Chapter 902 I, Chang Haonan, Send Money

The seven difficult problems that the Clay Mathematics Institute has solved are awarded in the same way as the Nobel Prize.

If multiple people work together to solve the problem, the prize money will be divided equally among the people.

So in principle, Chang Haonan and Perelman should each receive $500,000.

In the original timeline, since the latter went into seclusion directly after completing the proof, the money was not given out in the end.

However, because the situation in this life has changed dramatically, no one can say what decision Perelman will make.

But in any case, Chang Haonan is still ready to receive the prize money.

It's not that he personally needs the $500,000 for anything -

In fact, Chang Haonan can't find any place in his daily life where he needs to spend money.

It's mainly because of a symbolic meaning.

This is the first time in history that a scholar of Chinese nationality has won such a top honor in the mathematics world.

Yes, top.

It must be admitted that the publicity campaign of the Clay Institute was very successful.

On the one hand, the seven problems they chose are indeed of high level and widely recognized by the industry.

On the other hand…

The dramatic scene of “someone won the prize almost at the same time as the award was announced” did objectively let more people know about the “Millennium Mathematical Problem”.

Therefore, this award, which has not been awarded even once, has become much more well-known than the “old-fashioned” signs such as the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize.

It was even close to the Nobel Prize.

It is said that the Norwegian Academy of Natural Sciences and Letters was also inspired by this and was preparing to use a high bonus to hit another mathematics award in 2002, the 200th anniversary of Niels Abel’s birth.

In short, for the glory of the entire Chinese mathematics community, Chang Haonan finally decided to stand up and shoulder the heavy burden of $500,000…

Of course, having said that, the final situation still depends on the results of the discussion between the two parties.

Therefore, after careful consideration for a while, he replied to the other party with a sincere email.

In the reply, he first gave a polite compliment to the Clay Mathematics Institute, then expressed his gratitude to the other party for recognizing his research results, and was willing to be the first recipient of this honor. However, he was currently in a critical stage of research on an important topic, so it was really inconvenient for him to leave Beijing, and hoped that this could be taken into consideration when designing the award ceremony.

At the end of the email, Chang Haonan also said considerately that if it was really inconvenient to award the prize in China, the prize money could be directly transferred to his account.

The ceremony and so on would be made up when it was convenient in the future.

In short, it was.

I, Chang Haonan, would transfer the money!

And almost immediately after replying to this email, he received a message from Perelman.

Or rather, an inquiry.

[Chang, you should have received the email from the Clay Mathematics Institute, so I will not repeat its content. 】

【Personally, I have no particular interest in awards and prize money, and I believe you should be the same. However, on the other hand, there is no lack of honors in the history of Russian mathematics, so I can make a decision freely, but the Chinese mathematics community may need you to step forward to accept this award, which I can understand. 】

【Considering that the work of winning the award was completed by the two of us after all, if only I refuse to accept the award, it may put you in an unfair situation. Therefore, I would like to ask your opinion on accepting the award. 】

【——Grigory Yakovlevich】

Seeing this serious and concerned email, to be honest, Chang Haonan was a little moved.

It can be seen that Perelman, a mathematician known as a "genius", really regarded him as a confidant.

"Alas..."

After a long time, Chang Haonan sighed helplessly, and then started to write a reply again...

Yuan Xiangya next to him was originally ready to see the world and see what the communication process of awarding the Millennium Mathematics Prize was like.

So after getting Chang Haonan's consent, he also came to peek at the screen.

As a result, this is the email that appeared at first glance.

It made him doubt his life a little bit -

Others dream of receiving the award, but why do you feel that it is like a hot potato to you two?

He thought to himself that if no one really wants the $1 million, it is not impossible to transfer the money to me...

...

In fact, it is obvious that there is more than one person who doubts his life because of this matter.

If Yuan Xiangya is still just complaining in his heart, then Arthur Jeff, who is preparing for the award at the Clay Mathematics Institute, is close to going crazy at this moment.

Originally, he received a reply from these two semi-missing people within half an hour of sending the email today, and he was still very happy.

The result...

Extreme joy leads to sorrow.

After opening the email, he couldn't laugh at all.

These two gods, one said that he didn't care about the form of the award, and asked him to decide directly with the other person and inform him of the result in the end.

And this other one…

said he couldn’t get away, and then just sent a card number…

Jeff was stunned.

You know, for this award ceremony, they prepared a very grand and complicated ceremony at the French Academy of Sciences, just waiting to use it to further promote their reputation.

It would be best if they could also recruit a few big guys.

Chang Haonan said he didn't want to go abroad?

In any case, it is absolutely impossible to directly transfer money.

They set up this award to promote themselves, not for charity.

Even if it is for charity, they have to meet the other party before transferring money.

Jeff didn't even know what Chang Haonan looked like, and the contact was always through email.

What if the person on the other side was not Chang Haonan himself, but a liar?

So there must be a ceremony.

In fact, according to reason, Chang Haonan's reply can be regarded as a refusal to accept the award.

After all, the awarding method is also part of the award conditions.

If you want to accept the award, you have to comply.

But some things are unreasonable.

The issue of "whether the Poincare conjecture is counted as one of the seven major mathematical problems" actually caused a lot of controversy last year-

Some of them were hyped by the sponsor Landon Clay himself.

So now the eyes of the world's spectators are eager to focus on the Clay Mathematics Institute, waiting to see if you are really ready to pay as promised.

At this time, you stand up and say that both winners refuse to accept the award?

Who would believe it?

Even a hundred mouths can't explain it clearly.

So, this award must be given out no matter what.

But there is another problem.

I can't go to Beijing just because you tell me to.

If I run to China to present the award just because of an email from Chang Haonan, it would be too embarrassing.

And it would set a bad precedent.

What if the winners who come after me also follow suit, then wouldn't their Cray Institute be kneeling to give out money?

So, we have to find a suitable excuse.

Jeff's brain began to work rapidly.

A few seconds later, he turned his head and looked at his assistant not far behind him:

"Jessica, has the International Congress of Mathematicians next year been decided where to hold it?"

Jessica thought for a moment:

"Currently, there are four choices among Beijing, Madrid, Bangalore and Seoul. The final result has not yet come out, but it is almost certain that it will be Beijing, China."

"Huh——"

Hearing this answer, Jeff finally breathed a sigh of relief.

That's easy.

Because the specific award rules have not been announced, so as long as the other contents remain unchanged, the award venue will be changed from the fixed French Academy of Sciences to the International Congress of Mathematicians——

This is not us being easy to talk to, it's just that the ICM happened to be in Beijing, don't get me wrong.

Anyway, the Fields Medal is also awarded in this way.

Thinking of this, Jeff quickly returned to the homepage of his mailbox and began to write an email to his boss, Landon Clay, explaining the cause of the situation and requesting a change in the award plan...

"Ah..."

After sending the email, the former leaned back in his chair with a sense of relief, his eyes almost out of focus, staring straight ahead.

"It's too difficult."

He said to himself:

"It's hard to make money, but why is it so hard to give money..."