A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 121: The Debate on the Solution - 0 points or full marks?

At Yanbei University, on the third floor of Zhihua Building, in seminar room 314, more than a dozen professors gathered to grade the CMO's answers.

"Old Shi, how could you give him zero marks on this question? He clearly got it right!"

"He answered the question correctly, but the CMO is a math competition for high school students, which stipulates that only high school math knowledge can be used to answer the questions. He used the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem, which is beyond the scope of high school math. Giving him zero points is reasonable."

"You're being a bit out of touch with reality. Go look around and see which high school doesn't teach the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem? How many times has the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem been tested in the college entrance examination over the years? How is using the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem considered beyond the scope of high school mathematics?"

"Old Cao, don't get angry. I'm just following the rules. Regardless of whether the teacher taught it or not, this knowledge point is not a high school math concept. There's no question about that, right? I'm not targeting anyone. I'm just stating the facts and acting according to the rules."

"How can the knowledge points learned in middle school not be considered middle school math knowledge points?"

"His ability to come up with this ingenious solution is itself a testament to his skill. If we don't give him full marks for this, wouldn't that be disheartening?"

"This is unfair to the other participants. I've already scored them, and I won't change it!"

"You stubborn old fool!"

"Just get to the point, don't resort to insults!"

"What's wrong with scolding you?"

The atmosphere in the research office became tense, as if the two might come to blows at any moment.

"Hey, you two are over a hundred years old combined, how come you still have such fiery tempers?"

At this moment, the head of the grading team quickly stepped between the two and said, with a wry smile, "Is it really necessary? It's just an exam paper. Let me take a look."

The CMO exam uses a double-blind marking system. If the scores given by the two markers are similar, the final score is the average of the two scores. If the two markers have a significant disagreement, the marking team leader needs to make the final decision.

Xing Jiguang returned to his computer and pulled up the scanned file of the exam paper that Lao Cao and Lao Shi had disputed.

The topic of contention between the two was the fifth question in this CMO exam, an inequality proof question.

The usual solution is to construct a special sequence to solve this problem, and most of the participants who solved this problem used this method. However, the answer in front of us is to construct a function and use the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem to prove it.

令f(x)=k√x(k≥2，x>2)，所以有f`(x)=1/k*x^((1-k)/k)=1/(k*x^((k-1)/k))。

By the Lagrange Mean Value Theorem, there exist ξ∈(a, b) such that f(b)-f(a)=f`(ξ)(ba).

∴f(b)-f(a)=(ba)/(k*ξ^((k-1)/k))
Since b>ξ>a>2,

∴f(b)-f(a)<(ba)/(k*a^((k-1)/k))
∴

It is obvious that the latter part is less than 1, so the original inequality is proved!
Pleasant to watch!

Upon seeing this answer, Xing Jiguang felt as refreshed as if he had drunk an ice-cold cola on a hot summer day.

If Li Zehan were here, perhaps he would understand why Chen Hui was able to finish the second question of the second day so quickly.

"The Lagrange Mean Value Theorem is indeed a topic in advanced mathematics, but many high schools are now teaching it, so it's not wrong for this student to use this knowledge. Giving this question full marks is not unreasonable!"

No one dislikes a genius, yet Xing Jiguang only deducted two points, his favoritism was palpable.

Old Cao was naturally overjoyed with this result. He glanced at Old Shi with a smug look. Old Shi had no objections. Xing Jiguang was the head of the grading team, so he had the final say.

……

July 12th, 9:50 AM, in the lecture hall on the first floor of Zhihua Building.

In the same hall where the opening ceremony was held, all the participants of CMO came here again. Today was the day to announce the results and hold the awards ceremony.

This time, however, everyone became much quieter, and many people glanced at the strange quartet sitting in the back row.

They were naturally looking at Chen Hui.

After the exam, the teachers didn't need to worry about it affecting the children's mindset; they simply told the children what they had seen.

Submit your paper in seventeen minutes!

Unbelievable!
This amazed and somewhat resentful the geniuses. Having personally worked through the set of questions, they were the most qualified to comment on its difficulty. They simply couldn't imagine completing the first day's three questions in seventeen minutes.

So they were all very curious about how many points that guy could get.

Feeling these gazes, Li Zehan and the other two also felt somewhat uncomfortable, even though they knew these people were looking at Chen Hui.

On the contrary, Chen Hui was engrossed in reading the paper, occasionally taking notes on the A4 paper and sometimes doing calculations on the draft paper.

Looking at the symbols on the draft paper that he couldn't understand at all, Li Zehan felt that perhaps his path as CMO had come to an end, and he should start learning advanced mathematics. Otherwise, the gap between him and his boss would only widen.

Unlike the opening ceremony, a dozen or so composed elderly men sat further back in the lecture hall; judging from their demeanor, they appeared to be professors from Yanbei University.

For mathematics majors who want to do mathematical research, a doctoral degree is necessary. Therefore, students who aspire to further their studies at the undergraduate level have already found a supervisor.

Today is the day the CMO results are released. Those who make it into the top 60 in the CMO are eligible for direct admission to Peking University and Tsinghua University. The truly promising students are naturally the targets of these professors' competition. This is a two-way selection process; if a professor likes a student, the student must also choose him.

Therefore, if these professors have students they like, they will often start contacting them as soon as the results are released, trying to get in first.

"Hey, what brings Old Tang here too?"

In the last row, Cao Bo looked at the elderly man with gray hair and asked in surprise.

He remembered that the old professor was preparing to retire peacefully.

"Haha, when you get old, you have to spend more time with young people, otherwise you'll become too old-fashioned. I just came to take a look."

Tang Xin chuckled and didn't tell the truth.

Cao Bo didn't ask any more questions. Everyone knew perfectly well that most of the people who came here had promising talents in mind, but Tang Xin and the little guy he had his eye on were probably not the same person.

Although he was curious about who could persuade Professor Tang to change his mind about retiring, he had more important things to do and no time for gossip.

After grading the papers yesterday, they found out who owned the exam paper.

Unexpectedly, the little guy was the winner of this year's A-Sai Gold Award. Cao Bo, who was already somewhat tempted, did not hesitate any longer and decided to come to the CMO Awards Ceremony.

"Hey, old man Shi, we're just stating the facts. There's a little guy here that you'd like? That's like the sun rising in the west."

I had just sat down when I noticed my old rival next to me and couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

Shi Yuheng rolled his eyes, then got up and sat down in another corner.

Cao Bo didn't push his luck, and sat down next to Xing Jiguang with a light hum, "Hey Lao Xing, what brings you here too?"

"You wouldn't be trying to steal Chen Hui from me, would you?"

Yesterday, Xing Jiguang's score was clearly biased towards Chen Hui, so Cao Bo naturally made such a guess.

Xing Jiguang was both amused and exasperated. "What do you mean by 'robbery'?"

"You can't just assume a promising talent is yours just because you find one, can you?"

"So you really came here for Chen Hui?"

Cao Bo suddenly felt a sense of crisis. If it were just yesterday's question, it might not have caused such a sensation, but combined with the gold medal and his age of sixteen, it was impossible for everyone not to be tempted.

"Everyone's not stupid. We've all seen that little guy's talent. How could we not try to get such a promising talent?"

"Everyone? Who else is there besides you?" Xing Jiguang didn't answer, but just looked up and scanned his surroundings.

Cao Bo then realized, wow, all the professors who were involved in grading the papers had come!
Finally, his gaze fell on Shi Yuheng, who was furthest away from him. "No way, could he also be here for that kid?"

"if not?"

"Didn't he give that kid a zero?"

Cao Bo felt that his values ​​had been shaken.

“Giving a zero is following the rules, and coming here is to acknowledge that kid’s talent and ability. Is that so hard to understand?”

"Fine!"

After a moment of silence, Cao Bo finally uttered two words, which were indeed quite difficult for him to understand.

If you like a junior, shouldn't you give them the best of everything?

Unable to figure it out, he stopped thinking about it and just looked at Tang Xin beside him, feeling immense pressure. "Could it be that Old Tang is also here for that little guy?"

"Then I don't know." Xing Jiguang was also a little curious, wondering why Tang Xin was also there.

"I didn't expect even people from Tsinghua University to smell this and come here. They really are like dogs."

Cao Bo sighed softly. After scanning the area, he had given up on any illusions and was ready for battle.

"Hey, Lao Cao, why does your mouth smell so foul? With a mouth like that, who would want to be your student?"

Unfortunately, a professor from Tsinghua University was sitting right behind Cao Bo.

We work just across the street from each other and research the same field, so we often interact and naturally know each other.

"If you don't want to be my student, why would you become my student?"

Cao Bo replied bluntly, saying that he wasn't in a good mood right now.

"So what if I'm your student? At least I won't swear at people all the time."

"Yes, you can't publish papers without swearing."

Cao Bo scoffed, "How many of your 'Big Four' papers do you have?"

"Oh, so what if you're one of the Big Four?"

The other party retorted, "My teacher is Friedman!"

"With that kid's talent, he'll be going to Princeton sooner or later. If he becomes my student and has my connections, his studies at Princeton will be much smoother!"

Cao Bo fell silent.

The academic circle, since it is a circle, is naturally a society based on personal relationships.

This is not only the case domestically, but also in the West, and perhaps even more so.

What silenced Cao Bo even more was that Princeton, which inherited the legacy of the Göttingen school, had become the world's center of mathematics, and outstanding mathematical geniuses all longed to study at Princeton.

The other party is right; Chen Hui will go to Princeton sooner or later.

"I hope that one day, outstanding Chinese mathematicians will no longer need to go to Princeton, but rather Western mathematical geniuses will yearn to come to Yanbei!"

After a long silence, Cao Bo suddenly said something softly.

The Tsinghua University professor, who had been about to mock him, paused for a moment, shook his head slightly, and said nothing more.

Xing Jiguang was also taken aback for a moment, but didn't say anything. He just patted Cao Bo on the shoulder.

The other professors around them also became depressed.

They all knew that it wasn't a matter of time, but a matter of whether it was even possible.

If given a choice, who would willingly leave their hometown and travel thousands of miles to study?

"Just because we can't do it now doesn't mean we can't do it in the future!"

Cao Bo looked at the little guy reading a paper not far away, "Maybe this little guy is the beginning!"

Everyone saw his gaze.

Upon hearing Cao Bo's words, they all shook their heads noncommittally.

Of course, they hope that the day Cao Bo mentioned will come, but it's going to be very difficult!
Just as the professors were having a heated discussion, it was already 10 o'clock. The CMO website released the results, and the rankings were projected directly onto the large screen on the stage. The host then walked onto the stage.

"Congratulations to all the students! Four students achieved perfect scores in this CMO. The gold medal cutoff was 75 points, and the national training team cutoff was 89 points. The gold medalists in this CMO are..."

The host's words echoed in the auditorium, drifting further and further away, while the other contestants focused all their attention on the large screen behind him.

The four names at the top are Chen Hui, Deng Leyan, Li Zehan, Wang Xiao...

All four of them got full marks, and they were the only four CMOs to get full marks this time!
Considering the terrifying premise of submitting the paper in 17 minutes, the other contestants felt their scalps tingle. Why did they have to be in the same year as these monsters?
Upon seeing these four names, they instinctively turned back to look at the group of four sitting in the back.

Horror!
At this moment, Chen Hui, who had been engrossed in reading his paper, also looked up.

He frowned as he looked at the rankings on the big screen.

Why didn't any comments pop up this time?
Does this mean that because you've already participated in an international-level competition and obtained free attribute points, you won't get any more free attribute points when you participate in CMO?
This pattern is also reflected in the academic level awards.

There are too many guesses in my mind.

Having experienced firsthand how powerful free attribute points could be, he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

But the established facts cannot be changed. Those who have abandoned me, yesterday's days cannot be retained. The past is gone, what matters is seizing the present!

However, just as Chen Hui looked down to continue reading the paper, a comment flashed by.

[Publishing an SCI Q2 paper as the second author earns +1 free attribute point]

"Publishing papers can increase free attribute points?!"

Chen Hui was overjoyed.

But soon, he had some doubts.

When did he publish a paper as the second author?

Without thinking for too long, Chen Hui guessed what was going on. These days, the only thing related to the thesis was Fang Wen.

I never expected that being a second author of a paper would also reward me with free attribute points. I never expected that Fang Wen would put his name on the second author list. And I never expected that a paper of that caliber could actually be published in an SCI Q2 journal!
Too many unexpected things combined to create a pleasant surprise.

While things didn't go well in the east, they did in the west. Unexpectedly, the CMO didn't get the free attribute points, but the paper he wrote unexpectedly yielded some results.

This is in line with the original plan.

In that case,

"Boost my memory!"

(End of this chapter)