As a mathematics major, Blake was obviously familiar with the Mersenne prime numbers.
Of course, one would have to mention a famous Chinese mathematician when speaking about Mersenne prime numbers. In 1992, he published “Mersenne prime numbers distribution formula” and his paper was able to illustrate an equation for Mersenne prime numbers. It was then famously named “Zhou’s approximation”.Previously, the British mathematician William Shanks, French mathematician Tartaglia, German mathematician Luders, Indian mathematician Ramanujan, and American mathematician Gillies had all speculated on this problem. Although they had a common theme, which was the approximation of the equation, the closeness of their research to the exact answer was unsatisfactory.Zhou’s approximation formula was very simple. When 2^(2^n) < p < 2^(2^(n+1)), p has 2^(n+1)-1 prime numbers.Simple, right?Anyone could do this, right?However, the equation had not been proven or disproved. It had become one of the most famous mathematical problems and had been troubling the mathematics community for over 20 years.It was like Riemann’s conjecture. Even though it could not be proven, it did not stop people from using it.Of course, even though there was an accurate way of using computers to discover Mersenne primes, it was still not an easy feat.As of today, only forty-four Mersenne primes were discovered.Was there any use for the Mersenne primes?It seemed unlikely.Strictly speaking, using the RSA algorithm, every time an online transaction went through, you would have to thank the unsolvable prime numbers that were hidden in the password. At the same time, large prime numbers were also used to test computer performances. For example, Intel used the GIMPS application to test the chips for bugs.Anyway, to debate whether mathematics was useful was unmeaningful. Very often, the drives that motivated the mathematicians were not in monetizing the discovery, but merely because the problem was there.At the end of the day, humans could not look purely at the short term gains but they had to also look at the long term gains.However, Blake was not really willing. He did not care about the future. He wanted the gains now!Also, why was it Zhou’s approximation proof! Why not Riemann’s Conjecture! Or even the lower level Birch’s conjecture would be okay!Putting the academic value aside, Birch’s conjecture prize was already at one million U.S dollars. The prize money came from the well-known Texas banker Birch himself.As for Zhou’s approximation, there were a lot of people that were attempting to prove it. However, there was no prize money attached if one solved it.A potential chance to own a house just flew away and Lu Zhou no longer felt so good anymore.However, he should look at the bright side. Even though it was only Zhou’s approximation, proving it would still give him some reputation in the mathematical world. Although there was no physical prize that was attached to the discovery, the university would not treat him shabbily either. Three years of scholarship should be guaranteed.The sophomore who proved Ramsey’s theorem was the best example. Apparently, the University of Nanjing gave him a million dollars, half of which was used as funding for his research while the other half for his living expenses.The University of Baymack is among the top 10 in the country. Even though their mathematics department is relatively weak, the University of Baymack should still give more money than the lower ranked University of Nanking, right?After thinking about it, Blake felt slightly better.He calmed down and started to look over the proof theorem.It was different than the coke from the “garbage” category. Zhou’s approximation proof was categorized under “blueprint”. It was not printed on paper or as a digital file. When he wanted to read it, he just had to think about it and all the proof steps will appear in his brain.“I can’t comprehend this at all... I guess I would have to spend quite a lot of time to understand this proof.”Blake thought about how he would successfully extract the steps of the proof.First of all, memorizing it was no use as he had to understand it.Secondly, he had to portray himself as a genius.Regardless, if one could solve a high level question such as Zhou’s approximation, one would need to at least be able to score full marks in high school maths, right? Even if one accidentally lost one mark, one would still need to get 99 marks.Blake was not too concerned about it. It only took him two days to finish learning mathematical analysis and advanced algebra. The lecturers would not trick the students on purpose. They would only test what was in the syllabus.Everything was already secured... Blake planned to present Zhou’s approximation proof after the summer holidays. In the next two months, in order to maximize his gains, he would try to make himself into a true genius.He must find teachers to discuss the math problems with.Level 1 mathematics was also a must.The summer school was also a must.He also had to call his parents as it could be New Year before his next family visit.After getting his prizes, a question popped into Lu Zhou’s head.Is the blueprint prize correlated with subject level?This question was crucial.Otherwise, why was he so unlucky and got a weird proof answer? As opposed to the first prize space battleship?The theory was stuck in Blake’s head. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.“Ranking up a subject level is a priority. I should get mathematics level 1 ASAP in order to unlock other subjects’ level 1 limit. Before that, should I save my lucky draw tickets? But if I don’t utilize the lucky draw tickets, I can’t refresh the mission list. It’s not realistic to hoard the lucky draw tickets...”He clearly remembered that after he got the mission prizes, the mission list turned gray. Only after using his lucky draw tickets did the mission list became selectable again.The only way to know was to enter more lucky draws.If the next consecutive prizes were all proof answers, his theory would be correct.Anyways, he should be able to take on new missions.What will it be?Blake began to think.“Open mission list!”A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him.[Mission 1: The art of profiting from lazinessDescription: Profiting from laziness is also a form of art. If you can earn money while being lazy, why would you need to work hard?Requirements: Utilize the art of language and get your name on a million dollar science research project. Use as little effort as possible to gain the maximum merit. Try to be lazy, young one!Reward: Subject experience points (Subject determined by research project type, amount of experience points is positively correlated with research project funding, negatively correlated with the amount of effort used). One lucky draw ticket (100% garbage).][Mission 2: Practice fundamental skillsDescription: Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was the skyscraper of science.Requirements: Solve 200 university level physics exercise questions (Questions are provided by the system and created with respect to the user’s current knowledge).Rewards: Question difficult level x 2. 50 general points. Item: Immersive learning hours (Type: special. Effect: 24 hours. Within a valid time frame, immersive learning is enabled when reading books. Permanent mastery of knowledge gained.)][Mission 3: Academic starts from thesesExplanation: Theses are the backbone of academia. An academician that can write a thesis might not be successful, but an academician that cannot write a thesis definitely won’t be successful. Do not argue with the system about this. The system is definitely right! Publish a scientific thesis and start your academic career!Requirements: Publish a scientific thesis.Rewards: Subject experience points (determined by thesis value with a minimum of 100 points). 200 general points. One lucky draw ticket (95% garbage, 5% samples).]Blake had a weird expression after reading the last mission.Experience points were determined by thesis value?If he submitted his Zhou’s approximation proof into the scientific journal, he would probably get a lot of experience points.That was pretty tempting...At last, logic overcame greed. Blake dispelled his unrealistic idea.There was nothing special about a freshman publishing in a scientific journal. Not to mention, a lot of papers in the mathematical journals were subpar. As long as one’s English was good, one could probably sneak your way through even with subpar work.This type of masquerading behavior was exposed by an individual who ranked the journals by inferiority. The one ranked at number one was Applied Mathematics (AMC) as it was infamous for publishing subpar work.Some universities had published hundreds of AMC theses just in four years. It was not unusual for someone to publish 20 subpar theses in a year.To protect the academic integrity of the theses, some old-fashioned journals would often strictly limit the yearly published theses to 100 or less. However, this “monster journal” did not care. It published more than a thousand theses every year. This coupled with the phenomenon of overlapping resonance made the impact f
Since having the system, Blake felt his life becoming more structured. Every morning, he would carry his second-hand laptop and headed towards the library. He had never experienced this style of living before.Sitting at the usual same spot, Blake opened his laptop and plugged his charger in the wall outlet. He contemplated for a while before typing a line of big words onto a Word document.[The Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functions ][Abstract: Researched a few types of inversion problems of linear functional and linear operators when given full and part information. Introduced the basic results of optimal inversion theory. Especially the construction of the optimal construction method.]Blake thought about this problem while lying in bed going through his notes. When their mathematics analysis professor, Professor Phil, talked about the Fourier inversion formula, he mentioned this briefly. It was one of the few unpopular but still cutting edge fields.Bla
The consultation room did not even have a single empty seat.The third-year students preparing for graduate entrance exams were all focused on studying.Next to the lectern, sat the professor of University of Baymack’s mathematics department, Phil Thomas. He put the newspaper in his hand down and started to meticulously look at the question on the draft paper. His right hand flipped the pen cover repetitively.Blake stood next to him. He clearly understood that this little gesture meant that he was in his deep thinking mode.“Where did you get this question?” asked Phil Thomas suddenly after staring at the draft paper for a long time.“The textbook mentioned the Fourier series, so I went to the library to find related materials. I found variants of the Fourier inversion theorem and a few applications for the variants. I tried to derive them and was stuck on this one step,” said Blake with an apologetic smile. His facial expression was full of gratefulness.Phil looked at Blake for a s
Room 201. Male dorm rooms.Jack Hemsworth was doing practice questions under the light when he suddenly stopped his pen and looked at the room’s door. He asked carelessly, “Why hasn’t Blake come back yet?”Noah Denver was sitting on the bed playing soul hunters. He did not even raise his head as he replied, “I don’t know. Why do you care so much about the guy? Are you gay or something? Disgusting!”“Come down! I’ll beat your ass!”Jack swore. He grabbed the ladder and started to shake the bed to the point that Noah could not even see his phone clearly. He quickly grabbed the rail and screamed mercy.“Jack! Jack! I was wrong, I was wrong! Stop shaking! I’m gonna die! Ahhhhh~”In fact, there was no way he could die. The bed frame was connected. There were also lots of books and clothes in the cabinet supporting it. Even if Jack threw his entire body weight onto the ladder, he still could not flip over the massive rectangular object.These two noisy people had already become the norm for
The days slowly passed by and Blake maintained the library and dorm lifestyle. Other than eating at the cafeteria or asking Professor Phil for help when he was stuck, the trajectory of his life had not changed.It was the first time his life had structure since he stepped into the university. Not to mention, he had maintained it for over two weeks.He had not expected it at all.Finally, Blake managed to finish his thesis before the 15th of June. He had also translated it from English to Mandarin.It was worth mentioning that when Blake was discussing “Derivation of the Fourier partial series in relation with inversion functions” with Professor Phil, Professor Phil showed immense interest in Blake’s thesis. Professor Phil said that he would not mind helping Blake to edit his thesis.Blake trusted Professor Phil’s editing skills when it came to the thesis.Putting Phil’s kindness and generosity aside, he had worked many years as a professor and had published more theses than Blake had
The days passed by slowly. Soon, it was time for the “Advanced Algebra 2” exam.“Students, please turn off your phones. Place your student ID and citizen ID on the table’s left corner. I will repeat the exam rules again. There will be no tolerance for cheating. You’ll be sent to the academic affairs office if caught. You are all about to enter the second year. I hope you won’t make a mistake at a crucial time like this. Every year, there are a couple of students that are dishonest. I hope you can follow the rules.”An old professor stood on the podium and looked around the room. He then pointed at a master’s student and said, “Little Dan, start from the right side.”“Okay,” nodded the boy named Little Dan. He started to inspect the student IDs starting from the right.The old professor placed his vacuum flask on the podium and started to inspect the IDs from the left.Blake stretched his back. He turned off his phone and stuffed it in his bag. Like everyone else, he placed his textboo
Plagiarism percentage: 0.3%It could not be more legit.“Blake, let me ask you something and answer honestly. Did you really write this thesis by yourself?”Professor Phil stared at Blake. Through his thick glasses, his pupils shined with astonishment.There was a hint of excitement.Only thing was, he still could not believe it. He could not believe that the mathematical proof theorem in the thesis was actually written by an undergraduate student.Blake did not avoid those questioning eyes. Instead, he laughed and with a humble tone, he said, “It was all thanks to Professor Phil’s education.”Even though I exchanged it with general points, it should count as my own work right?He had no shame in saying that it was his own work!Phil Thomas looked away from Blake and continued to look at the thesis for a very long time.Since Blake was free, he just stood next to him and waited.The sky gradually turned darker and darker and the clock on the wall slowly turned to six o’clock. Professo
[Jack: Mathematics is so hard! I completely didn’t understand the fifth fill in the blanks question and the last multi-choice. In the end, I had to guess the answer. Ah, I screwed up. I’ll need to do the supplementary exam T.T]“...”Blake was scrolling through his friends’ news feed when he saw Jack’s post. He twitched his mouth and was about to like the post when he stopped himself.[The fifth fill in the blanks answer is... The last multi-choice answer is B]It was difficult to type mathematical symbols on a phone!He finished typing it and pressed send.How comfortable!Blake was about to put his phone back into his pocket and wanted to continue to eat. Suddenly his phone vibrated. He looked at the notification and saw Jack’s reply.What? How did this guy reply so fast?Blake felt slightly surprised and opened up his news feed.[Jack: ... Wasn’t it A?]Blake laughed and shook his head as he recalled the choices of that question. He took out a draft paper from his backpack and star