A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 138 Genius is merely the threshold to meeting him

"???"

"Where is it simple?"

The people in the classroom looked like they had seen a ghost.

So how exactly was it calculated so quickly?
They didn't even know if Chen Hui's actions were right, let alone understand them.

So, they turned their attention back to their teacher, Xu Zhiyuan.

But Xu Zhiyuan was clearly just as confused. He was still staring blankly at the blackboard, completely unable to answer his classmates' questions.

"What exactly is this chord-tangent addition you mentioned?"

Xu Zhiyuan asked respectfully, like a studious student asking a teacher a question. He thought for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. He understood Chen Hui's solution process, but there was one key point that he didn't understand.

Seeing the teacher's expression, the students finally gave up completely.

"Oh, this!"

"Given an equation in a field, the real number field R or the rational number field Q, the solution can be regarded as a point located in R^2 or Q^2. The addition law is a transformation of the chord-tangent structure. To add two points P1 and P2, we only need to construct a straight line passing through the two points. If P1 and P2 coincide, then this straight line is the limit of the curve. Find the third intersection point P of the straight line and the curve, and repeat the above operation for O and P. The intersection point obtained again is P1+P2."

Chen Hui shared his knowledge generously, explaining as he went and even drawing diagrams on the blackboard to help the teacher understand.

A glint of light flickered in Xu Zhiyuan's eyes; he felt as if he had already touched that door.

No, he only found the keyhole; he's still missing a crucial key!

Xu Zhiyuan looked at Chen Hui and asked, "How was point O chosen?"

Chen Hui nodded inwardly. As expected of a professor from the School of Mathematics, his level was exceptional; every question hit the nail on the head. "Generally speaking, we would choose point O at infinity..."

What followed was a rather confusing explanation, which involved more profound knowledge of elliptic curves and group theory. The people in the classroom were getting drowsy, but Xu Zhiyuan's eyes became brighter and brighter.

"it is good!"

"Great!"

Xu Zhiyuan suddenly spoke loudly with a joyful expression, while at the same time glancing warily around the classroom.

"Alright, students, let's take a break for now."

After he finished speaking, he realized that it was already past eleven o'clock, so he changed his words, "Everyone can go back and rest now. Remember that the afternoon training session will still be held here at two o'clock."

After giving his instructions, he whispered to Chen Hui, "Stay here for a moment, I need to talk to you about something."

"Teacher, does that mean we won the game this morning?"

As the students were leaving one after another, Li Zehan stood up, looked at Xu Zhiyuan, and asked.

"?"

Xu Zhiyuan didn't quite understand the strange competitive spirit of these kids. "I'm here to discuss a major event that will affect academia. And you're asking me whether you won or lost your game?"

My kid? Playing games?
"Does this mean we got the last question right?"

Li Zehan ignored all that and looked at Deng Leyan and Wang Xiao provocatively, "We both scored 70 before, so even if we only get one point on this last question, we'll still win!"

"That's right, you did the right thing."

"You win!"

Xu Zhiyuan was both amused and exasperated.

Li Zehan grinned, his teeth gleaming as he looked at Deng Leyan and Wang Xiao.

Deng Leyan didn't look at Li Zehan and walked out of the training room without turning back. He had already come to terms with reality after the last lecture. He only needed to focus on himself and keep improving.

Wang Xiao packed his schoolbag, looking rather dejected.

Unlike Li Zehan and Deng Leyan, he is already a junior in high school this year and will be a senior in the fall!

Sometimes you have to admit that youth really is the greatest asset.

The other students looked at the smug Li Zehan, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.

In the game just now, this person was someone who could rival Deng Leyan and Wang Xiao, and was considered a genius by them.

However, this genius was willing to cheer for Chen Hui, because only by defeating such a genius could they see Chen Hui make his move.

Or rather, genius is the threshold to meeting him!

With mixed feelings, the classroom quickly became empty, leaving only Chen Hui and Xu Zhiyuan.

"Don't tell anyone about this method yet. It's perfectly capable of publishing a paper in a high-level journal!"

Xu Zhiyuan was somewhat excited.

There is a consensus in the academic community on how to solve Diophantine equations using elliptic curves, but Chen Hui's solution method is more convenient and requires less computation.

It's important to understand that even with elimination, a three-digit integer with over eighty digits has a total of 10^160 possible combinations by verifying the third variable using two existing variables.

The most powerful computing system today, Sunway TaihuLight, has a peak computing capacity of 12.5 quadrillion calculations per second, or approximately 10^18/s. This means it would take 10^142 seconds, or 10^134 years, or even 1 trillion ...

Of course, mathematicians have also found some simpler solutions that reduce this order of magnitude to a level that can be calculated in a short time using ordinary computers.

But using Chen Hui's method, even a single person can get the answer within tens of minutes, which is far more advanced!
Such a solution is destined to be remembered in history.

"So you can publish in a journal again?"

Chen Hui was somewhat confused.

In his mind, academic papers and journals have always been sacred, but now that sacred status is constantly declining and being pulled down from the altar step by step.

"of course can!"

Xu Zhiyuan affirmed, "If you include the method for selecting point O and the proof process in your paper, you can definitely publish it in a top-tier mathematics journal."

"However, you'd better not discuss this solution elsewhere before the paper is published."

Xu Zhiyuan cautioned, "The academic world is not as pure as you imagine. It is also a breeding ground for corruption, and plagiarism is not uncommon."

He wasn't worried about the students in the classroom. They couldn't even understand what he was saying, so even if they wanted to plagiarize, they wouldn't be able to.

He has high standards for himself, and he would never do something like plagiarizing students' work, nor would he stoop to it.

"A top-tier mathematics journal?"

Chen Hui asked curiously, "Is it a Q1 SCI journal?"

Wang Qiming had promised him a reward for publishing a Q1 SCI paper, and unexpectedly, just as one paper was about to be published, he already had ideas for the next one.

It seems that being a mathematician really does offer a promising future.

He was also somewhat hopeful, wondering if the second paper would offer a free attribute point reward.

"Of course!" Xu Zhiyuan was both amused and exasperated. SCI rankings are essentially based on impact factors, which are calculated by dividing the number of citations of a journal article by the number of citationable articles. However, truly high-level papers, especially mathematical papers, are rarely understood, let alone cited. So how could journals that publish such articles have high citation counts?
But can you say that such an article is of low quality?

Therefore, in the mathematics community, a very strange phenomenon occurs: some journals that are not of such high quality have much higher impact factors than the four top journals.

Undoubtedly, even under such circumstances, the four top journals and first-class mathematics journals can still be included in the Q1 SCI journals!

"Alright, go ahead and organize it into a paper as soon as possible. You can send it to me for review, or you can send it to your teacher."

Xu Zhiyuan said, "Your teacher can also be trusted."

"Of course, you can also publish it on axiv first."

He was a professor at the School of Mathematics at Jiangcheng University and knew Yuan Xinyi. He naturally knew that Chen Hui was Yuan Xinyi's student, which was why he didn't recommend any journals for Chen Hui to publish in. Doing so seemed to be overstepping his bounds.

As for Yuan Xinyi, a young man aiming for the Philippine Prize, he wouldn't be interested in such achievements.

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Xu."

Chen Hui thanked him, packed his bag and left the classroom. Writing papers was indeed important, but first, he had to submit his previous paper!

"Boss, that's awesome!"

"I knew only the boss could solve this problem!"

"What did Teacher Xu say to you just now? Did she mention what the reward would be for getting first place?"

Li Zehan and Chen Ling'er did not leave, but waited outside the classroom. As soon as Chen Hui came out, Li Zehan came up to him and showered him with compliments.

Chen Hui understood, but he didn't understand the solution at all.

It was already 11:30 when we left the classroom, and the three of us went to the faculty cafeteria for a self-service meal.

Stepping out of the cafeteria under the scorching sun, the chubby Li Zehan was already drenched in sweat. Seeing an electric scooter parked by the roadside ahead, Li Zehan chuckled and took out his phone to scan the QR code.

"My battery is dead, please try another one..."

Hearing the electronic sound coming from the electric scooter, Li Zehan's smile vanished abruptly. Standing under the scorching sun, he looked around and saw that there wasn't another electric scooter within a radius of several hundred meters.

"WTF?"

For the first time, Li Zehan experienced the feeling of the sky falling down.

"Trash mango!"

Complaining won't change the harsh reality, but Chen Hui walked to a private electric scooter by the roadside, took the key from the basket, started the scooter, and came to Li Zehan's side, gesturing to him to the other scooter next to the one he had just started.

"Stealing an electric bicycle?"

Li Zehan looked at Chen Hui with suspicion.

"..."

Chen Hui ignored him, turned the handle, and drove away.

It's impossible to steal a battery.

This is an electric scooter he rented from a classmate at Jiangcheng University on Xiaohongshu. The original price was 60 yuan a day, but when the other party heard that he was a high school student who came to participate in the IMO training camp, Chen Hui managed to lower the price to 30 yuan.
Jiangcheng University covers a vast area with many hills and slopes, making bicycles almost useless. In the summer, it's like an oven, and without an electric scooter, it's truly impossible to move an inch.

When he enrolls in school, Chen Hui plans to buy an electric scooter.

Driving swiftly, the three returned to Luojia Mountain Villa a few minutes later.

Chen Hui opened the cardboard box and took out the family bucket of rice.

The computer is a Mi Pro X17, with a casing made of the latest aerospace materials, a Core i9-13900K CPU, a 4090ti graphics card, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a 4K monitor…

"Fuck me!"

"This is the super deluxe edition!"

After turning on the computer and checking the configuration, Li Zehan immediately became agitated.

Everyone says Xiaomi is a cost-effective choice, but the Pro X17 is made with really solid materials!
Unfortunately, he couldn't find any sales channels for this laptop online. Maybe it was a special edition. Li Zehan was a little disappointed. He was a fan of rice and already had a whole set of rice products at home.

As for the phone, Chen Hui looked at his Mate 20 Pro and felt it was working quite smoothly. Perhaps he could take the Mi phone back to his aunt, whose Redmi phone had been used for five or six years and was due for a replacement.

He doesn't need the tablet either, so I'll take it back for Rui Rui and Qing Shan to use for online classes. This ProX17 is lightweight and portable, and he can carry it with him wherever he goes.

He certainly didn't need a watch; he didn't want it to vibrate constantly while he was reading his thesis.

The headphones, however, can be kept.

Soon, Chen Hui had assigned a home to the rice bucket.

Then I turned on my computer, connected to the hotel's Wi-Fi, downloaded some commonly used software, downloaded the paper attachments from my email, and visited the official websites of several journals recommended by my teacher.

It didn't take long for Chen Hui to make his choice between the Communications in Theoretical and Applied Mathematics and the Duke Journal of Mathematics.

The two journals are equally influential in the mathematics community and both lean towards mathematical physics. Clearly, Yuan Xinyi carefully selected the journals he recommended to him.

However, the review period for Duke Mathematics Journal is only 6-12 weeks, while the review period for Theoretical and Applied Mathematics Communications is more than 12 weeks, and its publication fee is as high as $4740, which is equivalent to more than 30,000 Chinese yuan.

Chen Hui felt that the money could be spent, but it was unnecessary.

I went to the Duke Mathematics Journal website, checked the submission requirements, spent more than an hour revising the paper to meet the requirements, and then sent it to the official submission email address.

It was almost 2 p.m. when they finished doing all this. Chen Hui woke up Li Zehan, who was taking a nap, and then called Chen Ling'er on WeChat. The three of them rode off on their electric scooters, enjoying the breeze while the other students stared in disbelief.

The afternoon training session finally returned to normal. Xu Zhiyuan stopped doing anything strange and started practicing IMO question types and expanding on related knowledge.

Occasionally, he would also tell some interesting stories about mathematicians, such as how Euler, who was blind, dictated more than 400 papers and could even construct three-dimensional geometric figures in his mind. Once, when a friend visited, he was playing chess while mentally calculating 7-digit multiplication. He lost the game but accurately gave the answer. The function symbol f(x) and the value of pi (π) were also invented by Euler.

For example, when Shiing-Shen Chern was debating with colleagues at Berkeley about whether a surface exists that is locally symmetric but globally asymmetric, he simply took out champagne and made a bet: "We'll see in three days!" In the end, through analysis of the intrinsic geometric structure, he proved in just three days that the surface did not exist. After winning, he joked: "The joy of mathematics lies in using minimal effort to achieve maximum effect!"

For example, Fermat's blank space here is too small to fit...

For example, Perelman, who refused a million-dollar prize...

He has always believed that cultivating a genius's interest in mathematics is far more important than solving problems correctly, and he has always practiced this philosophy.

Besides Xu Zhiyuan, several other professors gave lectures during this training camp, but without a doubt, Xu Zhiyuan was the students' favorite teacher.

Chen Hui has not attended any classes these days. He continues to delve into the Langlands program and condensed matter mathematics while organizing his paper on the solution to the Diophantine equation.

Time just passes quietly.

A week later, they took a test, and only 16 people remained in the classroom. It was only at this moment that everyone realized that this training camp was also a brutal elimination process.

The journey of life is just like that.

Another week later, only six people remained, who would represent China in this year's International Mathematical Olympiad in France.

Without a doubt, Chen Hui, Li Zehan, Deng Leyan, and Wang Xiao were in a commanding lead. To Chen Hui's surprise, Chen Ling'er was also among the remaining two, as was Lü Junchen from Bashu Middle School in Chongqing, whom Chen Hui was not very familiar with.

(End of this chapter)