The N-body problem is precisely one of its branches. In a multibody star system, gravity is an essential element.
If someone like Roth Dugan, who is very experienced in guiding graduate students, could teach him how to mentor students, it might be a quick fix to the trouble.
Simply put, Qiao Ze believed in professionalism.
Roth Dugan's response was joyful, "Ha, Qiao, really, I'm not at all surprised you're struggling with not being able to nurture outstanding students. The stuff you create is highly demanding on the students' talent for one thing, and on the other hand, as a mentor you need a wealth of experience to inspire and maintain their thinking and creative abilities.
Unfortunately, I don't think your past learning experience will be of any help to any student. Really, your presence only serves to crush them, making them feel that their future academic career is bleak and hopeless.
But my students are different. They know that if they're willing to do as I say, there's hope to surpass my achievements in the future. Not just academic enlightenment but also mental. They'd say, hey, our mentor is a useless old man, but sometimes he makes sense.
While you, my dear friend, your students can only say, my mentor is like a god above us. Everything he says is laced with philosophy, but it's a pity I can't grasp it, haha..."
Roth Dugan laughed heartily over the phone, unable to contain it.
Qiao Ze, however, had already frowned and, after five seconds of laughter on the other end, silently hung up the phone.
This little old man was obviously not going to be any help.
Qiao Ze had always thought this old man was very serious, and he hadn't expected him to have such a low threshold for humor.
Is it worth being ridiculed for not being able to properly guide students?
But on one point, Qiao Ze felt Roth Dugan might be right.
Perhaps he indeed had too high expectations of his students without realizing it?
But the problem is that lowering the expectations does not resolve the issues that must be understood.
The materiality of mathematics lies in the fact that the theorems that need to be mastered don't become harder or easier to grasp because his demands are too high or too low.
Well, Qiao Ze thought he might need to read some books on educational psychology to make up for this deficiency.
As for the so-called Science Breakthrough Prize Roth Dugan mentioned before, Qiao Ze hadn't taken it to heart.
His previous plan to win a Nobel Prize was also for making it more convenient to help Li Jian Gao with the academy's nomination later on.
As he was contemplating these things, the phone rang, and Roth Dugan called back.
After some thought, Qiao Ze answered the call from the little old man anyway.
Although the professor's performance today wasn't very decent, he had left a good impression on Qiao Ze before, not something to be disregarded outright.
Upon connecting, the mood on the other side had calmed down, at least there were no inexplicable bursts of laughter.
"Cough, Qiao, all right, I apologize, but you can take it as banter between friends. Really, you're just too perfect, so perfect you don't seem human, of course, I mean in terms of academics and research. So when you show some flaws on this level, it gives a certain deep satisfaction."
The words were spoken quite candidly.
Qiao Ze chose to accept the apology and offered his own understanding: "I get it. People always like to see someone stronger than themselves make a fool of themselves, as an excuse for their own mediocrity."
Clearly, this explanation made the other side feel that Qiao Ze wasn't so endearing.
There was silence for a while, but the call wasn't hung up.
Just as Qiao Ze was considering whether he should hang up first, the other side finally spoke: "Okay, Qiao Ze, you win! Please forgive an old, confused man, you're right! Our industry is like that, he who contributes the most, has the right."
"Are you planning to accept my earlier proposition?"
"No, no, no, Qiao Ze, I'm not interested in living in Huaxia. It's not that life here is so wonderful, nor do I have doubts about life in Huaxia. In fact, I've seriously considered your proposition, a long time ago, but in the end, I found that the power of habit outweighs my mysterious yearning for this world, do you understand what I mean?"
"I do," said Qiao Ze succinctly.
This was just like him not wanting to leave Xilin.
People have their own comfort zones.
To leave that zone, one must have a reason they can accept, and that reason must be powerful enough to make them decide to give up the life they have become accustomed to in their comfort zone.
Just as some are willing to change jobs for a salary, others are willing to sacrifice for their faith.
At Roth Dugan's level, if not even an academic faith could persuade him to leave his comfortable circle, probably nothing else could change his mind.
Of course, understanding is one thing, but Qiao Ze wasn't about to let the little old man on the other end off so easily.
So he added, "You're no longer a pure academic."
"Heh, but I have another proposal. We actually have a wide space for cooperation, like setting up a joint graduate training program. Focusing on fostering graduate students' mathematical theory research capabilities, each of us bringing our strengths to the table."
"Superspiral algebra, transcendental geometry, Super Helical Coordinate System, and the like are not taught elsewhere. But any teaching method is not only found at Princeton."
"Qiao Ze, do friends need to distinguish so clearly? This doesn't seem like a Huaxia person's personality."