yu went straight to find Elder Yuan and Qiao Xi, as they had also been arranged rooms by the organizing committee.

Although Yuan Zhengxin would not be speaking at this conference, his status in the world of mathematics was well established.

To put it this way, so far, there are only two mathematicians who have won the Fields Medal, the Wolf Prize, and the Crawford Prize simultaneously.

One is this time’s Structure Committee chairman, Pierre Derini, whom Qiao Yu had just met. The other is his grand-master—Yuan Zhengxin.

Winning these three major awards simultaneously is certainly not easy. Of course, there will be more in the future. After all, the Wolf Prize is the kind of award that is usually given posthumously, and all recipients are prominent figures in a particular field of mathematics.

So it is generally awarded to mathematicians in their later years, representing their unshakeable status in the mathematical community.

In other words, for mathematicians, winning the Fields Medal at a young age represents making groundbreaking contributions in a particular field. But it still requires decades of academic accumulation, maintaining high activity and continuous innovation.

Only when they reach old age can they win a Wolf Prize.

As for the Crawford Prize, because it covers multiple disciplines, including not just mathematics but also astronomy, biology, medicine, etc., winning requires not just ability but a bit of luck, too.

For instance, the research results happen to fall within the cycle when the Crawford Prize is reviewing for a mathematics award; otherwise, if the research results during this cycle have already won other mathematics awards, it is likely to miss out when the Crawford Prize is awarding the mathematics prize.

After all, the review committees of such world-renowned awards tend to balance factors and generally do not continuously give different awards for the same research achievement.

For example, because of his current contributions, Qiao Yu received the Fields Medal, and if next year is when the Crawford Prize reviews for a mathematics award but Qiao Yu has no new research achievements, then he certainly will not win the Crawford Prize that year.

After all, the international mathematical community has already rewarded him for his contributions, so naturally, they would allow the opportunity to be available to others.

So, for a mathematician to win all three prizes, they need to have continuous output, constantly bringing out something new, forcing those proud review committees to reluctantly award the prize.

Of course, these were Qiao Yu’s thoughts after listening to Elder Yuan talk about the judging rules for major international mathematics prizes. He still remembers Elder Yuan’s special advice to him to be modest and not to accept every award.

Especially those trash awards meant to raise one’s esteem. They often invite well-known mathematical newcomers.

Hmm, regarding this, Qiao Yu’s take is that he certainly wouldn’t go for those low-prize, obscure awards.

...

Rushing from the conference center to the hotel, what made Qiao Yu happy was that Elder Yuan and Qiao Xi were staying on the same floor as him.

However, at that moment, Elder Yuan was entertaining guests, and Qiao Xi was also called over.

Technically, it would be impolite to visit at this time. But Qiao Yu didn’t care about that.

After all, he is the grandson...

A grandson who makes his grandfather proud.

In fact, Yuan Zhengxin originally didn’t plan to attend this conference. The elderly have seen almost everything, so attending or not didn’t really matter.

Not to mention that as they age, traveling long distances becomes tiring.

If it wasn’t for Qiao Yu’s confirmed win of the Fields Medal, he wouldn’t have specifically made this trip.

Although the winners of all the awards this year haven’t been publicly announced, that doesn’t include the recipients.

To ensure the winners can attend the International Mathematicians Conference and receive their awards, the committee often contacts the winners a few weeks before the conference begins to ensure they can make time to attend the ceremony.

The committee simply asks the winners to keep it confidential and not to spread the word. Although Qiao Yu received his call a bit late, he had known he would win the award for half a month in advance.