As for Qiao Ze wanting Peter Schultz to be one of the reviewers, that's really not a big deal.
Don't forget that during the submission process, authors already have the right to suggest which mathematicians they'd like as reviewers or those they'd prefer to avoid. Even if Qiao Ze hadn't made this request, Lotte Dugan had already planned to include Peter Schultz as one of the reviewers.
He was well aware that, recently, Peter Schultz had maintained academic interactions with Huaxia—after all, he had been the middleman for those exchanges. So letting Peter Schultz review the paper was far more reliable than anyone else.
After all, this was an unprecedented mathematical domain, and "Mathematics Annual" still had to race against "New Discoveries in Mathematics and Physics." If the other journal published the Chinese version first, it would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention from mathematicians. And by the ti soone spontaneously translated it into English, the paper wouldn't be as valuable anymore.
Generally speaking, if it were soone else submitting the sa paper to both Chinese and English journals, "Mathematics Annual" would likely return the submission without even looking at it.
But this was Qiao Ze's latest paper on a groundbreaking research area—an exception could be made.
Once again proving that so-called rules are, in fact, flexible. If they aren't flexible, it rely indicates the submitter's influence isn't strong enough.
Thus, Lotte Dugan first wrote back to Edward Witten—a subtle reminder to this newly minted Nobel and Fields dal laureate of the grievances he'd recently endured, aid at inducing a bit of guilt in him—before starting to read the paper.
Indeed, Qiao Ze's style was instantly recognizable: the kind that makes you feel you probably won't understand it without specialized study.
After a cursory flip through the paper, Lotte Dugan picked up the phone and called Peter Schultz directly.
As for the ti difference...
Lotte Dugan couldn't be bothered with those details.
Sleep happens every day, but high-level mathematics papers? Rare. Especially since Qiao Ze hadn't written an English paper for quite so ti.
Even if he truly disturbed soone's slumber, Lotte Dugan still felt Peter Schultz ought to thank him.
Luckily, it seed he'd not disrupted the other party; the phone was picked up after just two rings.
"Hi, Professor Schultz, this is Lotte Dugan."
"Hello, Professor Dugan, what's the matter?"
"There is indeed sothing. Here's the situation: Professor Qiao submitted a paper to 'Mathematics Annual' regarding the first principles of mathematical interweaving. I imagine you'd be interested in being a reviewer, right?"
There was a brief silence on the other end before: "Can I refuse?"
"Of course. After all, this work would take up your valuable rest ti and is entirely voluntary. But are you sure you want to refuse? Especially since both Professor Qiao and Professor Witten believe you'd be best suited to understand the contributions interweaving brings to mathematics." Lotte Dugan reconfird.
This ti, the pause lasted longer.
Clearly conflicted over the decision, after a minute, Peter Schultz's slightly weary voice ca through: "Alright, you win, Professor Dugan. I'm honored to be the reviewer for this paper."
"That's the correct choice, Peter. Truthfully, if my own research were remotely related to this, I would've eagerly volunteered as a reviewer myself—even if it ant violating standard protocol. Though I don't particularly like Edward Witten, honestly, if my work could contribute even slightly to the Grand Unified Theory, I'd probably make the sa choices he did."
Afterward, Lotte Dugan sighed regretfully: "Ah..."
It seed he regretted not being able to go to Huaxia Xilin to contribute to the Grand Unified Theory.
"Send the paper to my inbox. It happens I'm still in the office," ca a prompt voice from the phone, which then hung up imdiately.
Though this ca across as sowhat impolite, Lotte Dugan still wore a smile on his face.
One can't expect every German to be a gentleman.
And Peter Schultz's hesitation, in truth, signified his genuine interest.
To be honest, Lotte Dugan didn't care much about whether the University of Bonn would lose a talent, certainly not as much as the esteed director of the Institute for Advanced Study would.
But as a mathematician, he truly hoped the Grand Unified Theory would erge sooner. Even more eagerly, he anticipated seeing the sparks that might fly when talented minds from East and West collided.
It's like how many mathematicians feel these years—the progress in pure mathematics has been extraordinarily slow. Whether as a mathematician himself or as the editor-in-chief of a world-class math journal, he desperately wanted to see more groundbreaking breakthroughs in mathematics.
Like this paper.
...
Germany, The city of Bern.
It was already six in the evening when Lotte Dugan called Peter Schultz.
Had Schultz not been arriving ho late these days, it might've interrupted his life.
Once he decided to be a reviewer, though, he patiently waited for the paper to arrive.
Within two minutes, the paper landed in his inbox.
Skipping the boilerplate text from the journal's editorial team, Peter Schultz imdiately clicked "Accept" and downloaded and printed the paper.
Hah... over 200 pages.
Although a 200-page math paper is not uncommon, this was Qiao Ze's work, after all.
Peter Schultz had read all of Qiao Ze's recent papers—the longest being the one proving the Mass Gap Hypothesis, and even that was only a bit over 80 pages.
Any mathematical problem requiring Qiao Ze to spend over 200 pages would naturally arouse imnse curiosity.
As he bound the still-warm paper into a booklet, his gaze inadvertently drifted to the author section—then landed on the na of the second author: Edward Witten.
Peter Schultz instinctively curled his lips.
What can be said...? Regarding Edward Witten's abilities in mathematics and physics, Peter Schultz still had great respect.
But the reason Edward Witten bagged the Nobel this ti...
Was practically thanks to Qiao Ze's achievents—a stroke of luck.
And then he beca the first person in history to simultaneously win both the Nobel and Fields dals, which felt sowhat opportunistic. It's true that this intertwined with his earlier successes; at the ti, CERN was practically obsessed with Qiao Ze's theories, which spurred Witten's team into being the first to calculate evidence for them. But still, it left a sour taste.
Now, he had his na on this groundbreaking algebra paper as well—capitalizing endlessly.
Taking a deep breath to suppress his frustration, Peter Schultz turned his focus to the paper itself. Well, he'd skim the abstract first. Tomorrow was Christmas, and today was Christmas Eve. Life isn't just academic research; family matters too—plus, he had a gorgeous daughter. Reviewing the paper wasn't urgent.
"This paper explores the first principles of interweaving in number theory, starting with foundational concepts and delving into number theory's interweaving properties. Using the Pri Number Theorem ()∼/ln(), we analyze pri distributions within the interval [1,], and discuss modular arithtic mod modm's applications in number theory... providing new perspectives and insights for understanding broader interactivity in mathematics."
After reading the abstract, Peter Schultz decided to glance at the main text. After all, it wouldn't take much ti...
"Lemma 1: Fundantal Properties of Modular Arithtic..."
...
"Oh, Daddy, it's Christmas Eve, and Mom and I have been waiting for you for so long!"
His daughter's voice on the phone jolted Peter Schultz from his imrsion. Glancing at the ti—it was already 8:30 PM. Over two hours had flown by unnoticed. Once again, he'd lost himself in his academic obsession.
"Sorry, I got caught up with work."
"But it's Christmas Eve, Daddy."
"Yes. By the way, Mia, would you mind changing environnts—a new place to live?"
"What do you an?"
"Oh, nothing important. Alright, I'll head back now."
"Okay. We're waiting for you."
...
After hanging up the phone, Peter Schultz hesitated before picking up the paper from the desk and placing it into his bag.
Though it was Christmas Eve, once his family went to bed, he could still carve out a bit of ti to study the paper.
Admittedly, Lotte Dugan had struck a nerve—he truly couldn't resist the allure of this innovative algebra concept. It felt like standing before a newly opened doorway to another world.
Who could entirely suppress their curiosity about what lay behind a door to an unknown universe? Especially mathematicians, arguably the most curious minds around.
All bad people, aren't they!
Reviews
All reviews (0)