Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 92：World Mathematics Summit

The World Mathematical Summit was scheduled for October 1st. With only two days remaining before Jiang Fan's departure, he had already begun to receive replies for his submitted SCI papers—an unexpected development. His submissions, from various journals, usually would not have been reviewed simultaneously. Normally, the average review time for each journal was around a month and a half, but Jiang Fan had received responses in just one week. Furthermore, after an SCI paper passes the initial review, editors typically suggest revisions, and it could take several rounds of revisions before it was accepted for publication. However, Jiang Fan's papers had been accepted without a single revision.

The system notifications flooded his mind one after another:

【System】: "Congratulations, Host, Physics: SCI paper published successfully!" 【System】: "Congratulations, Host, Biology: SCI paper published successfully!" 【System】: "Congratulations, Host, Chemistry: SCI paper published successfully!" ...

After six notifications, the sound ceased, and Jiang Fan grew anxious. He had been tasked by the system with publishing SCI papers for seven major fields. Hastily, he opened the system's interface to check:

Task: Host has successfully published SCI papers for the Seven Major Disciplines.

Physics: SCI paper published successfully!Biochemistry: SCI paper published successfully!Materials Science: SCI paper published successfully!Astronomy: SCI paper published successfully!Energy Science: SCI paper published successfully!Informatics: SCI paper published successfully!Mathematics: SCI paper not yet published!

Jiang Fan was puzzled—why was his Mathematics SCI paper still not completed? He had written it on one of the Millennium Prize Problems, the Riemann Hypothesis. He had been confident that it would be accepted without issue.

Perhaps, he thought, the journal had yet to reply. He quickly checked his email, and indeed, there was no response for the Mathematics SCI paper. Relieved, he reflected on the fact that receiving replies from six journals simultaneously was likely due to the system's help. Without it, such responses wouldn't have been so timely.

The system's help merely ensured his paper appeared prominently in the editor's inbox, but it could not influence the editor's decision. Therefore, the quality of his papers was the true deciding factor. Based on the swift replies, the quality of his work seemed impressive.

However, something didn't feel quite right. If the system had aided his submissions, the editor should have at least seen the Mathematics paper by now. Even if rejected, there should have been some response.

Then it struck him—he didn't have to wait for a reply from the Mathematics journal! He could simply submit another paper! Now that he had mastered all of Blue Star's mathematical knowledge, writing another SCI paper would be easy. He quickly sat down and wrote a well-structured paper, submitting it to a lesser-known mathematics journal.

The system didn't specify the prestige of the journal—only that the paper needed to be published. After sending it out, Jiang Fan felt a sense of relief. With this backup, he was confident that everything was in place.

Now, he could focus on completing the task and earning the system's reward—the design blueprint for the IERT magnet. After all, it would take a year for controlled nuclear fusion to become a reality. With two days left before his departure for the World Mathematical Summit, Jiang Fan had not yet received any response to his earlier submission.

"Hopefully, I'll receive an approval before returning," he muttered to himself.

...

In Paris, the World Mathematical Summit was taking place as planned at the Polytechnic University. China sent nine representatives, including three professors: Wu Lao, Xiao Weicheng, and Ding Haicheng from Beijing University. Four others came from prominent tech companies: Longxin Industries, Zhongguang International, Ziguang Technology, and Huawei Technology. The final two were Jiang Fan and their bodyguard.

To be precise, Jiang Fan's bodyguard, Lei Kun, was chosen by the special forces after Zhou Huaide reported Jiang Fan's attendance at the summit to the higher-ups. The country's leaders placed great importance on Jiang Fan's safety, and thus Lei Kun, the best operative, was assigned to protect him.

The command from the top was clear: Jiang Fan's safety was paramount.

As China was a council member of the World Mathematical Organization, their delegation was seated in the front. The summit lasted two days.

The first morning, the president of the World Mathematical Organization introduced the recent achievements in mathematics. Following that were discussions of breakthroughs in the application of mathematics in high-tech fields. The morning passed in a rather dry fashion.

In the afternoon, Jiang Fan was scheduled to present on the Riemann Hypothesis at 4 PM, with a one-hour talk. At 3 PM, Professor Holt Hogan from the United States took the stage.

While Jiang Fan was idly waiting, he suddenly found himself captivated by Professor Hogan's topic: the P versus NP problem—a problem that was also part of the Millennium Prize Problems. Coincidentally, Jiang Fan had recently written an SCI paper on this very issue.

To his surprise, someone else had solved it, revealing that there were indeed many brilliant mathematicians on Blue Star.

The entire conference hall buzzed with excitement when Professor Hogan announced that he had solved the P versus NP problem, one of the Millennium Prize Problems. Especially the mathematicians from various countries, who were all astonished.

"The United States is truly the most powerful country on Blue Star—whether in technology, economy, or academia, it is the undisputed leader!"
"Professor Hogan made great strides in mathematics over twenty years ago, then disappeared from the public eye. Little did we know, he had been focused on solving one of the Millennium Prize Problems. Now, in his seventies, he has cracked the P versus NP problem!"
"He's an academic role model!"

The entire venue was abuzz with admiration for Professor Hogan.

As Professor Hogan continued with his explanation, Jiang Fan and Professor Wu's faces gradually turned grim. The solution Hogan presented for the P versus NP problem was identical to Jiang Fan's own submission.