Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 105：Manuscript Rejected

"None of them?"
Both Long Lao and Qiao Lao exclaimed in astonishment.
Even the experts and professors who had been diligently reviewing the papers paused, their expressions reflecting a mix of disbelief and frustration.
For the past two days, they had each spent no less than 15 hours a day reviewing manuscripts, and after such intense effort, they had selected these 18 papers. Yet, now they were told that none of them were acceptable.
It was as if all their hard work had been completely invalidated.
Naturally, a sense of displeasure simmered in their hearts.
They glanced at Jiang Fan with growing disapproval, their collective thought clear: Jiang Fan was likely trying to assert his own superiority by belittling their work.
Seeing the tension in the air, Qiao Lao turned to Jiang Fan, asking,
"What's wrong with these manuscripts, then?"
"Since you're saying none of them are good enough, tell me exactly why."
One of the professors, his face hardening, added sharply.
Long Lao, too, gave Jiang Fan a reproachful look. Even if there were issues, it was not ideal to be so blunt in front of everyone. After all, they had all put in their best efforts over the past two days.
Sensing the growing tension, Long Lao quickly intervened,
"Jiang Fan must have noticed something wrong with these papers, so let's hear his reasoning."
Jiang Fan nodded and casually opened one of the math papers.
"This is a mathematics paper, the topic is: The solution of second-order variable coefficient homogeneous differential equations.
A second-order homogeneous differential equation, y′′+py′+qy=0y'' + p y' + qy = 0y′′+py′+qy=0, must have two linearly independent solutions.
...
Now, considering y2y_2y2​ satisfies y2(y1′′+py1′+qy1)−y1(y2′′+py2′+qy2)=0,f′+pf=0,(f=y1′y2−y1y2′)y_2(y_1'' + p y_1' + qy_1) - y_1(y_2'' + p y_2' + qy_2) = 0, f' + pf = 0, (f = y_1'y_2 - y_1y_2')y2​(y1′′​+py1′​+qy1​)−y1​(y2′′​+py2′​+qy2​)=0,f′+pf=0,(f=y1′​y2​−y1​y2′​), according to the characteristic root principle..."
Jiang Fan explained the errors in the paper, and as he finished, everyone looked at the leading math professor, perplexed.
The professor, deep in thought, seemed to consider Jiang Fan's explanation carefully. After a while, he asked Jiang Fan a question.
Jiang Fan realized that the professor had not fully grasped his point, so he patiently elaborated further.
"According to the characteristic roots of second-order variable coefficient homogeneous differential equations, there must exist infinitely many non-zero solutions, let y1y_1y1​ be one of them..."
After this further explanation, the professor finally nodded, realization dawning.
"You're right, I missed some key details. Thanks to Editor-in-Chief Jiang Fan! If this paper had been published as is, we would have been the laughingstock of the academic world!"
The other experts and professors now looked at Jiang Fan with more respect.
One of the professors, aware of Jiang Fan's exceptional mathematical talent, pointed to a physics paper on the screen and said,
"Editor-in-Chief Jiang Fan, this physics paper was reviewed by me. I would like to hear your thoughts on it."
His tone was slightly challenging.
Jiang Fan opened the file and quickly pointed out the issues with the paper.
Ten minutes later, the professor was fully convinced.
Indeed, as Jiang Fan pointed out, the paper was riddled with flaws. Yet, when he had reviewed it earlier, it had seemed fairly solid.
Without waiting for further comments, Jiang Fan swiftly moved through the remaining papers, pointing out the issues with each one.
Half an hour later, as Jiang Fan finished, everyone was left in a state of astonishment.
They had all believed Jiang Fan was merely a mathematical genius, but his expertise now extended far beyond that, encompassing physics, chemistry, biology, and more.
He was, without a doubt, a polymath of the highest order.
"Jiang Fan, you've dismissed every one of these papers. How are we supposed to publish the journal in just a few days?"
Jiang Fan pondered for a moment before pointing to the screen.
"This one is the only one among the 18 that is worth revising, but it requires a 35% revision. We can notify the author to make the necessary changes."
Upon hearing this, the experts breathed a sigh of relief. Their efforts hadn't been in vain; at least one paper had potential after revision.
The reviewing experts then sent the proposed revisions to the author.
As for the others, all the submissions were rejected.
After their papers had been submitted to Dragon Journal, the scholars from Dragon Kingdom's top universities were all eagerly awaiting their inclusion in the first issue.
But when they received the rejection emails, their disbelief was palpable.
Many of them, who had been confident in their top-tier academic abilities, had never imagined their papers would be rejected by a new journal.
The academic community, consisting of scholars who had often debated their work in exclusive groups, was shaken.
In one renowned academic group with 238 members—each of whom had previously published in internationally renowned journals—a wave of disbelief spread when one member posted,
"I received the rejection from Dragon Journal."
Others quickly followed suit, sharing their own rejection notifications.
The conversation exploded as a well-known professor, Zhang Shaohua, replied with the same message:
"Rejected!"
The group erupted in surprise.
"Wait, Zhang Professor was rejected?!"
"This can't be true! Zhang is a senior professor at Fudan University, with more than 20 papers published in top international journals, and he even received the 'Best Academic Award' in Dragon Kingdom!"
News of the rejections quickly spread, and the academic community was abuzz with confusion and curiosity.
"Did you hear? The editor-in-chief of Dragon Journal is a young man under 20!"