So the ideas of a genius are this fierce?
Li Jian Gao collected his thoughts. He didn't plan on discussing this academic issue with Qiao Ze.
To solve the Yang-Mills Equations, it's inevitable to make use of knowledge in Group Theory. When the two leading figures constructed this special set of equations, they employed a Rigid Body Motion Set from a Multi-dimensional Complex Space to replace Group U(1), which is the compact Li Group. Thus, the Yang-Mills Equations acquired both classical and quantum theoretical characteristics.
But to truly solve this problem, having enough knowledge of Group Theory simply isn't enough.
The theory created by the two academic giants is a "non-Abel" gauge theory. Unlike the Abel Group, the absence of commutativity makes the corresponding mathematical theory much more profound. At least, Li Jian Gao had never considered tackling this problem.
In other words, if he really were to discuss this issue with Qiao Ze at this moment, he would most likely be unable to tell if this child's thoughts were simply wild flights of fancy.
So Li Jian Gao decisively changed the subject.
"Okay, maybe you're really brilliant and can unlock this world-class problem. Let's even assume that you have already perfectly solved this issue now, do you really think you could obtain the million-dollar prize?"
As expected, this sentence immediately caused Qiao Ze to frown and ask, "Why not?"
Li Jian Gao lifted his hand, showing a finger, and said, "First problem, assuming you have perfectly solved the issue, how do you plan on letting the Clay Institute know, or for that matter, the world?"
Qiao Ze glanced at the paper on the nightstand.
Li Jian Gao smiled and said, "Right, by publishing a paper, and it can't just be in some second-rate journal, it has to be in top-tier journals to be taken seriously. Because if a second-rate journal publishes a paper of such caliber, the editors will only think you're an idiot!"
"But you're just a high school student who hasn't even attended college yet. No one in the academic world knows you. What makes you think they would pay attention to your paper?
Do you know that without a reputable mentor's recommendation, or if you aren't a well-known figure in the field yourself, those top journals' editors wouldn't even glance at your paper's title? Just scanning your name, academic qualifications, and email address, they might directly throw your paper into the trash."
Qiao Ze looked at Li Jian Gao, puzzled, and kept silent.
But Li Jian Gao didn't stop there; he continued, "Okay, let's say you have incredible luck, and the journal editor decides to take a look at your abstract. Your abstract is written perfectly, captivating him. Do you know what he'll do next? He'll ask those well-known professors to review your paper.
The problem now is, I can tell you that even if you perfectly solved the issue, there wouldn't be more than twenty people in this world who could understand your paper at first glance! And each of these twenty people is a leading figure in their respective fields. Can you guarantee that they won't have any ulterior motives?
Isn't there a possibility that they understand your paper and then discard it, making modifications and resubmitting it under a different name or even several names to journals? What would you do then? Expose these top-notch predecessors?
Do you think the world's seven billion people would believe a high school student, or the well-known mathematicians who have been researching the problem for over a decade, even decades?"
Qiao Ze stubbornly lifted his head and after a long pause, he uttered a single word: "arXiv."
Li Jian Gao laughed, unable to deny the kid's good level of English, at least he had pronounced that word correctly.
"Ha, of course you can publish to this preprint platform. But as I said just now, no more than twenty people in the world would understand the topic instantly!"
"Without fame or status, who would listen to your explanations?"
"When they are receiving the award, they would say they submitted to the journal first, and then your paper appeared on arXiv."
"They might even concoct a story about how, after submitting the paper, their personal computer was hacked, and the draft was lost!"
"Do you believe those well-known journal editors would rush out to vouch for them? They might even produce records of the paper submission timestamps from their computers to prove it."
"You do know that it's not unusual for papers of this caliber to be under review for a year or two?"
"At that point, how will you prove your innocence? Have your mom take you around begging people again?!"
Having said all this, Li Jian Gao glanced at the time; it was already 11:30 in the morning.
He didn't wait for Qiao Ze to speak but stood up, took a laptop from his bag, sat down at the office desk provided in the room, did some operation, and then gestured to Qiao Ze.
"Qiao Ze, I have something to take care of and will be stepping out for a bit. Meanwhile, your task is to read this article that introduces Ramanujan's life. I don't know if you've read it before, but I want you to take it seriously today! Lunch has been arranged by Teacher Yu who you met earlier to be delivered to your room. I should be back by around two in the afternoon.
Once you've thought through this issue, we'll continue our talk."
"Kid, the world isn't as simple as you imagine, and not everyone will accommodate your whims just because of your talent. In fact, often talent brings not glory and wealth, but calamity. I hope you understand and appreciate this."
Having said that, Li Jian Gao didn't hesitate to stand up and leave the room, leaving Qiao Ze alone to ponder.
In his opinion, lecturing a child like Qiao Ze would be ineffective; as long as the boy realized the rules by which the world operates, he would naturally understand.
That's what geniuses do!
Qiao Ze watched Li Jian Gao leave the room, and only when the door closed did he slowly stand up and sit in front of the office desk where the laptop was placed.
He was aware of Ramanujan, but he hadn't paid much attention to the life of this mathematician.
In fact, over the years, there hadn't been many things, or many people, that concerned him.
Lu Xiuxiu was one, and today, Professor Li was another.
So he decided to follow Li Jian Gao's advice and began to read the article attentively.
It took him only half an hour to read the article of roughly 50,000 words, then after a moment of reflection, he proactively opened the web browser on the computer, started searching for Ramanujan formulas. Ten minutes later, he began to search for academic underhandedness, followed by research on plagiarism...
After that, Qiao Ze continued to reflect in silence.
Until the door was knocked on twice and then opened without waiting for a response.
Teacher Yu Chenggong who had come earlier entered and said, "Qiao Ze, Professor Li had to leave for some business, so he asked me to bring you food. I'll leave it here for you."
Having finished speaking, Yu Chenggong intended to leave. But unexpectedly, the young man across from him managed to force a smile and awkwardly said, "Uh, that, thanks, thank you, Teacher Yu."
Yu Chenggong pursed his lips and formally replied, "You're welcome."