Chapter Eighty-Five: Praise

When the banquet ended, Wu Tong immediately returned to her room and began the final touches. The paper proving the Twin Prime Conjecture was complete; only the last portion remained to be translated.

At midnight, Wu Tong packaged the paper and sent it to the submission email of the Mathematical Annals. At the same time, she opened the arXiv preprint website and uploaded both the Chinese and English versions, letting this proof see the light of day.

The next day, delegations from various countries began their journeys home. The Chinese team, likewise, checked out early, heading to the airport at four or five in the morning for their pre-booked early flight.

While they rushed to the airport, the paper Wu Tong sent out the previous night began to ferment and spread, astonishment and wonder swirling across the globe.

Terence Tao, who loved surfing the web, paid far more attention to online developments than most top scholars of his age. The Twin Prime Conjecture was a topic he followed closely, with special alerts set. So when a new paper appeared in that section, he finished his work and, driven by curiosity, clicked to read.

Researchers must always maintain curiosity about everything.

Upon reading the title and abstract, his eyebrows shot up—Proof of the Twin Prime Conjecture? He thought it might be another joke uploaded by an amateur. He was about to give up in disappointment when he noticed the paper was bilingual, and the author was Chinese. Curious, he glanced at the author’s name.

Tong Wu? Wu Tong—the surprising young prodigy from China? The one who proved Zhou’s Conjecture? If it was her, things were indeed interesting!

With growing interest, he began to read. As he progressed, his casual expression transformed into increasing seriousness. He drew a draft sheet and pen close, jotting calculations from time to time, pausing to ponder—how fascinating, truly fascinating. So this step could leap in this way, this idea was truly remarkable…

“Professor, it’s time for afternoon tea. Would you like something to drink?” His student lightly knocked, reminding the excited and absorbed Terence Tao.

“Ellen, bring me a coffee. I need caffeine to witness the birth of another miracle!” Terence Tao continued calculating without lifting his head. He had understood the bridge built by this young mathematician and was now entering the most crucial part of the calculations. Afternoons usually induced drowsiness, but Tao felt none of it—he was invigorated, and coffee would only heighten his spirits.

Not until five in the afternoon did Terence Tao finally finish his repeated calculations. Joyously, he could confirm that the Twin Prime Conjecture, a problem that had troubled the world for over a century, had truly been proven by this brilliant jewel from the East!

He logged into the software and once again posted on Facebook.

“Once again, I witness the birth of a miracle. The youth of mathematics brings joy; prime numbers fascinate. We have advanced another step toward the primes, offering a partial answer to Hilbert’s eighth problem. The Twin Prime Conjecture now has a definitive theorem! Even more exciting, I seem to see the embryonic form of a new program emerging. Thank you, Wu Tong, for bringing innovative progress to the mathematical community!”

He promptly shared the good news with Andrew Wiles, who had previously co-reviewed with him. “Check arXiv—The Twin Prime Conjecture has been proven!”

At Princeton, in the Mathematical Annals editorial office, the reviewer Lawrence was in the midst of his usual workday, given the time difference. His daily task was to sift through numerous submissions and select those of genuine value.

When he saw the proof of the Twin Prime Conjecture, his first thought was—another madman? The Twin Prime Conjecture, Goldbach’s Conjecture, always attracted amateurs who, ignorant and overconfident, tried to prove these gems of number theory, hoping for instant fame, but instead filled their papers with errors, seriously taxing his nerves and eyes, wasting precious time.

He was about to grumble when suddenly he noticed the author’s note: the prover of Zhou’s Conjecture? Tong Wu? The sixteen-year-old prodigy from the East? Was she now taking on the Twin Prime Conjecture?

The proof of Zhou’s Conjecture had appeared just earlier in April, published in the May issue of their Mathematical Annals, less than a hundred days ago. He remembered it vividly.

Oh my God. These geniuses truly refuse to be idle.

Still, regardless of whether this prodigious girl had truly proven the Twin Prime Conjecture, with the aura of Zhou’s Conjecture’s prover, he had to treat it with utmost seriousness.

...

At six o’clock in Beijing, Professors Pan Wenhua and Zhou Wenwu, at their age, were already up. After washing up, Pan Wenhua glanced at his phone and was so startled by the midnight message that he thought he was still dreaming.

[Dean, Wu Tong has successfully proved the Twin Prime Conjecture. The paper is submitted to the Mathematical Annals and uploaded to arXiv.] This was the message Li Yisheng received upon Wu Tong’s official upload, and he immediately forwarded it.

Pan Wenhua woke up completely at once. Their young Wu Tong had really proven the Twin Prime Conjecture? Was it time for him to pack up and move?

Meanwhile, Professor Zhou Wenping also received congratulations from across the Atlantic.

“Zhou, congratulations! Our young prodigy has once again conquered the Twin Prime Conjecture. Mathematics is becoming so youthful it’s almost maddening!” Andrew Wiles sang his praise.

If last time he was amazed by Wu Tong’s proof of Zhou’s Conjecture because of her exceedingly young age, then this time, her proof of the Twin Prime Conjecture truly made him sit up and take notice. This was a child nearing the world’s top scholars. Such achievements, at such a young age and in such a short span, made him want to exclaim, “Gauss reborn!”

“She’s still so young, with infinite possibilities ahead. I even hope that within my lifetime, she will bring definite answers to Goldbach’s Conjecture and the Riemann Hypothesis!”

“You flatter us! We, too, hope she can bring more solutions to mathematics!” Professor Zhou Wenping, after digesting his astonishment, continued the exchange while booting his computer, finding Wu Tong’s paper on arXiv, downloading and printing it.

“Professor Zhou, I just received a message from Li…” Zhou Wenping had just hung up the transatlantic call when Pan Wenhua seamlessly dialed in.

“Yes, I just finished speaking with Andrew Wiles, the Fields Medal laureate. He and Terence Tao have both confirmed that Wu Tong has indeed proven the Twin Prime Conjecture, and her method has left them in awe! I’m preparing to head to the university now, Dean—let's discuss this at school!”

The glory of China’s IMO team winning six golds had only just blossomed yesterday, their joy had not yet faded, and now they welcomed another earth-shaking piece of news. They were truly overjoyed!

(End of chapter)