parentshiftbook Chapter 46 Why didn't you say so sooner?
Chapter 46 Why didn't you say so sooner?
Kayla Nolan's office, Department of Mathematics, University of Chicago.
Kayla held a blue-covered magazine in her hand and looked expressionlessly at the people sitting opposite her.
Sanders McKlain chuckled and said, "I didn't expect Leon Aldrin's article to be published so quickly. I knew this kid was pretty good. Professor Nolan deserves the most credit for his joining the mathematics department."
Kayla Nolan nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.
Rex Morrison casually flipped through the magazine in his hand, saying as he did so, "Everyone's seen this issue of *Theoretical and Applied Mathematics Communications*, right? It's Volume 36, Issue 4. Take a look at this article, 'Block Matrix Gaussian Elimination: Based on Spectral Clustering-Induced Westein-Schul Decomposition and Its Preprocessing Analysis,' authored by Li Ang, with Kayla Nolan as the corresponding author. Professor Nolan is amazing! Where did she find such a genius student! Why don't I have such good luck! Professor Nolan, can I discuss something with you?"
There were several professors in the room, and they burst out laughing when they heard Rex's words.
As you all know without needing to hear any further, Rex Morrison wanted to recruit Leon as his student.
But Keira Nolan is not someone you can easily get along with.
Sure enough, Kayla raised her eyes, glanced at Rex, and then gently shook her head. "No."
Rex had anticipated this and sighed, "Alright, but I still have to say, a mathematical genius like Li Ang should focus all his energy on mathematics. I suggest we don't let biology distract him."
"Agreed." Several professors nodded in agreement.
Kayla nodded noncommittally.
At this moment, Sanders seemed to have noticed something and read aloud, "Li Ang's article is the first one in *Theoretical and Applied Mathematics Communications*, which means the editorial department on the other end knows the value of Li Ang's paper! If you ask me, when will our *University of Chicago Journal of Mathematics* be established? Even if it doesn't rival the influence of *Annals of Mathematics* or *Acta Mathematica Sinica*, it should at least be more influential than the journals of Princeton and Columbia, right?"
After he finished speaking, the entire office fell silent.
Everyone knows that after Chairman Stone left the University of Chicago's mathematics department, several professors, including Weil, Chern, and Siegel, left one after another, and the foundation of the University of Chicago's mathematics department has been hollowed out.
Now, let alone surpassing Princeton and Columbia, it would be good enough if we could just maintain a top-tier level in the United States.
"Alright, let's not talk about that." Sensing the silence in the office, Sanders waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about the exams."
About the exam?
Several professors looked at Sanders simultaneously. They had just been talking about Li Ang's paper and the school journal, so why did they suddenly jump to the exam?
"That's right." Sanders McKlain said seriously, "Li Ang will be taking the exam with the second-year students in the department. If everything goes smoothly, he can directly take the third-year courses next academic year. But I think that after studying in the department for a few days, everyone has a basic understanding of Li Ang's abilities. If the professional exam questions are easy, they won't reflect his abilities, and Li Ang might even feel that he's wasting his time in our mathematics department."
"Director McLean, what do you mean by that?" Rex asked, puzzled.
"I'd like to say, since it's an exam, let's raise the difficulty level, at least to the same or higher standard as Professor Nolan's paper. Li Ang promised me he'd get an A+ or higher on the exam, so we should give the little guy some serious pressure, right?"
"Hey, Director, that's a great suggestion."
"I agree."
I agree.
"Professor Nolan, what about you?" Everyone looked at Kayla.
Nolan nodded. "I have no objection."
"Then it's decided," Sanders finally made the decision. "Everyone stay behind after this is over to finalize the exam questions beforehand."
The sophomores in the mathematics department at the University of Chicago never imagined that their exams would be so intense.
In the eyes of these professors, learning mathematics is as simple as breathing; after all, at the age of seventeen or eighteen, they should have mastered advanced mathematics by now.
Just like Li Ang, he's self-taught and able to publish papers!
However, the professors didn't consider that what was as simple as breathing for them or for Li Ang might be suffocating for other sophomores.
"Knock knock knock".
A knock came at the door.
"Go in," Kayla Nolan responded.
Li Ang pushed open the door to Kayla's office and was somewhat stunned when he saw the people in front of him.
He had only been in the mathematics department for a few days, but he had already met or heard of most of these people.
Director McLean, Professor Morrison, Professor Grant, Professor Coleman, and his mentor Kayla.
What are a room full of professors doing?
Sanders McKlain broke the silence first, saying with a friendly expression, "Li Ang, you did a great job this time, bringing honor to the department."
Upon noticing the copy of "Theoretical and Applied Mathematics Communications" in Sanders' hand, Li Ang immediately understood everything, but politely said, "Thank you for the compliment, Director."
Sanders didn't stop, continuing to praise Li Ang, who became a little too flattered.
In summary, his praise focused first on Li Ang's mathematical talent and self-learning ability, then on Li Ang's paper writing ability, his age, and even his appearance.
By the end, even Kayla couldn't help but smile.
Li Ang was getting a little tired of listening until Sanders said that in addition to reimbursing him for the publication fees of his paper, the department would also give him an extra $500.
At this point, Li Ang finally became interested.
Director McLean, why didn't you say so earlier that you had money to give me?
They just had to go through all that trouble!
Although Li Ang "accidentally" earned several thousand dollars after the incident in the dark alley, five hundred dollars is no longer a "big sum" for him.
But even a mosquito's leg is meat, and he wouldn't complain about having too much money.
Moreover, the publication fee for this paper, "Blocked Matrix Gaussian Elimination Method: Weistein-Schul Decomposition Based on Spectral Clustering and Its Preprocessing Analysis," was paid for by Kayla, and he would have to find a way to repay her.
The group chatted around Li Ang for a while longer, and finally Sanders suggested that everyone go to the school cafeteria's themed restaurant for a meal.
Li Ang did not refuse.
Unlike his days of fighting and fleeing in Ioria, being a University of Chicago student was a great experience for him.
During this time, I sat down with professors and department heads to have meals and chat, experiencing different local customs and culture, which was also a way to relax outside of learning knowledge.
On the way, several professors asked about the thesis again, but this time Keira Nolan stopped them and answered a few key questions for Li Ang.
Finally, Rex asked, "I'm a little curious, Leon, now that you've finished this paper, what are you researching with Professor Nolan?"
"The Shafarevich conjecture," Li Ang replied succinctly, without hiding anything.
In fact, this is a prerequisite conjecture for Faltings' theorem, or Model's conjecture.
He has been studying height theory and modulus space parameterization these days. Once he fully understands the relevant content of Shafarevich, he will be able to publish Faltings' theorem.