Chapter 55: Damn, Why Am I Regretting This More And More?
“Nixon himself? Of course you can’t meet him,”
John Morgan shook his head repeatedly:
“If it were his own fundraising dinner, you wouldn’t see those exciting parts.
And for his own fundraising dinner, if I take you, you’d have to prepare at least 200,000 US Dollars in donations.
Expensive and boring.
The host of this campaign dinner is Robert Finch, Nixon’s assistant and also his manager for this presidential campaign.
He is a senior member of the Elephant Party, and he had run unsuccessfully for congressman twice before.
For this kind of fundraising dinner he hosts, without an acquaintance to introduce you, ordinary people can’t join no matter how much they donate the first time. Tonight I’ll take you to see it.”
Lin Ran felt a trace of expectation in his heart. Impart, huh.
Inside room 313 on the south side of the third floor of Columbia University’s administration building.
Seagull and Horkheimer sat on brown leather single sofas in Bauhaus style, with sunlight shining through New York’s classic iron-framed grid windows onto the round teak coffee table between them.
The sunlight shone right on the latest issue of New Progress in Mathematics magazine that Seagull had brought, highlighting Randolph Lin’s name.
“Max, you’re such a bad guy. You’ve made it so I can’t stay at University of Göttingen anymore.
If you had told me earlier that Randolph proved Fermat’s Conjecture, I wouldn’t now be seen by my colleagues at University of Göttingen as a traitor who no longer considers Göttingen after retirement.”
In front of Döblin, Seagull was the accused party, but now in front of Horkheimer, it was Seagull’s turn to play the accuser.
“Sorry, but science itself has no borders. No matter where Randolph is, he is your student and also a graduate of University of Göttingen, isn’t he?
The achievement he made can’t bypass University of Göttingen that nurtured him, no matter what.” Horkheimer said confidently:
“Just like philosophers shouldn’t serve specific disciplinary development; what they should do is guard the negative dimension of thought.
Mathematicians work for all humanity, not for a specific university. Mathematicians are not measurable achievements.”
(“Treating thought as a measurable ‘achievement’ is precisely the sign of the self-destruction of enlightened rationality.” — Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment)
Seagull was about to lose his temper: “You guy.”
Being accused by Döblin was one thing, but what frustrated Seagull more was realizing he clearly had reason on his side yet couldn’t outtalk the other.
In debate, mathematicians really seemed to have no way against philosophers.
“No, this is deception!” Seagull really couldn’t take it.
Horkheimer raised an eyebrow: “How is it deception?
Is Randolph a mathematics genius? Does he qualify for a PhD in Mathematics from your University of Göttingen?”
When Horkheimer took Lin Ran to Göttingen back then, he said he was staking his reputation that Lin Ran absolutely qualified.
With reputation, old friendship, and both being German Jewish people, Seagull had reluctantly agreed.
Seagull was speechless; he really couldn’t say no. If Lin Ran didn’t qualify, then University of Göttingen wouldn’t have any more PhD in Mathematics graduates in the future.
“No, the deception I’m talking about is that you didn’t explain the causes and effects clearly to me.
Einstein proposed the grand unified theory in physics, and Randolph proposed the grand unified theory in the field of mathematics.
Even compared to Einstein, his biggest advantage is youth. He is the mathematician most likely to approach Gauss after Gauss, possibly realizing the grand unified theory.”
After taking a deep breath, Seagull continued: “You didn’t make it clear at all that Randolph’s talent is far beyond what a single genius can describe.
There are countless geniuses in the mathematics community, but he is the unique one. In the number theory field, I can conclude he is already Gauss.
Mathematics has no borders, mathematical achievements keep flowing, but mathematicians do. If Randolph is at Göttingen, Göttingen might be able to recreate Gauss’s former glory.”
After saying that, Seagull sighed again, comforting himself: falling out with Horkheimer wouldn’t help at all in bringing Randolph back to Göttingen. You help:
“Sigh, Max, it’s not your fault. Indeed, you’re right. At least Randolph is a graduate of University of Göttingen; no one can change that.
Göttingen produced Gauss, Riemann, Hilbert, and now Randolph too. That’s not bad.
But when he comes back later, you must help me persuade him to teach at Göttingen.”
That was precisely why Professor Horkheimer had urgently called him back to school.
Seagull was waiting.
“Professor, Professor Seagull, good afternoon. These are specialty pastries I brought back from Hong Kong; try them.” Lin Ran placed the pastries in his hand on the coffee table between the two, then sat down on a chair.
“Good, Randolph. I read the paper you wrote; it’s excellent. The ABC conjecture gets more interesting the more I think about it.
Fermat’s Last Theorem can indeed be seen as a corollary of the ABC conjecture.
Like certain exponential equations having only finite solutions, this aligns with the sparsity of high-quality triples predicted by your ABC conjecture.
The growth of rad(abc) relates to the prime factor distribution of aaa, bbb, ccc.
The linear form in logarithms theory you proposed can also be used to analyze logarithmic relationships involving prime factors.
For certain triples, one can check if the expression estimating logclograd(abc) is close to zero; a lower bound estimate can help show that such closeness is strictly limited, thereby supporting the sparsity judgment of your ABC conjecture.
Fermat’s Last Theorem, Fermat’s Diophantus theorem, linear form in logarithms theory, and ABC conjecture are constructed by you into one large puzzle piece.
From past problems, extending new problems, summarizing new theories from past problems.
This large puzzle you constructed faintly aligns with your Randolph Program.
Really great.”
Mathematicians who can solve problems are awesome; those who can pose problems are even more awesome.
Why is the inheritance of mathematicians important? Because with a big shot leading, his intuition can spot which problems are likely to yield results, then assign those easy-to-solve problems to students.
It’s like the big shot finds the small monsters for you, letting you practice from small monsters, gradually moving to the boss, with a clear cultivation path.
Otherwise, if you go straight for the boss, you’ll lose both ability and confidence.
And you can publish papers from beating small monsters; those papers can help you find a teaching position and stay in academia.
The process from small monsters to boss can also cultivate top mathematical taste.
Following a big shot provides stable work, systematic cultivation, and elegant mathematical taste.
For a university’s mathematics department, a mathematician of Gauss’s level is enough to make them a mathematics center. Haven’t you seen Euler’s achievements sustaining Russia’s mathematics community for two hundred years?
In Seagull’s view, the Randolph in front of him, just over twenty years old, was already a mathematician of this level.
Damn, why does he regret more the more he talks, Seagull thought.
