If given the choice to skip a national physics conference and potentially secure a chance to win the Nobel Prize, probably no contemporary scholar would make a choice different from Edward Witten's.
Even putting that aside, just having access to information ahead of its time would be worth it.
Particularly since Edward Witten felt that if he went this time, having another opportunity to be in the same room as Qiao Ze might be difficult.
As for remote communication...
Professor Witten didn't want to bet on Qiao Ze's patience.
Ten gambles, ten losses; there was no need for such a thing. Besides, opportunities didn't come often, and he might not encounter them every time even if they did.
Even if it ultimately proved that Qiao Ze was wrong, Edward Witten still thought it would be worth it.
In fact, there had always been many in the academic world who wanted to question the numerous conclusions Qiao Ze had made, but so far, no one had succeeded. Therefore, such voices were suppressed. Some had even become obsessed, choosing isolation just to find a flaw in Qiao Ze's past papers.
But until now, no one had truly succeeded.
This was even when the problems Qiao Ze solved were the most cutting-edge issues in today's academic world.
AI big models, the Yang-Mills Equations and mass gap problem, particle foundational models, material models, gravitons, the grand unified theory... up to the new elements now. Each breakthrough was revolutionary for the world.
To put it bluntly, not to say all, but at least half of the scholars in the world were secretly hoping that Qiao Ze would make a mistake and be the butt of a joke. This wish wasn't entirely out of malice; they just wanted to prove that Qiao Ze, after all, was human.
After all, it's inevitable for humans to make mistakes.
Proving Qiao Ze could also err was not about bringing him down from a pedestal, but to show that perhaps everyone's level was not so different.
Logically speaking, if the whole world couldn't find a potential error in Qiao Ze's reasoning and accepted the premise that all humans make mistakes, then there's only one possibility left—their levels are so different that even if there was an error in the theory Qiao Ze was trying to construct, they wouldn't be able to find it.
For many prideful individuals, they'd rather believe and proclaim Qiao Ze to be a god, a reincarnation of the Almighty, than accept this explanation.
In any case, no matter what the outcome, for Edward Witten, he thought it was a win-win.
As for the conference held by the American Physical Society, there are at least twenty a year.
This Friday's conference, although important, paled in comparison to the allure of the new element.
At this moment, Edward Witten even thought that Qiao Ze's previous assessment of him was very apt—being too active in the academic circle was not necessarily a good thing.
Preparing various speeches distracted him too much and wasn't conducive to settling down for some fundamental academic research.
So he decided to start changing this habit starting from this instance.
"How much longer will you stay?" Qiao Ze asked, frowning slightly.
This attitude made Edward Witten feel uneasy.
It seemed like he wasn't very welcome to continue staying in the office. But he could understand that.
If someone insisted on hanging around his office at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and they weren't of much help to his work, he probably wouldn't be too pleased either.
"Hmm, one to two weeks, maybe," Edward Witten said tentatively.
Qiao Ze thought for a moment and said, "Once you have made a plan, you should stick to it."
"No, no, no, plans are always allowed to change, in fact, change is the norm," Edward Witten immediately retorted.
Qiao Ze seriously said, "Stay for another week, any longer and you'll have to change offices."
"Change offices? Qiao Ze, I thought we could at least be considered friends," Edward Witten said subconsciously.
"In fact, we have discussed this issue, I told you I only have one and a half friends plus a girlfriend. If our relationship were to be calculated with the formula I mentioned last time, the conclusion could at most be considered colleagues. Often, they are colleagues in a state of competition," Qiao Ze explained earnestly.
The reasoning he provided was even to the point of being irrefutable. Mathematics is a precise discipline. When one quantifies human relationships with formulas, it means cutting off any other means of persuasion.
Edward Witten swore that the most conventional and rigorous professor he knew couldn't hold a candle to Qiao Ze.
"Then I'll stay for one more week. By the way, what was that friend formula you talked about before? I think there might be a problem with your calculation; wasn't it graph theory?" Edward Witten spread his hands, expressing helplessness.
Qiao Ze didn't answer, just quietly looked at Edward Witten for a moment, then shifted his gaze back to his own monitor.
He had no interest in responding to nonscholastic trivial complaints.
Even academic titans didn't understand a simple fact: when everyone's positions are not aligned, there's no need to discuss things like friendship. Life is not a literary work; friendships without a minimum common standpoint and mutual interests are like castles in the air, and can't even be categorized as ineffective social interactions.
If Qiao Ze were to define it, it would be definitely negative social interaction. All sentiments, other than touching oneself and causing mental strain, serve no beneficial purpose. So when plugged into the formula, the final outcome is bound to be negative.
It's better for everyone to be straightforward, admitting mutual exploitation—isn't that better?