Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
This was the first time that Lu Zhou encountered a computing power bottleneck.
Most of the difficulties he had encountered before were on the logical level. Even if he encountered complicated calculation problems, he could have easily found the result using his computer.
But the situation now was completely different from the past.
A mathematical model built for a single problem could easily be done with a computer and a piece of software like Molpro.
However, when the “single problem” extended to “a certain type of problem”, the amount of calculation involved would increase exponentially.
Lu Zhou tried to solve some of the problems in the mathematical model with his own laptop. However, no matter how many times he tried, the final result was that the system crashed.
Fortunately, he thought of someone that could help him.
And that person was David Shaw.
However, Lu Zhou had only met him briefly at the MRS Conference…
“We’re here”.
Lu Zhou was awakened by Jerick. When he looked outside, he saw the D.E Shaw Research Institute.
He was at the Columbia University campus.
Lu Zhou was surprised that it was already night time as they should have arrived in the afternoon.
“How long did I sleep for?”
“Four hours… The traffic was bad,” Jerick replied. He then added on nervously, “Professor, although I know you’re doing a great research project, your body is the most important thing.”
Lu Zhou rubbed his eyes and said, “I am in good health, I haven’t been sick since coming to Princeton.” He then sent David Shaw a text message to tell him that he had arrived.
Before he came, he made an appointment with David beforehand.
Lu Zhou got out of the car and soon the Wall Street investment legend greeted him with open arms.
“My friend, you’re finally here!” David Shaw gave Lu Zhou a warm hug, and the two started to walk toward the research institute. David said, “I knew that you would come this year.”
Lu Zhou said, “You knew?”
“Of course.”
“Do you have scientific evidence?”
“Nope! But I could tell from my intuition.”
Lu Zhou looked at David strangely.
If he’s not joking, then his intuition is scarily good.
David brought the two to his office and made two cups of coffee before giving them to Lu Zhou and Jerick.
Then, he made himself some tea and sat down across the pair. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “Go ahead, what kind of exciting things do you need my help with?”
Lu Zhou: “Actually, I don’t know if it’s appropriate to ask you this… I want to look at Anton, is that okay?”
“Piece of cake, it’s not a secret. Anyway, Anton is going through maintenance. I’ll bring you there,” David said. He then looked at Jerick and asked, “How about you? Come with us or stay here?”
Jerick didn’t expect the big man to talk to him, so he said, “I…”
Lu Zhou said, “Just come with us, it’s good for you.”
David smiled and said, “Then let’s go.”
Anton was located in the corner of the D.E. Shaw Institute and was housed in a separate building. Originally, Lu Zhou thought that this supercomputer would be very large. However, when he really saw it in its glory, it was surprisingly low-key.
This legendary computational chemistry weapon only occupied a dozen square meters or so.
However, for this dozen square meter chassis, David built a supercomputer center that was 100 times larger.
Not just that, but David said that the entire staff and supercomputer center was to keep Anton running.
“Isn’t that shocking?” David smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “Most people who see this will have the same expression as you.”
“It is shocking…”
Lu Zhou was shocked by its compactness.
Suddenly, Lu Zhou had a strange idea.
What if I put Xiao Ai inside?
Of course, this was only an idea.
He couldn’t do this…
In addition to the three people, there were several employees in the room that were supervising Anton.
David gave Lu Zhou a tour of the supercomputer and showed him the performance of Anton.
After hearing his introduction, Lu Zhou only had one question.
“This thing is expensive, right?”
“It is expensive, but I don’t want girls or cars, and money isn’t useful to me.” David shrugged and patted the chassis as he said in a joking tone, “This is my girl.”
Lu Zhou said, “Then your girl is quite high maintenance…”
David smiled. “Of course, that is one of the reasons I love it.”
Every time Anton flashed a signal light, hundreds of dollars were being burned.
There was no doubt that David Shaw was the least materialistic person on Wall Street.
He had no yachts, luxury cars, private planes…
David looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “Then, can you tell me why you came all the way here?”
David didn’t believe that Lu Zhou came here just to look at the supercomputer, Lu Zhou had probably encountered a problem that normal computers couldn’t solve.
In fact, David’s intuition was correct.
Lu Zhou didn’t hide his intentions, and he made a request.
“I want to borrow your equipment to do an experiment.”
David was interested. “Oh, what experiment?”
Lu Zhou: “It’s about a theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure.”
The laboratory suddenly quieted down.
The engineers who were debugging the computer didn’t care. However, the doctors who were doing chemistry calculations paused.
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Lu Zhou.
Especially David… He tried to hide the shock on his face when he said, “Unbelievable… You actually made a theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure?”
Lu Zhou was embarrassed at all this attention. He then said, “Strictly speaking, not yet. I need to use a supercomputer to perfect my model. Can I please rent your equipment?”
“There’s no need for payment,” David shook his head and said, “I already have enough money. You should know how that feels. Looking at the string of numbers in your bank account and not knowing how to spend it is a burden.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
Is he showing off?
Lu Zhou thought about it for a moment, but he couldn’t agree with him.
Although his material needs were met, if someone wanted to give him a billion or two, he certainly wouldn’t refuse.
If it were the prize money, even thousands would make him happy. However, this type of happiness wasn’t related to money, it was related to winning the prize.
David said, “I only have one request.”
Lu Zhou asked, “What?”
“You don’t have to add my name to the thesis, but I hope that you can include the Anton Supercomputer Center of the Deshaw Institute as the location of the research institute,” said David. He then looked at Lu Zhou and said sincerely, “I hope that the entire chemistry community knows that this came from Anton!”