37. Hanon Fifty Seven
Closing ceremony of the academic conference.
After the national ceremony, Professor Park Soo-soo’s speech began.
“hello? fellow mathematicians. I am Soo-Soo Park of the Department of Mathematics at Korea University, who is serving as the vice president of the Association of Korean Mathematicians.”
The sound of applause filled the small auditorium, and after a while Professor Park continued.
“First of all, as the head of this academic conference, I am proud and grateful to have successfully completed the conference.”
Professor Park’s speech led to a brief explanation of how many researchers participated in the conference, how many presentations were made by field, and what were interesting presentations.
After the summary explanation of this event was over, Professor Park continued his speech with a very serious expression.
“We have so far divided mathematics into two major areas. One is pure mathematics and the other is applied mathematics. And it is true that computers have been thought to be used only in applied mathematics fields such as numerical analysis and statistics.”
People nodded their heads as if in agreement with Professor Park’s words.
“But now the world is changing, and the winds of change are blowing even for us researchers who do pure mathematics. And this change is none other than the computer.”
Among those sitting in the small auditorium, only a few young researchers seemed to agree.
“As many of you know, I am working on the Riemann hypothesis. I’ve been holding the Riemann hypothesis for nearly 20 years now, but it’s a shame… It is a situation in which research has been tightly closed since 10 years ago. Thanks to that, I started cryptography as a side job, and now the side job is doing better than my main job.”
The audience burst into laughter.
“However, research on the Riemann hypothesis, which had been blocked for 10 years, started to be carried out again not long ago.”
One of the professors sitting in the front seat said in a loud voice.
“What’s the secret?”
Laughter erupted again, and as the laughter subsided, Professor Park smiled and opened her mouth.
“First, please watch this video.”
When Professor Park gestured, the lights in the small auditorium went out, and a video was played on the front screen.
The image of the reproduced video was none other than the Riemann zeta function.
The Riemann zeta function was visualized in 3D space on the complex plane.
The image showed about 100 non-obvious zeros along the critical line and what the Riemann zeta function looked like around these zeros.
And this video was prepared using a program I made two months ago.
Only then did I understand.
This is why Professor Park asked me to attend the closing ceremony of the academic conference.
When the video ended, the lights in the small auditorium were turned on, and Professor Park grabbed the microphone again.
“As some of you may have already guessed, the function in the video you just saw is the Riemann zeta function. And this is it… This is the secret that got me back to working on the Riemann hypothesis.”
When Professor Park paused for a moment, there was no sound in the small auditorium.
“I want to emphasize here that this is only a small beginning compared to the huge changes to come. In the future, the development of computers… … .”
When Professor Park’s speech, emphasizing the importance of computers, was over, applause erupted.
Perhaps because it was a meeting of researchers who knew each other well, the small auditorium had a very free atmosphere.
So, even though it was a closing speech rather than an academic presentation, questions and answers began as if it were usual.
“Then, how important do you think computers will become in the future, Professor Park?”
“In the not-too-distant future… Without computers, the research itself is probably impossible.”
It was around the time when Professor Park had finished answering and it was quiet.
A hoarse voice was heard from the back seat of the small auditorium.
“By the way, what program is CJH? Looking at the presentation of Professor Park’s disciple earlier, it seems like they wrote the same program… Don’t write such a good program by yourself, and tell me where you got it.”
It was the old professor who asked the question in the presentation by Yoon Seok.
A while ago, ‘by CJH’ was written in the lower right corner of the Riemann Zeta function video, but it was misunderstood as a program name.
“ah… ! CJH is not the name of the program, it is the initials of the student who produced this program, but at the request of the student, I wrote the initials instead of the name.”
“Anyway… I mean, don’t secretly write such good things by yourself, and let’s share them together.”
“Actually, I’m in a position where I’m writing, so I’ll talk to the student who made it and decide.”
A voice came from somewhere else in the small auditorium.
“Professor Park, that program, isn’t it only the Riemann zeta function can be used?”
“Hmm… I do not know. As I said, I’m using it myself, so I don’t know for sure, but maybe other types of functions are possible.”
“Then let me use that CJH program in our school’s math department as well.”
Voices were heard from all over the auditorium.
“We ask, too.”
“Our school… I’d like to use it for my students’ classes rather than research, is that ok?”
“Professor Park, please start with our lab.”
“Uh-huh! Professor Kim, I applied first a while ago.”
That was then.
Someone stabbed me in the side.
Yeong-mi looked at me with one eyebrow raised, and I raised both shoulders and made a face that I didn’t know.
When the closing ceremony was over, I was going to say hello to Professor Park Bo-soo… .
Hmm, it seems difficult now.
Professor Park was surrounded by dozens of researchers.
I greeted Yoon-seok hyung and went down to the lobby of the building with Yeong-mi.
Youngmi said as she went down the stairs.
“CJH, that’s you. Is not it?”
I smiled without a word, and Yeongmi continued.
“Hmm, I was expecting a bit… Jung-ho, you are so amazing.”
“Are you going to keep it a secret?”
Youngmi laughed at my question and said.
“By the way, how long do we have to keep this a secret?”
“Well, maybe… Until we grow up?”
Youngmi nodded her head and opened her mouth.
“Then… I think it’s all thanks to you, Jung-ho.”
“what?”
“I won the Math Olympiad.”
“a! That’s because you studied hard and won. I didn’t help anything, did I?”
Youngmi shook her head and said.
“No, it is not. I study with you, so solving math problems is really fun. Jung-ho, the way you explained was also very good. If I hadn’t studied with you, I probably never would have known that math was such an exciting subject.”
* * *
past life.
Ha Sung-soo was a star instructor at Taesung Academy.
It was rumored that 90% of Taesung Academy’s high school seniors had enrolled in the academy to take Mr. Ha’s class.
I once asked him the secret.
The secret to becoming a star instructor.
Teacher Ha answered my question.
“actually… Lectures are not important.”
His next answer was surprising.
“Honestly, the lectures are all there, well… My lectures, or Mr. Chae’s lectures… Is there anything special about middle and high school math lectures?”
“Haha, is that so?”
I thought he wouldn’t let me know his secrets.
As if reading my expression, Master Ha smiled and opened his mouth.
“Even if I tell you the secret, people don’t believe it. You probably don’t even believe Chae, do you?”
According to his subsequent explanation… .
They often come to ask questions that students do not know, and they say that the secret is to explain them strategically to them.
“How do I explain strategically?”
“Don’t tell the student who asks the whole solution, just give a little hint. Hmm, this is a bit hard to explain… .”
After thinking for a moment, Master Ha continued.
“You know, Master Chae. It’s exhilarating to finally solve a difficult math problem after grunting for a long time.”
“yes that’s right.”
“During the process of solving the problem the student asked, you should not give hints about the thrilling part.”
I asked with a questionable expression.
“By the way, is there any part of the answer that excites you? The thrill is a kind of sense of accomplishment that you have solved a difficult problem.”
“Look! You said I wouldn’t believe it. Anyway, I gave you the secret.”
“a! Please tell me a little more.”
“Really that’s all. If you do that for a year or two… Word of mouth will naturally begin to circulate among the students.”
In my past life, I did not understand Mr. Ha’s secret.
But now… As I observed the teacher’s teaching method every math class, I began to understand little by little what Mr. Ha meant.
* * *
Youngmi, who had been thinking for a while as she went down the stairs, opened her mouth.
“right! I remembered it! On Friday, after the Olympiad exams… Jungho, you did. The answer I gave is correct, so prepare your feelings for the awards ceremony. Is not it?”
“haha! Did I say that?”
Youngmi said with tears in her eyes.
“Are you going to keep doing that? I’m going to make a fuss!”
“okay. Sorry.”
“Then you… Was the Olympiad problem deliberately wrong?”
“that… After the awards ceremony was over, the exam chairperson said it.”
“yes? What did you say?”
I smiled and said to Youngmi.
“Answers solved through prior learning were not recognized as correct answers.”
“ah… ! Right, right! That’s it.”
Youngmi nodded her head violently at my words.
It’s so cute.
We went down to the building lobby, and while waiting for our parents, Youngmi spoke up.
“Now that I’m talking, can I ask one more question?”
When I nodded, Youngmi continued.
“If I were you… I’m proud of it, and I think I’ll be famous and appear on TV… Why are you keeping it a secret?”
Yeong-mi stared at me and waited for my answer, and I remained silent for a moment before opening my mouth.
“I… I want to live a normal life. It’s my dream to quietly do what I want to do and live happily with the people I like.”
Just in time, my mother and Youngmi’s parents came to the lobby, and we went out to have lunch.
So when I got home from lunch, the phone rang.
After answering the phone, my mother called me and handed me the receiver.
Across the handset… .
Professor Park Soo-soo’s excited voice was heard.
-Hey Jeong, the program you made.
“yes.”
-There are people who want to write the program, and you should meet them in person.
“ah… ! I saw it after the professor’s speech was over. It’s okay to share that program with other researchers. And with it, you can draw other functions besides the Riemann zeta function. I will modify the code a little and change the program so that the function expression can be entered directly.”
-ah… yes yes By the way, the person I’m talking about now… I am not a researcher.”