Xueba starts with change

Chapter 224 What is Conjecture and Why Study Conjecture
Looking at this scene, Principal Qiu smiled slightly and returned the microphone to the host teacher.

The presiding teacher smiled and said: "Since everyone has agreed, then there is no problem. Then, everyone asks questions, but you have to maintain the discipline of the auditorium and come one by one. Otherwise, I am very worried about your questions, and I will take your questions all at once. Chen Zhou, who solved the conjecture problem of hailstones, was puzzled."

Hearing what the host teacher said, everyone smiled knowingly, but the basic discipline can be regarded as settled.

"Next, hand over the stage to our classmate Chen Zhou."

After finishing speaking, the host teacher put the microphone on Chen Zhou, pushed Chen Zhou to the front of the stage, and whispered a word by the way, just "call someone" if you want to hear the question.

Chen Zhou silently nodded to express his understanding.

Although I was extremely reluctant in my heart, a "press conference" still came after all.

Chen Zhou, who was thinking like this, saw the reporters in the audience, Lao Gao, all raising their hands, waiting for Chen Zhou to flop.

Chen Zhou scanned around and found a cute female reporter, who started the question-and-answer session.

The female reporter who was flopped looked excited, she obviously didn't expect that she would be the first one.

She took a deep breath, and various questions kept flashing through her mind.

There is only one chance, let alone the opening.

If she didn't come up with a question that could grab the headlines tomorrow, she felt that she was wasting the opportunity.

"Please tell me!" Chen Zhou asked again politely.

The female reporter was brought back by Chen Zhou's voice, she organized her language a little bit, and then asked: "We know that you proved the hail conjecture recently, but before you proved this conjecture, it has existed for more than 70 years .”

"In the past 70 years, countless mathematicians have studied it and tried to solve it. The result is that it has not been proved by you until today. I also believe that you must have spent a lot of time and energy before finally Solved this world-class problem."

"So, I think many people, like me, would like to ask you, what is a conjecture? Is it really worth spending so much time and energy to prove a conjecture? What's the point?"

The foreshadowing in front of this female reporter is only for this last question.

It is true that such a problem will exist in the eyes of people who do not understand mathematics.

That is, mathematical conjecture is so difficult, why study it?
The result of the research is often nothing, and a lot of time and energy were wasted.

Wouldn't it be good to use this time and energy to study other aspects?
Moreover, even if the math problem is solved, it doesn't necessarily have any impact on the world?

On the contrary, in today's society, a mobile phone or a piece of software can affect the world.

Chen Zhou glanced at the female reporter, fixed his eyes, and said slowly: "Maybe in your opinion, mathematical symbols or numbers have no meaning, but you don't know that they are tools to promote human development. "

Speaking of this, Chen Zhou slowly scanned the audience: "I believe you all know that Toy Story is a powerful tool for Apple to open up a new era of mobile, but what you may not know is that in order to make Toy Story, Apple has convened a large number of Animation has nothing to do with mathematicians."

"Why summon the mathematicians?"

Chen Zhou asked.

But no reporter could answer.

At this time, in the entire auditorium, everyone's eyes were on Chen Zhou.

President Qiu, who was sitting in the audience again, and the school leaders of Yanda, including Dean Sun and Dean Zhou of the Number of Schools, also looked at Chen Zhou collectively.

"Because mathematicians are the key to the success of Toy Story!" Chen Zhou said, "The production staff applied mathematical knowledge and sophisticated mathematical formulas to create a group of animated characters that are more lifelike than hand-painted."

"As a result, mathematicians have developed new technologies using computer graphics based on mathematics, which is what we often call CG. The mathematical symbols and numbers that you think are meaningless are used here. Including geometry, differential formulas, and more.”

"In a movie like Pirates of the Caribbean, a large number of shots of huge waves shooting boats are also made with CG technology. The reason why this movie can depict the scene of rough waves and millions of water droplets splashing is also because of the Navier-Stokes equation applied to CG technology!"

"Not only that, but the commonly used search engines are also developed using mathematical algorithms. The 4G network technology that is emerging now (in 2015) is also a technology based on the Fourier transform formula in mathematics to modify and express complex fluctuations."

"These are manifestations of how mathematics actually affects people's lives. As for..."

Chen Zhou paused for a moment, and he found that the reporters in the audience were taking notes in small notebooks.

Some reporters are anxious to look around, here to ask what the Navier-Stokes equation is, and there to ask about the content of Fourier transform.

Chen Zhou couldn't help but smile, these reporters are also quite interesting.

"Not only where people can see, but where people can't see, mathematical symbols and numbers have a huge impact. They are the means for people to know themselves, the world, and the universe."

"Newton created calculus in order to study gravitation."

"When Einstein created the general theory of relativity, he transformed the gravitational problem into a mathematical problem, and found that mathematical knowledge was not enough. So he found his old classmate Grossman, and Grossman helped him find relevant literature on Riemann. "

"It was also after this experience that Einstein said that in physics the path to a deeper fundamental knowledge is connected with the most sophisticated mathematical methods."

"That's why the mass-energy equation in Einstein's theory of relativity is so simple and full of mathematical beauty."

"Let's talk about Chang'e flying to the moon, let's fly to the sky. Human beings have long been yearning for space. Since the ancients, they have tried hard to fly to the sky. However, the key to conquering space is rocket technology."

"The breakthrough in rocket technology is the Tsiolkovsky formula. It is also this formula that makes it possible to use rockets for interstellar voyages and launch satellites, and it becomes the key for mankind to conquer space."

"Why was the former Soviet Union able to kick off the space age? Why was it able to launch the first artificial satellite? Why was it able to send the first astronaut into space?"

"Precisely because of the Tsiolkovsky formula!"

"As Tsiolkovsky said, the earth is the cradle of mankind, but man cannot live in the cradle forever!"

Chen Zhou's words instantly made everyone in the audience excited.

This is exactly what mathematics is about.

This is also the charm of mathematics.

Whether it is life or dreams, mathematics is inseparable.

After glancing at everyone in the audience, Chen Zhou began to end the question.

"Let's go back to the question itself, what is the point of spending so much time and energy studying mathematical conjectures?"

"Mathematical conjecture is a powerful driving force to promote the development of mathematics, and it is also an important way to create mathematical thinking methods. I just said that Einstein created the general theory of relativity only after learning about Riemann's non-Euclidean geometry. So do you know the Riemann conjecture? "

"This is a conjecture that has not been proven. But people have unearthed many treasures in the process of studying it. In today's mathematical literature, there are more than 1000 mathematical propositions based on the Riemann conjecture It is based on and promoted. It profoundly affects the development of mathematics."

"Actually, in the process of researching and proving various conjectures, even if we don't say how important it is to the development of mathematics, this process is also a catalyst for the development of human thinking, depth of thinking, and logical ability. type of effect."

"If people only know how to look down at their feet, they will never know the beauty of the blue sky and white clouds. Humans spend so much time and energy studying mathematical conjectures, which is exactly the same."

As Chen Zhou's voice fell, the applause from the audience gradually sounded and became more and more enthusiastic.

(End of this chapter)