Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 230 178 Hilbert refuses to admit defeat

The letters sent to Chen Muwu by mathematicians all over the world can be roughly divided into two types.

The first is to praise him for his great achievements in mathematics, and to write to him because he wants to conduct further academic exchanges.

The second is to think that Chen Muwu came to tear down the table, Hilbert was not wrong, and the plan proposed by Hilbert was not wrong, it was completely a fuss made by Chen Muwu, a layman.

But generally speaking, there are still more of the former than the latter in these letters.

The letters Hilbert received were also divided into two types.

One is consolation, saying that the old Mr. Hilbert has achieved a lot in mathematics in his life, and this time the failure is not concealed, which means nothing.

The other is feeling confused and coming to seek advice. As soon as Chen Muwu's incompleteness theorem came out, the foundation of the mathematical building collapsed. What should we do in the future?

Hilbert himself felt very strange to receive so many letters suddenly.

Neither comforting him, nor letters seeking advice, he could not understand.

I obviously didn't make a mistake, it was Chen Muwu's paper that made a mistake, why did they all behave like this?
I am about to fight to the death, why did all my lovers surrender first?
The more he pondered, the more he felt that something was wrong, so von Neumann sent the "Proceedings of the Natural Science Society" that had been mailed to Göttingen for many days.

He carefully read the complete version of Chen Muwu's thesis from beginning to end, and suddenly felt a little uncertain.

But the newly recruited assistant, von Neumann, is very soft-spoken. He is still a doctor of chemistry at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Although he kept saying that Hilbert's plan had failed, Hilbert didn't quite believe what von Neumann said.

The postman once again delivered a batch of letters from all over the world, and Hilbert dug out one that also came from Zurich, the capital of Switzerland.

The person who wrote the letter was his good student, Hermann Weyl.

Weyl was also a well-known mathematician, and he was the one chosen by Hilbert in his heart to inherit his mantle in the future.

If there were no accidents, Hilbert felt that he would retire in a few more years and enjoy the leisurely life in the last few years of his life.

Before retiring, he was going to recommend Weyl to the University of Göttingen, and let them invite him back from Zurich to succeed him as the director of the Institute of Mathematics.

But now the accident is about to come out. I don't know if Hilbert will retire according to the original plan under this kind of change, or will he advance or postpone it for a few years?
Von Neumann was not recognized by Hilbert, but Weyl was very much recognized by him.

It took Weyl several days to write this letter to him, and the contents should be thoughtful and heartfelt.

I don't know if he is here to support me, or to comfort me?
If Weyl thought Hilbert was right, then he, as a teacher, had nothing to worry about.

That is to say, after more than 2000 years, human beings have developed more and more civilized.

Otherwise, a layman who doesn't know what to do will cause a false alarm in the mathematics world.

If this was placed in ancient Greece, Chen Muwu would definitely be fed to the sharks like Hippasus.

Hilbert hurriedly opened the letter from Switzerland.

Although the wording that Weyl carefully considered for a long time was very vague, Hilbert understood that his student also believed that Chen Muwu's incompleteness theorem overturned the grand plan that he had been seeking to create all along.

There was Russell in the front and Weyl in the back. Both of them said that Hilbert's plan was impossible to realize.

He put down the letter with trembling hands, his empty eyes filled with confusion.

A second ago, Hilbert was thinking about sending Chen Muwu to take a sea bath in the Aegean Sea.

But at this second, there is only one thought in his mind, am I wrong?Am I really wrong?
Hilbert suddenly thought of his old friend who died young, Poincaré, after the third mathematical crisis caused by Russell's paradox was temporarily resolved, the analogy he made.

"To keep out the wolves, we fenced the flock of sheep. But no one knows whether there are still wolves in the fence now."

The wolf in Poincaré's words refers to the series of semantic paradoxes represented by Russell's paradox, and the flock of sheep refers to the mathematical building.

The fence is the axiom system proposed by Zermelo in 1904, and it was reinforced and perfected by Frankel in 1922.

That’s right, the ZF axiom system has solved the third mathematical crisis. The solution is not to prove that Russell’s paradox is not a paradox but a paradox, but to exclude the set constructed in Russell’s paradox from the Beyond set theory.

Poor Hippasus, his body was destroyed in the sea.

Russell was a little luckier than Hippasus, and he was eliminated only by his own thinking.

Now, the wolf, appeared again.

The last wolf was produced by Russell, but this one was produced by Russell's student at Cambridge University, Chen Muwu.

As far as the Brits are really annoying, they can always give you a killing blow every now and then.

Von Neumann had never seen such an expression on his teacher's face.

Dazed, depressed, with a little unwillingness in his eyes.

"Uh, sir, I think..."

He tried to comfort him, but didn't know what to say.

As soon as the "Proceedings of Natural Sciences" was mailed to Göttingen, von Neumann went to the library reading room to borrow this new journal.

After reading Chen Muwu's thesis, he became more convinced that the imperfection theorem is very correct, and the Hilbert plan will never be realized.

These days, as an assistant, he has helped send an unknown number of letters to this office, which is enough to show how big a splash that Chen Muwu's paper made in the mathematics world.

But von Neumann didn't dare to tell his teacher about it, so he dragged it on until today. Weyl's letter finally made him realize that he had made a mistake.

Hilbert waved his hand at him, which relieved Von Neumann's embarrassment.

"John, you don't have to say it. I know what you want to say.

"Wrong is wrong, and there is nothing embarrassing about it.

"I have achieved so many grades in mathematics in my life, and when I am about to retire, it should be harmless to make a mistake, right?
"I originally thought that I would work at the University of Göttingen for a few more years, and then retire in 1930 to take care of myself.

"It's just a pity that Dr. Chen's thesis, which couldn't be simpler, was published in the world of mathematics and disrupted all my future plans.

"However, he gave me new impetus this time, and made me realize the mystery of mathematics and my ignorance. Now I have a new research direction, which is to analyze my plan on the basis of the incompleteness theorem. Make tinkering.

"If this plan is not repaired for a day, I will not retire for a day. It is really because I am not reconciled to retiring with regrets!"

In the original time and space, Hilbert did retire in 1930, while Gödel published his paper and proposed the incompleteness theorem in 1931, one year later.

There is a time gap between the two, which is why Hilbert was able to say the most famous phrase "We must know, we will know" (Wir müssen wissen. Wir werden wissen. We must know. We will know.).

Now Chen Muwu proposed the incompleteness theorem before Hilbert retired, and the latter planned to delay his retirement.

Whether this famous saying can still appear, we don't know.

After delivering this ambitious testimonial, like "an old man with great ambitions", Hilbert turned his attention to the assistant standing in front of him.

"John."

"teacher."

"When will the task I entrusted to you be completed?"

Hilbert was referring to that, the rigorous proof that matrix mechanics and wave mechanics are mathematically equivalent.

"Probably, it will take a while."

Hilbert nodded: "Well, then you should hurry up and try to be as fast as possible. While increasing the speed, you must also ensure the rigor and accuracy of the demonstration steps."

"Good teacher, I will as soon as possible."

Von Neumann felt that the request made by his teacher was somewhat ridiculous.

It hasn't been long since he came to Göttingen, Germany from Zurich, Switzerland. How could the results come out so quickly!

Moreover, if this question is so simple, how could it be possible that Chen Muwu proposed quantum mechanics in 1924, but no one could prove it in 1926?

Thinking of this, von Neumann suddenly had another idea in his mind.

Chen Muwu, he can even propose the incompleteness theorem, so can he really prove that the two calculation methods of quantum mechanics are equivalent?

Or is it because he has no time, or is unwilling, or thinks it is too simple to prove?

Von Neumann immediately became full of a sense of crisis. While Chen Muwu's attention was still on mathematics, he had to hurry up on the task at hand.

Otherwise, if it continues like this, one day if it is not complete, another paper will be published in a British magazine. The author of the paper is still Chen Muwu, and the content is exactly his current work.

"I must as soon as possible!"

Unknowingly, he repeated the last sentence he just said aloud.

If this was in Etajima, maybe I could get a "very energetic!" compliment.

But this is Göttingen, Hilbert just looked at von Neumann with a smile, and then explained to him unhurriedly.Why is he pressing so hard on this matter.

"John, I want you to complete it as soon as possible because I want to get a scholarship to send you to Cambridge University in the next one or two months.

"Quantum mechanics should be the theory that Dr. Chen puts the most effort into in physics. If you can prove that the two calculation methods are equivalent, you will have a common topic with him.

"Then you go there to study and work with Dr. Chen for a period of time. Learn about the geniuses of our time and what kind of person they are in their daily lives.

"Finally, if possible, please see if you can invite Dr. Chen to the University of Göttingen, let him come to me, and work together to rebuild the mathematics building.

"Professor Einstein in Berlin said in a newspaper that the German education system cannot produce general geniuses.

"I don't believe in this evil, and I insist on showing this person who has obtained a degree certificate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich what the most orthodox German education looks like!

"Uh, John, I didn't intend to offend what I said just now, and it wasn't aimed at ETH Zurich. It's just that I don't agree with Einstein's statement. Don't take it to heart."

Hilbert transferred to Einstein the anger that had been suppressed in his heart after the Hilbert plan proved to fail.

But after he finished cursing happily, he realized that the assistant in front of him was actually an alumnus of Einstein.

Hilbert's last words really made von Neumann feel a little uncomfortable.

This is not because the teacher scolded the school he graduated from, but because Hilbert said that he wanted to invite Dr. Chen to the University of Göttingen to prove that German education can also cultivate all-round talents.

But does Chen Muwu have to come to prove this?
The person standing in front of the teacher can do the same!
Isn't this a little too underestimated of yourself!

But when I think about it, if I can go to Cambridge University and meet Chen Muwu, it seems to be very good.

There should be a lot of scientific topics among young people, and maybe they can get a lot of new inspiration from Dr. Chen.

"Okay, teacher, I will definitely hurry up."

Von Neumann couldn't wait any longer.

Meanwhile, Cambridge University.

At the regular private gathering of the Cambridge Apostolic Society every Saturday, Chen Muwu once again became the focus of the gathering.

It should be said that he is on the news report every three to five times, and he is always the focus person.

But Chen Muwu didn't like to make publicity, and he basically never made any big talk at parties, and he has always kept a low profile.

He was on the news again this time, so it was impossible for him to keep a low profile.

The apostles, like Rutherford and colleagues in the Cavendish laboratory, asked Chen Muwu to talk about what is called the incompleteness theorem at the party.

The difference from the previous two is that most of these members of the Apostle Club are of noble origin, and the family has cultivated them since childhood, how can they become a well-mannered gentleman.

Except for Ramsey and a few students of Russell and Moore, most of the others could not understand what Chen Muwu was talking about.

But they still uphold the gentleman's etiquette and listened to these incomprehensible things with smiles on their faces.

Since the publication of the incompleteness theorem, Ramsey has long wanted to chat with Chen Muwu.

So after the speech was over, he moved to Chen Muwu's side.

Just as Ramsey was about to speak, someone came over to greet Chen Hongren with a wine glass.

"Brother Chen, hello! It's the first time I've met you. I'm Ivo Montague, and I joined the Apostle Club this year."

Ramsey, who has become a researcher at King's College, Cambridge University, added on the sidelines: "This is a student of King's College, and his father is Baron Swaythling II."

(End of this chapter)