135. Seventy One Sixty One
three months later.
August 14, 2003.
Professor’s laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Korea University.
“Did you say math?”
Strictly speaking… I am not affiliated with the math department. This is because he returned to school in March and has not yet completed the required courses for the second semester of his first year.
However, last semester, I filled the math and the first semester of the second year, so I took it… I don’t think there’s a big problem with math.
I said to Professor Yeom’s question.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Yeah, I talked to Professor Park Soo-soo on the phone, but you want to work in our lab during this vacation?”
“yes.”
“Hmm… And I’m sorry to ask you this… .”
Professor Yeom continued, pointing to the stack of papers on the table.
“As for this research proposal… You wrote this yourself, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Yeah, I was curious. I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.”
“no.”
“To be honest… I was very surprised to see this. Undergraduate students… It is really surprising that a student other than the chemistry department wrote a proposal of this level.”
Professor Yeom nodded and continued.
“but… Since I’m good enough, Professor Park Soo-soo also contacted me separately. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading the research proposals, and to be honest, this is the first time I’ve ever written a proposal this well out of a student’s proposal… . haha-!”
“thank you.”
Professor Yeom said, pointing to my research proposal.
“But to do the experiments you want to do, you have to use dangerous chemicals, which bothers me. Is there any need to use such a dangerous explosive?”
I opened my mouth with a firm expression.
“To create violent fluid flows in a short amount of time, explosives are essential. And although the proposal explains it, since it uses a really small amount of explosives, it won’t be that dangerous.”
Professor Yeom nodded at my words and said.
“By the way, fluid mechanics and the Riemann hypothesis are fields I don’t know at all… Can you explain a little more?”
“Yes, I think I should first explain the Reynolds number, which defines the relative magnitude between the kinetic energy and viscosity of a fluid in fluid mechanics… … .”
A smaller Reynolds number results in a stable flow, laminar flow, and a larger Reynolds number results in turbulent flow. And in the research proposal I sent to Professor Yeom… It contained the study of fluid motion when the Reynolds number became extremely large.
For reference, when the flow of the fluid changes from laminar flow to turbulent flow, the moving dimension of the fluid may be expanded.
For example, when a dam’s sluice gate is opened, water flows down the dam creating a smooth surface. That is, it is a one-dimensional laminar flow.
However, when the water reaches the bottom of the dam, it turns into turbulent flow, creating a huge splash of water, which is called a hydraulic jump, and with this hydraulic jump, the movement of water changes from one dimension to two dimensions.
Two years ago, I hypothesized that it was possible to map the non-obvious zero of the Riemann zeta function through a 10-dimensional topological space into a 3-dimensional space.
To complete this hypothesis, we need to find a total of 7 dimensional information functions. And the first dimensional information function could be found using the frequency phenomenon. In other words, it uses the movement of abruptly changing the flow of water from laminar to turbulent in a two-dimensional space.
In order to find the second-dimensional information function, my interest naturally shifted to the phenomenon in which the flow of water in three-dimensional space rapidly changes from laminar to turbulent. So the idea was to create an explosion in a three-dimensional tank with a specific shape.
By detonating a small amount of explosives in the water and capturing the movement of the water with a high-performance camera at the moment the explosives explode, I wanted to see how the Reynolds number rises in an instant and creates a turbulent flow.
By studying the fluid motion at the moment when the Reynolds number soars in a three-dimensional tank of various shapes such as a cube or a circular cylinder, it seemed that the clue of the second-dimensional information function could be found.
In addition to collecting data to prove the Riemann hypothesis… Another reason I wanted to work in Professor Yeom’s lab was to get the chemicals needed to make the underwater explosives.
For reference, the recipe for explosives is surprisingly simple. For example, if only an organic solvent called toluene and a nitric acid solution are used, TNT can be prepared without difficulty.
But there was one problem. The purity of the prepared TNT is not high.
For reference, a relatively low heat of about 240 °C is required to detonate TNT. If the purity of TNT is lowered, the initiation temperature becomes much higher than 240 °C. In other words, it becomes difficult to detonate explosives.
If this is an explosive used on the ground, the purity of the TNT doesn’t really matter. Because there is a very sure way to detonate an explosive using a fuse.
However, the underwater explosive that we are planning must detonate at a depth of 80 meters. Therefore, not only was it difficult to use the fuse, but there was also a safety problem.
Moreover, since radio waves are not transmitted in water, mechanical detonators using radio waves cannot be used either. So the method I found was to use nitroglycerin as an initiator.
Glycerol trinitrate is a powerful explosive similar to dynamite or TNT, but unlike these explosives, it does not dissolve or mix in water.
In addition, glycerol trinitrate must be stored frozen, and when the temperature rises to freezing, it becomes unstable and explodes by itself.
My plan is to take advantage of this feature.
After fixing a small amount of glycerol trinitrate in the center of the low-purity TNT explosive, the whole explosive is cooled to sub-zero temperature. The cooled explosives are transported to the West Sea, and the explosives are packed in a small waterproof styrofoam box with dry ice and sent down to the bottom of the sea where Lake Shigemitsu is located.
and will wait
When all the dry ice in the Styrofoam box disappears, the glycerol trinitrate becomes unstable and creates a small explosion, which will detonate the TNT and lead to a large explosion. And the hatch door to the second basement floor of the Shigemitsu will open.
For reference, since glycerol trinitrate is used as an initiator of TNT, not an explosive, a small amount of about 0.5 grams is sufficient.
“Then when can you start working in the lab?”
At Professor Yeom’s words, I clasped my hands together and said.
“It is possible from today.”
“haha-! It’s difficult from today, and since tomorrow is a three-day holiday on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, let’s start with Monday next week.”
“thank you!”
After the interview, I left Professor Yeom’s laboratory and went down the stairs to the 3rd floor math department office.
Yesterday, I got a call from the department office, saying that Professor Geun-seok Kim has something to tell me, and that I should stop by the department office if I have to come to school.
Professor Geun-seok Kim, to be precise, is not a professor but a lecturer, and he was also serving as a supervisor for the second year in addition to the linear algebra that he lectured.
When I returned to school in March, it was Professor Geun-seok Kim who helped me take the major in the second year of mathematics while the department had not yet been decided. In addition to this work, Professor Kim even took care of me to such an extent that it was a little burdensome.
The department administration assistant who called Professor Geun-seok Kim said to me.
“please wait for a moment. You are coming soon.”
“thank you.”
While waiting for him… Newspaper articles that were scrapped on the bulletin board of the department office caught my eye.
＜The Millennium Difficulty ‘Poincare Conjecture’ seems to have been proven>
The first sentence of the newspaper article began with the name ‘Perelman’.
It is said that a team of about 10 mathematicians was formed to verify the paper, along with the story of the paper Perelman posted on the Internet in November. And although it was not yet verified, it was a newspaper article stating that many mathematicians believed that Poincare’s conjecture had been proven.
“Jeong-ho is here!”
“Hello professor.”
“a-! The professor—! Just call me bro.”
“no. You can’t do that.”
“Oh, wait… .”
Professor Geun-seok Kim said, taking eye drops from his pocket and putting them in both eyes.
“Oh-! One year after LASIK surgery, my eyes are so stiff.”
After a while, he continued to speak, blinking the eyes he had put in the eye drops.
“My junior is attending a private academy in Apgujeong-dong, and he said that there was a place for a math tutoring class. I’m a freshman in high school, and the pay is pretty good. I go twice a week, and it’s 1 million won a month. What do you think?”
“Thank you very much! By the way… I’m not very interested in tutoring… . Maybe it’s a little difficult for me.”
At my words, Professor Kim Geun-seok said with a regretful expression.
“Originally, it was 800,000 won a month, but I raised it to 1 million won… . I mean, he’s the best ace in our class. Are you really not interested?”
400 billion won is floating in front of my eyes right now… There was no way I could see a 1 million won part-time job.
I nodded and said.
“yes… . I’m really sorry.”
“no, that’s fine. But hmm… ! how about this… .”
I opened my mouth carefully.
“If it’s okay with you, can I yield to my friend? I am a student who has tutored a lot in middle and high school.”
“friend?”
“Yes, my class is Kim Young-mi… .”
“ah… ! that… 4.30 in fourth grade?”
The samgyong.
It’s Youngmi’s nickname.
If you do not miss a single subject and get an A+ in all the subjects you take, your grade will be 4.30. That’s why it was given the nickname “Sajjang Samgong”.
I nodded, and Professor Kim Geun-seok opened his mouth with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“By the way, Youngmi, she must be busy studying English these days, is it okay? And since that student is a freshman in high school, he seems to want a tutor that he can do for a long time.”
“ah… ! Then it will be difficult for Youngmi.”
“Yeah, I’ll have to look into that with another student. But Jungho… .”
Professor Geun-seok Kim paused for a moment before continuing.
“that… There is a professor at Texas State University called So-Ryung Yoon… .”
“uh… ? Do you know the major sister?”
“then-! Professor Yoon is the judge of my doctoral thesis.”
“ah… I see.”
After all, the world is really small.
“Professor Yoon, you said you came to Seoul?”
“Yes, I think I came to see my family because it was vacation.”
I only heard the news that my sister arrived in Seoul this Monday. I haven’t met my sister yet, and I only know that Youngmi is consulting with her about studying abroad this evening.
“If you meet Professor Yoon, say hello to me.”
“Yes I will.”
Professor Kim Geun-seok lowered his voice in response to my answer.
“Large! and… To Professor Yoon… Please tell me the story of how I found a tutoring place for you.”
“yes? that is… What do you mean?”
“Ahahaha—! no, nothing Anyway, please say hello to me.”
That evening.
Returning to the officetel in Mok-dong, while washing and resting, the phone rang.
“hello.”
Youngmi’s voice was heard along with a loud noise.
– Jungho-ya, I’m sorry… I think you should come over here and have a look.
“okay? Where are you?”
-It’s a bulgogi restaurant across from Namseocheon Park… .
That was then. A drunken, twisted-tongued voice could be heard over the phone.
-uh-? You’re talking to Jeong-ho! Give me the phone.
It was the major’s sister. My sister’s voice seems to smell like alcohol all the way to the other side of the phone.
With a long sigh, I heard my sister’s voice.
-under–! Hoya Jung-! I should have listened to you back then—! Why am I—! At that time, Jung-ho, didn’t you hear—? huh?
(It turns out that it is not true that TNT can be easily prepared from a solution of toluene and nitric acid.)