Since having the system, Lu Zhou felt his life becoming more structured. Every morning, he would carry his second-hand laptop and headed toward the library. He had never experienced this style of living before.
Sitting at the usual same spot, Lu Zhou opened his laptop and plugged his charger in the wall outlet. He contemplated for a while before typing a line of big words onto a Word document.
[The Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functions ]
[Abstract: Researched a few types of inversion problems of linear functional and linear operators when given full and part information. Introduced the basic results of optimal inversion theory. Especially the construction of the optimal construction method.]
Lu Zhou thought about this problem while lying in bed going through his notes. When their mathematics analysis professor, Professor Tang, talked about the Fourier inversion formula, he mentioned this briefly. It was one of the few unpopular but still cutting edge fields.
Lu Zhou combined some information online and drafted this question
As for how to solve this problem?
Hmm…
With his skill level, there was no way he could solve it. Therefore, he had to use some unconventional means.
If he recalled correctly, the high tech system's general points could be used to solve modern technical problems. He tried to solve Riemann's conjecture but the system did not respond. He thought that the question must be above his mathematical level or that the general points required were an insanely high number that he did not have.
For this level of difficulty, surely the system would give a response?
Lu Zhou thought about this. As he concentrated on the computer screen, he began to think, "system, system, system."
Hmm…
It seemed like there was no response.
What?
Suddenly, a warm air current flew from his back to the top of his head. Lu Zhou felt his brain getting warmer. Immediately after, a "pong" sound went off. An enormous stream of information blasted open like a sea of knowledge. This was followed by lines of text floating in front of his eyes.
[65 general points used.]
[Currently producing an optimal solution based on a mathematical level of 0…]
He did not feel any discomfort. Rather, he felt pleasure. Just as Lu Zhou wondered if he was in a dream, he woke up.
Lu Zhou looked at the white computer screen. He then looked at his hands and the keyboard before muttering with a hint of excitement.
"Solve- solved it?!"
It really solved it!!!
If he was not at the library, he would have started to cheer loudly.
Just like when he was obtaining Zhou's approximation, the entire question's core theorems were planted into his head like a piece of iron.
From steps to answers, every number, every symbol, even every full stop was in his head. It was all so concise and filled with the beauty of mathematics.
The only downside was that this type of beauty was too abstract. He needed to use language to enrich its connotation and turn it into a thesis.
A thesis that could be comprehended by others.
While thinking, Lu Zhou seemed to understand the meaning behind the high tech system.
However, he was confused as to the point of all this.
Suddenly a ballpoint pen poked his arm lightly.
"Umm, student…" said Chen Yushan with a reddened face. Embarrassed, she asked, "Can I ask you another maths question?"
Originally, she did not want to ask him. However, she had asked everyone around her and no one could solve it.
She held her head down in defeat.
Chen Yushan chose to tolerate him and decided to forget the "humiliation" that Lu Zhou had previously caused her.
Lu Zhou opened his mouth and said, "Okay, bring me the question."
Chen Yushan released a breath and quietly moved her chair next to Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou looked at the question briefly and saw that it was much more difficult than the question that she asked him the other day. It was around the same level as the question Liu Rui had asked him.
However hard it may be, it was only an advanced algebra question. For him, as long as it was a question from an exercise book, he could definitely solve it.
Lu Zhou took a pen and started to write on the draft paper.
While Lu Zhou was doing the question, Chen Yushan secretly looked at his face.
Although this guy's personality was unlikeable, his look of focus was surprisingly attractive.
Chen Yushan was bored while she waited for Lu Zhou to solve the question. She suddenly noticed the Word document on his computer screen. She asked quietly, "Student, are you doing a graduate project?"
It was already June and he still had not completed the graduate project. What a "genius"!
Lu Zhou answered, "No, that's my thesis, I'm submitting it to the scientific journal."
Hearing this, Chen Yushan was filled with respect for him.
Oh my god, I met a god!
I didn't even notice. He looks so young. How is he a PhD student?
Also, this PhD student had already started to submit to the scientific journal during the semester. Impressive!
Filled with worship, Chen Yushan asked, "Student, what do you major in?"
Lu Zhou had a poker face on while he tried to solve the question. When he heard her, he began to smile, "Uh… mathematics."
"Mathematics major, Jesus Christ! Anyone that can study mathematics is a god…" said Chen Yushan. Her worship was even more sincere than before.
She was in the business school. She did pretty well in her other subjects and the only subject she worried about was mathematics. She was about to go into the fourth year. The immense pressure from the postgraduate exams was right in front of her, making her worried about continuing her studies.
"Solved it. I wrote the thought process and steps on the paper. If you look at it for a while, you should be able to understand." said Lu Zhou. He threw the draft paper next to Chen Yushan as he said softly, "Mathematics is partly driven by talent and partly driven by hard work. It's different than other quantitative subjects. You won't understand it by having others explaining it to you."
After all, this was the library. It was unsuitable for discussion. Quiet conversations were fine, but if they kept on talking, people would start to get annoyed. Therefore, Lu Zhou stopped the conversation and gave this girl the necessary resources to figure it out herself.
Chen Yushan thanked him softly and took the draft paper. She then took out her phone and requested softly, "Umm… Student, can I get your WeChat? I still want to ask you if I'm stuck on a question."
"No problem," said Lu Zhou. He did not think much and took out his crappy Xiaomi phone to let the girl scanned his QR code.
"Thanks, I'll buy you food next time," said Chen Yushan. She blushed and thanked him again. She then moved her chair back and continued to study hard.
Suddenly, Lu Zhou had a moment of realization. He forgot to clear up a misunderstanding.
He was not a graduate student. He was just a freshman.
Although… He would be a sophomore in a few months.
If he went after her to specifically clarify this, it would seem a bit obsessive and awkward. He would have to clarify this misunderstanding next time when he had the chance.
He shook his head and put the thought in the back of his mind. His eyes continued to stare at the screen while his fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard. He started to focus on writing his thesis.
…
Although the system gave the answer based on a level zero mathematics , there was one aspect Lu Zhou was certain of. This method of solving it definitely did not come from his current knowledge. Rather, it came from the system's database of knowledge.
While writing his thesis, Lu Zhou was also writing down notes in his notebook. He listed the parts that he did not understand and wrote down a question mark on the steps that he still had doubts about.
When other people wrote theses, it was like they were squeezing water from a sponge. As for Lu Zhou, it was like pouring water into a sponge. It was not output, it was input.
Lu Zhou was in the library for the entire day. Even his lunch was the leftover bao from breakfast.
He looked at the thousands of words on his screen and the two full pages of notes on his notebook. He laid back on his chair and stretched.
"All I have to do now is to understand the parts on my notebook. I'll figure it out myself if I can. Otherwise, I'll just ask the teacher."
"Also for the parts of the thesis that are messy, I should streamline them. I'll do some researching online for steps that are already proven by other theses. After that, I can just delete the proof and label the reference."
"The last step is to double check it… Shouldn't be a big problem for me. After all, I wrote every word personally."
Technically the system wrote it, but it's the same thing.
It was getting late and his tummy started to rumble. Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and started to walk out of the library.
Should I eat barbecue on rice again? Or eat curry?
After he finished his dinner, he would go and visit Professor Tang's office. If he recalled it correctly, he should be on fourth year's classroom duty right now.
Okay, I'll decide at that!