From university academician to chief academician

Hong Kong, Central, in a business building!

Li Xiansheng sat down at his office seat early in the morning with a cup of coffee.

He is a master's student in the Department of Mathematics at Xiangjiang University. After graduation, he did not engage in mathematics work, but became a review editor for new advances in mathematics at Springer Company.

New Advances in Mathematics belongs to Springer, whose Asian headquarters is in Hong Kong.

All submissions from the Asian academic circle will enter the review department of Springer Xiangjiang Asia Headquarters.

In this age of involution, being a review editor is also a great and easy job.

And Springer is a world-renowned scientific journal and book publishing company.

Working here, the salary is very good.

Li Xiansheng opened his work email and read a dozen papers.

For some papers that he can understand, or papers that are obviously written blindly and have no logical logic, they will be rejected directly.

Of course, he is the first review editor, and papers he fails will be reviewed by the second review editor. If the second review editor still fails, the paper will be reviewed by the third review editor.

If all three fail, the paper will fail.

As long as there is a paper that one of the review editors cannot understand and finds the paper interesting, it will be reviewed by professionals within the company.

Professionals still have three people review each paper.

If it is reviewed by professionals, no one of the three people can understand it before the paper is sent to the mathematician.

Before being sent to mathematicians for review, company professionals will grade the paper into four levels of difficulty.

Level 1 is a heavyweight mathematical conjecture, or problem.

Level 2 is an intermediate mathematical conjecture, or problem.

Level 3 is general mathematical conjectures, or problems.

Springer has a very good relationship with Princeton University.

The first level will be given to internationally renowned mathematicians from Princeton University, such as some Fields Medal winners.

Level 2 will be shown to a Princeton University mathematics professor.

Level 3 will be shown to associate professors.

"Huh?" Li Xiansheng frowned slightly: "Singular cardinal numbers? Ye Fei?"

"Is it the Ye Fei on Arxiv?"

He also pays attention to Arxiv and Stack Exchange, and also saw Ye Fei.

But he usually pays attention to popular areas, such as number theory, algebra, geometry, topology...

Set theory belongs to mathematical logic. Mathematical logic is a relatively unpopular category, and set theory is even less popular.

Of course, being unpopular doesn't mean it's unimportant.

Set theory is the basis of all modern mathematics and it applies to all categories of mathematics.

Precisely because set theory was not popular, Li Xiansheng only glanced at Ye Fei and knew his name.

As for Ye Fei's details, he didn't know.

"He proved the singular cardinal numbers?" Li Xiansheng was surprised: "This man is so bold that he went to prove the singular cardinal numbers."

As he spoke, he opened the paper and read it.

Half an hour later, he shook his head and said, "I don't understand."

He is not discouraged. In the past few years as a review editor, he has seen too many papers that he cannot understand.

It's normal not to understand, but it's abnormal to understand.

If he could understand it, he wouldn't be a review editor, but a mathematician.

He sent the paper to company professionals. Half a month later, the company professionals rated the paper as a heavyweight conjecture and passed it on to Princeton professor and Fields Medal winner Andrei Okunkov.

Half a month later, the review was approved!

At this time, Ye Fei was sitting in the library, reading documents.

He is now studying for a Ph.D., and besides attending classes, he usually reads the literature given to him by his tutor.

There is a big difference between doctoral students, undergraduate students, and master's students, that is, there are very few courses, only three or four classes a week.

Therefore, if doctoral students want to study well, they must learn to study by themselves.

To learn something through self-study, you need to read a lot of literature.

"Ding..." At this time, an email reminder sounded on his phone.

He opened it and looked at it, and said in surprise: "The review has passed."

He packed his things, picked up his schoolbag, and walked quickly to the Academic Affairs Office.

"I don't know how much money the school can give me. New Advances in Mathematics is one of the four top journals in mathematics. It's only weaker than Nature and Science. I should give it at least two hundred thousand!"

Nature and science is more than half a million.

Soon, he arrived at the Academic Affairs Office.

"Ye Fei!" The dean's heart skipped a beat when he saw Ye Fei.

The God of Wealth is here again asking for money.

Every time he sees Ye Fei now, it's like seeing money.

But the school still has to spend the money with a smile.

The dean of academic affairs stood up and approached him, smiling and saying: "Ye Fei, have you sent out the paper again? Show me the email, and I will ask the finance department to send you the money tomorrow."

"Hey..." the dean of academic affairs said helplessly: "Next time when people don't come, just send me a text message. It's only 20,000 yuan. How can the school miss you?"

"Director, my people must come this time, but this time it is not 20,000."

Ye Fei said, taking out his phone and opening the email.

The dean of academic affairs took Ye Fei's cell phone and asked with a smile: "It's not 20,000? How much more could it be?"

As he spoke, he looked down, and then he asked doubtfully: "New developments in mathematics? Didn't you submit them to International Mathematical Analysis before? What journal is this new developments in mathematics?"

He is not a mathematician, so he doesn’t know the four top mathematics journals.

Maybe you’ve heard it before but forgotten it.

"Director, you are right, this is the top issue." Ye Feidao.

"The top issue?" The director's hand shook and he almost threw the phone away. He looked at Ye Fei in surprise and said, "You mean the top issue?"

He knew the meaning of a top journal, whether it was a top journal in mathematics, a top journal in physics, or a top journal in medicine.

As long as it has the word "top journal", it is the top journal in all fields of scientific research, only one level behind Nature and Science.

"wait!"

After the director finished speaking, he called the dean of the School of Mathematics and Ye Fei's tutor Lu Yishan and called them over.

He is not from the mathematics circle, so it is hard to tell how much the paper will cost if it involves new advances in mathematics.

Also, this matter was of great significance. He had to let the Dean of the School of Mathematics and Professor Lu Yishan know about it.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived, listened to what the director said, and read the emails on Ye Fei's phone.

The two looked at Ye Fei in surprise.

Lu Yishan said: "Is your paper the one that proves singular cardinal numbers?"

"Yes!" Ye Fei nodded.

"Oh My God!"

Lu Yishan's mind was in chaos, and everything felt unreal, like a dream.

At that time, he thought that Ye Fei would not succeed, but he did not expect that he would succeed.

At that time, he went to comfort Ye Fei. It didn't matter if he didn't succeed. Thinking about it now, he felt a little embarrassed.

The dean said excitedly: "Haha... new progress in mathematics, proving singular cardinal numbers."

"Hahaha……"

He was so excited. Ye Fei is now a Ph.D. student in mathematics at the school. The higher Ye Fei's achievements are, the more benefits the college will gain, and as the dean of the college, he will also gain benefits.

The key is that now Ye Fei is studying for a Ph.D. and has obtained these benefits while in school. Then the college will receive more benefits, and he will receive more benefits.

The dean excitedly grabbed Ye Fei's hand and said, "Ye Fei, you are a genius, a mathematical genius. The college is so lucky to have you!"

"This matter needs to be well publicized, and the entire school must know about it. No, all 985 universities must know about it."

The dean of academic affairs looked at the excitement of the two people, and he understood it very well.

If a genius like Ye Fei emerges from the School of Mathematics, he will gain a lot of benefits.

Whether it is the school, the province, or the country, there is great support.

If a heavyweight mathematician is cultivated, the benefits will be huge. The school of mathematics may even skyrocket, and the school will also receive many benefits.

Ye Feidao: "Um...how much can I get for this paper?"

The dean smiled and said, "You can tell me a number yourself. As long as it's within 500,000, I'll give you as much as you say."

Lu Yishan smiled and said: "Ye Fei, you can't lower your offer. Your thesis school should at least give you more than 400,000 yuan."

He was afraid that Ye Fei would say the number was low, so he just gave him a number that seemed reasonable to him.

"Four hundred thousand?" Ye Fei's eyes widened in surprise. He thought he could only give him two hundred thousand. It seemed that poverty limited his imagination.

"This old boy!" the director on the side said with a dumbfounded voice: "If the finance department finds out about this, I will scold you to death."

The price of 400,000 yuan is already very high. Generally, if a paper enters the top journal, it will cost 300,000 yuan.

Lu Yishan said: "You have proved the singular cardinal number. You have proved a problem that has not been solved for 149 years. It is of great significance. Four hundred thousand is very reasonable."

The dean smiled and said: "Ye Fei, you can say it yourself. You can give as much as you want. I will talk to the principal in person and I will definitely let him give it."

Four hundred thousand is not a small amount. The dean of academic affairs cannot make the decision. The principal must make the decision.

"Then four hundred thousand!" Ye Fei said.

He himself felt very uneasy when he told this number.

This is not 40,000, but 400,000. In Dune City, I can pay the down payment for a house in the urban area.

Things went smoothly after that, and the dean went to talk to the principal in person.

After the principal learned about this, he discussed it with several mathematics professors from the School of Mathematics.

He did not know the significance of entering into new developments in mathematics and proving singular cardinal numbers.

After half a day of discussion, he finally figured out the meaning, and then approved the reward of 400,000 yuan.