Orion Crest, Series_1

Chapter 6: The Answer to a Proof

          As a mathematics student, what a Mersenne prime was, Orion certainly knew.

　　After all, when it came to Mersenne prime, one had to mention a great Chinese mathematician and his publication of the Law of Distribution of Mersenne Prime in 1992, which turned the Mersenne prime numbers into a mathematical formula, which was also commonly known internationally as Zhou's Conjecture.

　　Previously, although the British mathematician Shanks, the French mathematician Tolotta, the German mathematician Burleigh Hart, the Indian mathematician Ramanujan and the American mathematician Gillis and so on have been respectively put forward a guess, but their guess has a common point, that is, an approximate expression, and the degree of proximity to the actual situation are difficult to be satisfactory.

　　The exact formula for Zhou's conjecture, on the other hand, is very concise, i.e., when 2^(2^n) < P < 2^(2^(n+1)), there are 2^(n+1)-1 MPs that are prime.

　　Seems pretty simple, doesn't it?

　　Just such a conjecture, which has yet to be proved or disproved, has become a famous mathematical puzzle that has plagued the entire mathematical community for more than two decades.

　　But the formula, like the Riemann hypothesis, is unproven, but that doesn't stop us from assuming the hypothesis is valid and putting it to practical use.

　　Of course, even with a precise formula, and even if the search for the answer is left to computers, discovering the Mersenne prime is still not an easy task.

　　As of today (2023), only 51 Mersenne primes have been discovered by the mathematical community, the largest known prime number is 2^82,589,933 − 1 with 24,862,048 digits, found by GIMPS in December 2018.

　　As for what practical use is there for this Mersenne prime number?

　　It doesn't seem to be much. For example, the RSA algorithm counts for one, and every time you make an online purchase, you have to thank the large prime hidden in your passwords that can't be disassembled. At the same time, large prime is also used to test the performance of computers. For example, intel uses the GIMPS program to test chips, and SKYLAKE has also discovered chip bugs as a result.

　　However, Orion is not happy, "why is the proof of Zhou's conjecture! Give me a proof of the Riemann hypothesis! Or a slightly lower grade of Beal's Conjecture can also be nice!" Leaving aside the academic value, the reward for Beal's Conjecture has been increased to one million dollars, which will be provided by Beal himself, a well-known banker in Texas. As for Zhou's conjecture, there are quite a few people who have tried to prove it, but no one seems to be offering a reward for this proof.

　　Orion Crest was not in a beautiful mood for an instant as he watched a million he might have owned just fly away.

　　However, on the bright side, even if it is just Zhou's conjecture, if you can take it to prove it, it is also a good thing that can make a name for itself in the history of mathematics. As for the monetary reward, that student who proved Seetapun Conjecture in his sophomore, is a good example. It is said that the NTU directly award 50K in cash. Anyway, Gorden University ranked in the top ten in the country, although the maths department is a bit weak, it can't be worse than NTU, right? With that thought, Orion felt slightly better.

　　After calming down, he took out the proof and looked at it. Unlike that bottle of cola labelled as [Trash], the proof method of Zhou's Conjecture, which was a major category of [Drawings], was not specifically presented on paper or electronic files. When one wanted to look at it, one only needed to recite it in one's mind, and the entire set of proof steps could directly emerge in one's mind.

　　"Totally can't understand ...... It seems like it will take a while to deeply understand this proof procedures."

　　Orion pondered in his mind how to logically show the proof to others. Firstly, it's useless to just memorise it, you have to understand it yourself. Secondly, you had to make yourself looks like a scholar.

　　As for this Zhou's Conjecture proof ......Orion decided to wait until the summer holidays were over before taking it out. During these two months, he will do everything he can to make himself look like a real scholar and maximize the benefits he can get.

　　Seeking out more professors to talk about academic issues is a must.

　　Maths LV1 was a must.

　　Staying in school during the summer holidays was also a must.

　　......

　　At that moment, another question popped up in Orion's mind. Would the [Drawing] obtained from the system be related to the [Science Level]?

　　This question can be crucial. Otherwise, why would it be such a coincidence that he got a damn "Proof Answer," instead of a "Cosmic Battleship"? The more he thought about it, the more likely it became.

　　"Currently the highest priority is to upgrade the level of the subject, raise Maths to LV1 as soon as possible and unlock the LV1 level cap of other subjects ......"

　　Also, new 'mission' seems to be available. What could it be?

          With this in mind, Orion Crest mumbled in his mind. "Open the mission list!"

　　The translucent holographic screen floated in front of him.

　　[

　　Task 1: The Art of Fishing in Muddy Waters

　　Description: fishing in muddy waters is also an art, why bury your head in the lab when you can make money by doing nothing?

　　Requirements: Skillful use of language arts to become a project member on a million-dollar research project. On the principle of not contributing, use the least amount of energy and get the most merit. So, be as lazy as possible, Boy!

　　Reward: gain scientific experience (the type of experience is determined by the type of project, and the value of experience is positively correlated with the value of the scientific research project funding, and negatively correlated with the degree of the host's contribution in the project). One chance to draw a prize (100% junk)

　　]

　　[

　　Task 2: Practising hard on basic skills (Physics)

　　Description: Rome wasn't built in a day, and the edifice of science wasn't completed in a day.

　　Requirements: Solve 200 physics exercises (the exercise book is provided by the system, tailored to the host's knowledge reserves)

　　Reward: topic difficulty coefficient*2. 50 points. prop - Deep Learning Time (Category: Special.) Effect: Effective time 24 hours, reading books within the duration of the effect can enter the state of deep reading, permanent mastery of the knowledge learnt.)

　　]

　　[

　　Task 3: Academics begin with a thesis.

　　Description: The thesis is the foundation of academics, a scholar who can only write thesis is not necessarily a great scientist, but a scholar who can't write thesis will definitely not be able to do great science. On this point, please do not refute the system, the system is the God! Now, publish an SCI paper and start your academic career!

　　Requirements: Publish an SCI paper.

　　Reward: scientific experience (determined by the academic value, the lower limit is 100 experience). System points 200. One chance to draw (95% junk, 5% sample).

　　]

　　Seeing the last task, Orion's expression was a bit odd. The rewarded experience was decided based on the academic value of the paper? If one took the documents of proving Zhou's Conjecture and submitted it to an SCI journal, how much experience one could get? Probably a lot?

　　Thinking about it like this, the idea is quite attractive ......