The heated debate about the extraterrestrial civilization continued.
Lu Zhou sorted out the paper over the next few days. During this time, he heard students gossiping about the remains of the Martian civilization while eating in the cafeteria. Even his father asked him jokingly over the phone whether there were any new discoveries.
It seemed that even the old men of state-owned enterprises in small cities had begun to talk about the gossip surrounding the extraterrestrial civilization and Mars.
In fact, although Lu Zhou, who had just finished his retreat, felt abrupt after learning about this, for the rest of the world, this wasn’t abrupt at all.
First of all, China did not disclose all of the details at once. It was done over two weeks of foreshadowing. They slowly directed the public’s attention to The Gates of Hell mountains, then led to the cave where the ruins were found. It was only classified as a “man-made structure” last week, which led to the conclusion of the remains of a Martian civilization.
This slow pace of publishing news gave the international community a buffer time to digest this huge amount of information.
Lu Zhou had only learned about this recently.
After learning about these things, Lu Zhou felt that the speed of information dissemination in modern society was simply unimaginable. He only went offline for four weeks, but he felt like he couldn’t keep up with the times.
If he had gone offline for longer, to maybe even centuries…
Suddenly, a trace of worries made him afraid to even think about it.
“The paper has been organized and signed by the LSPM research group. I have uploaded the preprint to arXiv and attached a temporary communication page that I made myself. The discussion mode is similar to that of BBS, the name is called LSPM. I have sent the administrator’s account and password to your email. If you are interested, you can also read the opinions of other scholars in this area.
“If no one finds a serious problem, the final version of the paper will be published in the main issue of ‘Future’ at the end of the year. Of course, if you have other opinions, you can also put them forward and discuss them together.”
Schultz smiled and said, “I don’t have any opinions, just do as you say.”
Shinichi Mochizuki: “Me too.”
Perelman didn’t speak; he just nodded.
For the four people standing here, honor and fame were unimportant things. Also, compared to the problem they were studying, trivial matters such as the journal were not even worth mentioning. They did not need to use the influence of the journal itself to make the research results visible to more people.
It was no exaggeration to say that the moment the four letters LSPM were written on the paper, it was destined to receive worldwide attention after publication.
Even if they randomly find a school journal to publish the paper, the end result would be that the school journal would be sold out…
After uploading the preprint of the paper, Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai, who was responsible for helping in the operation and maintenance of the LSPM forum, to open the registration for the website. This was the end of the ABC conjecture project.
In order to celebrate the successful conclusion of the LSPM research group, Lu Zhou booked a table for four people at the grilled fish restaurant near Jin Ling University. Even people like Shinichi Mochizuki, who had never been interested in social activities, came over this time.
Speaking of it, this was quite nostalgic. Although the store had been renovated several times, the owner was still the same, and the taste was still the same too. Lu Zhou still remembered that when he was studying for an undergraduate degree, Dorm 201 frequently visited this place. The owner even gave them some free bottles of beer from time to time.
Now that so many years had passed, his dorm room friends had gone their separate ways. He was the only one who was still standing around here, which was embarrassing to think about.
However, today was obviously not about nostalgia.
A large bowl of grilled fish was brought to the table. Lu Zhou raised the cup in his hand and spoke with a smile.
“Cheers, to the conclusion of the LSPM research project!”
“Cheers!”
The cling of the glasses turned into laughter. The group of people ate grilled fish while drinking beer.
“This is the most enjoyable experience of all the collaborations I have participated in… and also the most rewarding. I originally planned to stay here for half a year, but I didn’t expect that everything went so well.”
After having a drink with Lu Zhou and others, Schultz smiled and continued.
“… But, like they say, all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow, I will go back to the University of Bonn. Professor Faltings has been urging me since a week ago to go back. Now that the proof of the ABC conjecture is finally complete, I should go back to continue my lectures and research.”
When Shinichi Mochizuki heard the name Professor Faltings, his eyebrows twitched fiercely. He quickly reached out for his cup, concealing the embarrassment on his face by drinking.
However, because his movements were too stiff, he was caught by Lu Zhou.
There had been rumors in the mathematics field that this guy was a very cheerful person before entering Princeton. The reason for him being so introverted after graduation was partly because of Faltings.
Although Professor Wiles, who once proved Fermat’s Last Theorem, spoke highly of Mochizuki, as did Professor Shou-Wu Zhang, another one of Faltings’ savvy disciples, they said that studying under the old German was quite a test of psychological endurance.
Perhaps only Schultz, who was expected to surpass Faltings, could feel a little kindness from him.
Lu Zhou: “I wish you a safe journey.”
“Thank you.”
Schultz nodded.
After drinking a sip of beer, Shinichi Mochizuki coughed dryly and continued speaking, “I plan to stay here for two months before going back.”
Schultz smiled and said, “Is it because of Kyoto University? If you want to wait for the limelight to pass and go back, you can come to Germany with me. It’s quite interesting there. Many European mathematicians think you and your research are interesting.
“No, thanks. If they are interested, they can come to the East to find me.” Mochizuki pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued, “I plan to stay here for a while not to avoid the limelight, but just to learn about quantum encryption algorithms. I still have many things I want to study… Purely out of personal interest.”
Although he had never admitted his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, in Lu Zhou’s opinion, it made no difference whether he admitted it or not. It seemed that Shinichi Mochizuki didn’t try to hide this fact either.
Perelman, who was sitting next to him, shrugged and told his plans as well.
“My research project is not over yet, I will stay here until it is over.”
Schultz asked curiously, “Can I ask what the research project is?”
“Of course. The Hodge conjecture. It’s not something worth keeping a secret anyway.” Professor Perelman continued, “That is what I really care about, I feel close to the finish line. If you guys have time, how about collaborating with me?”
Schultz said, “Sounds very interesting.”
Shinichi Mochizuki: “This is not my area of expertise, I am afraid I can’t help.”
“Although I am very interested, I am afraid I have no chance to help… Or wait until I come back from Mars.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “The second batch of scientific expedition teams to Mars is about to leave. I am afraid it will be a little busy for me.”
He noticed that Shinichi Mochizuki was staring at him intently. He paused for a second and smiled.
“Is there a problem?”
“Nothing.” After being silent for a while, Mochizuki sighed, pushed down his glasses, and said, “Anyway, I plan to stay for awhile. Let’s talk when you get back.”
The four continued to drink and eat.
In addition to celebrating the paper, they wished Schultz safe travels for his upcoming departure.
While the four people were drinking and eating, they did not realize that a storm had begun to brew due to their research.
The entire mathematics community was shocked by their paper…