From top student in college to scientific research powerhouse

Chapter 7 A genius like you should join the mathematics department!
The laboratory was eerily quiet.

Everyone looked at Zhang Minghao with curiosity and a strange expression, as if they were all saying the same thing—

Do you even understand what you're saying?
A physics PhD student who completed research on computational mathematics of partial differential equations, and in a widely applicable form at that, feels as absurd as hearing a science major get a perfect score on a political exam.

Of course.

Mathematics and physics are closely related, but the strong connection lies in 'theoretical physics'.

However, the other party was pursuing a doctorate under Xue Kun, clearly following the experimental physics route, while theoretical physics is extremely profound and not something that doctoral students do.

Chen Shuai was the first to speak.

Chen Shuai said to Xue Kun with a smile, "Your student is remarkable. A PhD student in physics has completed computational mathematics research, and it's even a third-order class of Kawahara equations..."

"Did you teach it?"

His tone was full of teasing.

The others had similar expressions. Even if they could accept the premise that a physics PhD student would complete a mathematical project, the research on the third-order Kawahara equations was simply too difficult.

The third-order Kawahara equation has many applications and has been studied by scholars in many mathematical fields. However, most of the results are just special cases that can be simplified and have no value for widespread application.

Zhang Minghao, a doctoral student?

It seems the other party is also involved in falsifying experimental data. Even though Xue Kun said the data was detected in experiments, there is still uncertainty about the situation.

Xue Kun looked over suspiciously, leaned closer, and asked, "You're not joking, are you?"

"Teacher Xue, I wouldn't joke about something like this."

Zhang Minghao spoke very seriously.

"Then you explain it, and we'll see if the research makes sense."

Chen Shuai said something nonchalantly.

No sooner had the words been spoken than a knock came at the door. Standing in the doorway was a thin, bald, middle-aged man with thick glasses, looking every bit the scholar.

"Xue Kun, Professor Xue!"

The middle-aged man called out Xue Kun's name.

Xue Kun quickly stood up, and only managed to call out at the door, "Professor Meng..."

The two were not familiar with each other.

Meng Guoqing is a professor in the School of Mathematics. He and Xue Kun belong to different schools. In the past six months, they have only run into each other occasionally. It's already quite good that he can remember their surnames.

Hello, hello!

Meng Guoqing took the initiative to shake hands and immediately said, "I checked, are you looking to recruit a doctoral student named Zhang Minghao?"

Xue Kun turned to look at Zhang Minghao, then nodded hesitantly, "Enrollment in March..."

"That's it! Do you have their contact information?"

After confirming, Meng Guoqing couldn't wait to ask a question. Noticing Xue Kun's strange look, he immediately explained, "It's like this, I have a math question to ask him. I've been thinking about it since yesterday, but I still can't figure it out!"

Xue Kun was stunned for a moment. He turned to look at Zhang Minghao, then back at Meng Guoqing, and couldn't understand why Meng Guoqing would ask Zhang Minghao a math question.

That's upside down!
Meng Guoqing is a top mathematics professor, and his research achievements in the field of partial differential equations are influential internationally.

He came to ask a math question?
Was the question directed at his own student, Zhang Minghao?
Xue Kun was momentarily confused and subconsciously looked at Zhang Minghao again.

Zhang Minghao walked over and, upon hearing the conversation, immediately asked, "Professor Meng, you were looking for me?"

"he is?"

Meng Guoqing looked at Xue Kun.

"You don't know him?" Xue Kun was taken aback for a moment, then immediately introduced, "This is Zhang Minghao."

Meng Guoqing immediately realized what was happening, his face beaming with surprise, "Zhang Minghao, you're here! That's wonderful!"

As he spoke, he took out a stack of papers from his bag and eagerly handed them over, "Take a look at this, is this your analysis?"

Zhang Minghao took it and looked at it carefully, and found that it was the analysis he had done for Yu Minxia's equation.

He nodded. "I wrote it."

"Then we've found the right person!" Professor Meng breathed a sigh of relief and eagerly pointed to a spot on the second page. "This substitution and transformation, and several other similar places later on, should use the same method."

"I checked the calculations, and the transformations are all correct, but I don't understand how it was done..."

Meng Guoqing began to explain.

After Yu Minxia came to him yesterday, he has been trying to understand the substitution and transformation steps.

I kept thinking about it in the office, and I kept thinking about it after I got home. Even when I closed my eyes to sleep at night, I continued to think about it.

I initially thought it was a small problem that I could figure out, but so far, there has been no progress.

He was so worried.

That's why I proactively checked the list of doctoral students admitted in March, and when I learned that Zhang Minghao was Xue Kun's student, I contacted him directly.

Zhang Minghao also realized what was going on.

He looked left and right; the office doorway wasn't the place to discuss mathematics. So he simply said, "Professor Meng, let's find a quiet place to talk."

"Yes, yes, let's find a quiet place."

Xue Kun pointed to the small office across the street, "Let's go to that room."

Meng Guoqing and Zhang Minghao went to the small office across the street together.

The people in the large office stared at each other.

Some people wanted to continue discussing the experimental issues, but found there was nothing to say; all the possible questions had already been thought of.

This is why some people doubt the validity of the preliminary experimental results.

Xue Kun is one of them.

Zhu Bingkun and several other associate researchers also believed that there might be errors in the preliminary experiments, but the discussion of the preliminary experiments remained a problem.

Many people are confident in the preliminary experiments because the data from the preliminary experiments have been verified several times, and the results of the verification are consistent.

Even if we recalculate, we'll most likely get the same result. Zhu Bingkun pondered for a moment and said, "Zhang Minghao just said that his research can simplify the computational burden of covering the 'third-order Kawahara equations,' right?"

The others nodded in agreement.

It all sounded like a fantasy, but Meng Guoqing actually went to ask Zhang Minghao math questions...

Is it true?
"I'll go take a look." Xue Kun couldn't sit still any longer, so he simply stood up and walked towards the other side.

Zhu Bingkun then asked Chen Shuai, "What do you think?"

"impossible."

"The 'third-order Kawahara equation' is too complex. So many people study it. Even though Zhang Minghao is very talented, he is still a PhD in physics..."

Chen Shuai sounded somewhat uncertain, but finally exclaimed, "If it really works, that would be amazing!"

……

Meng Guoqing asked the very question that Yu Minxia couldn't understand: how to perform 'approximate substitution transformation' in the process of equation analysis.

He couldn't understand it, and he couldn't figure it out.

Zhang Minghao was not surprised. He was just a physics PhD student, but he knew that the research was very difficult.

Even now, he has only found the pattern for 'approximate substitution transformation', but has not proven the correctness of the pattern.

When he first started working on algebraic transformations, he relied on "Correct Perception".

"I don't know why this substitution and transformation is necessary, but I've found a pattern."

Zhang Minghao put it very bluntly.

Meng Guoqing was stunned for a moment after hearing this, but when he looked at the steps of 'substitution and transformation', he immediately understood.

He was a scholar in the field of partial differential equations and knew that many problems in mathematics were like this.

They found a pattern, but couldn't prove it.

This is also the most common mathematical problem: proving a discovered pattern.

Just as Zhang Minghao was about to explain further, Meng Guoqing interrupted him, hesitatingly asking, "Have you published a paper yet?"

"I'm about to send it out, it should be soon."

"Then hurry up, finish the paper and submit it for pre-submission, so that you have control over the results."

"I'll ignore this pattern for now," Meng Guoqing said, shaking his head with some regret.

The 'law itself' is also a significant achievement. The 'third-order Kawahara equation' has a wide range of applications, while most industrial applications and even experiments use numerical substitution to find approximate solutions.

One method can significantly reduce the computational load by performing comprehensive calculations on the equations, which can help obtain more accurate solutions.

The value of a study is measured not only by its difficulty but also by its high application value. If the application value is high, the significance of the study is great.

Zhang Minghao understood Meng Guoqing's meaning, and he laughed generously, "It's alright, Professor Meng, I'll summarize it tonight and upload the core file first."

"That's good, hurry up!"

Meng Guoqing then listened attentively.

In fact, Zhang Minghao didn't really care, because he was only talking about a part of the rules. There are seven transformation forms of 'approximate substitution transformation', but only two forms are related to Yu Minxia's equation.

The variations involved in other equations can also be studied by comparison, but this also takes time.

This is enough time to complete the pre-submission.

When Xue Kun walked in, he saw Zhang Minghao explaining something earnestly.

Professor Meng listened attentively, nodding occasionally.

The rules of 'approximate substitution transformation' are somewhat complex, but since the target audience is scholars in the field of partial differential equations, many parts can be explained simply.

Both transformation methods were explained quickly.

After Zhang Minghao finished speaking, Meng Guoqing didn't stop. He couldn't wait to start using the rules to approximate the transformation and then verify the calculation.

Xue Kun, standing to the side, couldn't help but ask, "Are you talking about your research?"

"Correct."

Zhang Minghao gave a brief explanation.

Xue Kun understood, but he was still full of surprise. Could a physics PhD student really have come up with a simplified calculation method for the 'third-order Kawahara equation'?

He looked at Meng Guoqing, who was focused on verifying the calculations, and decided to wait.

Zhu Bingkun and Chen Shuai also came.

They pulled Xue Kun aside, and Xue Kun gave the same explanation.

As they were talking, Professor Meng suddenly stopped writing and said excitedly, "The pattern is correct!"

"Three different equations, using the same approximate substitution and transformation method, yielded very similar verification results!"

"Okay!"

"This pattern is really amazing..."

He suddenly stood up and looked at Zhang Minghao excitedly, asking, "Zhang Minghao, you haven't enrolled yet, right?"

Zhang Minghao was stunned.

Meng Guoqing grasped his hand and exclaimed excitedly, "To be able to discover this pattern, you are absolutely a genius, a true mathematical genius!"

"A math genius like you should be pursuing a PhD in mathematics! What a waste of your talent to study physics, especially experimental physics!"

"Jiangzhou University allows physics master's students to apply for a mathematics PhD program. How about it? I'll make a special application, and you can study for your PhD with me!"

"Once you enroll, we'll study this pattern together and prove its validity."

"This research is enough to make you an outstanding doctoral student, maybe even win an award. At that point, staying on at the university won't be a problem..."

Zhang Minghao was stunned.

Xue Kun's face turned dark upon hearing this.

(End of this chapter)