My Study Chat Group is Full of Real Big Shots

Princeton University.

Nicholas Katz’s office was at the end of the fourth-floor hallway.

As one of the core members of the *Mathematical Annals* editorial board, he faced dozens of submissions from all over the world every day.

For the vast majority, he only needed to glance at the abstract to determine whether a paper was worth a full review.

It was an instinct honed over decades of reviewing manuscripts.

But today, something was weighing on his mind.

Katz had taken notice of the young man back when Li Dong’s paper on the dimensionality reduction algorithm for the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann ζ-function was published in *Mathematics Computing*.

In that paper, Li Dong had used a dimensionality reduction strategy involving Chebyshev interpolation and non-linear FFT grid expansion to single-handedly boost the computational efficiency of finding non-trivial zeros by several orders of magnitude.

This had greatly interested Katz.

After all, Katz himself was one of the pioneers who first established the link between random matrix theory and the distribution of the Riemann ζ-function’s zeros.

So when a young man showed such astonishing acceleration on this very track, Katz couldn’t possibly remain indifferent.

Katz had originally planned to attend the ICCM in Shanghai himself.

He had even booked his plane ticket in advance.

But some last-minute administrative matters had come up at Princeton, and he simply couldn’t get away.

However, he was still keeping close tabs on the developments at the ICCM.

Several Princeton professors he was on good terms with had gone to Shanghai, and they were constantly sending him real-time updates and videos from the conference.

When Li Dong’s 45-minute invited talk began, Katz was watching it on his phone almost in real time.

In the video, the young man stood before a whiteboard, casually sketching a complex plane. Then, using the Riemann explicit formula as the core, he seamlessly linked together the fine estimation of the prime number theorem, the Fourier optimization framework, and the convergence logic of Chebyshev interpolation...

Katz was completely engrossed.

’This logical chain... It’s beautiful.’

Li Dong’s approach to reducing the dimensionality when dealing with high-frequency oscillating remainder terms resonated in a subtle way with some of Katz’s own underlying intuitions from his research on random matrices!

This gave Katz a very peculiar feeling.

It was as if he were looking into an unfamiliar mirror and vaguely seeing another version of himself, walking the same path but using entirely different tools.

However...

When the video reached the end of the Q&A session, Professor Bombelli stood up and asked that question about Montgomery’s Conjecture on Association.

Li Dong said those words.

"Then please be so kind as to tell the editors of the *Mathematical Annals* to reject my paper."

’This young man... ’

Katz acknowledged that Li Dong’s academic abilities were truly stunning. He held the rigorous logic and elegant thinking of that presentation in high regard.

But weren’t those words a bit too arrogant?

Of course, Katz didn’t take it too much to heart.

Or rather, no one on the editorial board, from top to bottom, would get truly angry over such a statement.

Every year, similar comments trying to ride the coattails of the *Mathematical Annals* would pop up.

Things like, "I submitted to the *Annals* and was rejected, but my paper is a work of genius," or, "The *Annals* isn’t worthy of my research."

There were plenty of people like that on social media and academic forums. The editors were used to it.

It was just that, in the past, the ones making these statements were generally not well-known scholars.

But this time, it was said in public by a young man who was the first author of a paper in *Mathematics Computing* and had just given an invited talk at the ICCM.

The impact was greater than before, that was all.

But still... it left a bad taste in his mouth.

’Since you asked for it to be rejected...’

’I’m going to see for myself just how good this paper of yours really is.’

The paper had already been returned to the editorial office via Professor Bombelli, and the editor had already invited peer reviewers according to procedure.

And Katz, naturally, was one of those external reviewers.

He opened his work email.

He clicked open "Proof of Montgomery’s Conjecture on Association in the Interval |α|∈[0, 4]".

And began to read...

However, a mere five minutes later...

He got up, closed his office door, and hung a small sign on the outside that read, "Do Not Disturb."

Then he returned to his seat and set his phone to silent mode.

...

「At the same time.」

Similar scenes were playing out in many other places.

Li Dong had posted his paper on Montgomery’s Conjecture to arXiv.

And arXiv had no barrier to entry.

Anyone could download it for free.

And so...

On X, MathOverflow, and various major mathematics forums, discussions laced with sour grapes and skepticism quickly began to surface:

"He actually posted it on arXiv? I thought his rejecting the *Mathematical Annals* at the ICCM was just a bluff to save face."

"Pushing the theoretical limit straight to 4? That’s some serious bragging!"

"No one has been able to cross the boundary of 1 for half a century, and some freshman claims he just pushed right past it?"

"Heh, let’s all take a look at this masterpiece from the Yan University undergraduate."

"He won’t even disclose his core algorithm for calculating the zeros. I bet this paper is full of logical black boxes and forced leaps in reasoning."

"It’s probably just another number-fitting game disguised in the cloak of Functional Analysis. He’s likely avoiding the *Mathematical Annals* because he knows it would never pass peer review, right?"

Many people clicked on it, either looking for some drama or with the express purpose of debunking it.

And then...

Those who could understand it discovered that the paper’s overarching logic was, in fact, completely self-consistent.

The theoretical boundary that had stumped the academic world for half a century was pushed, inch by inch, under Li Dong’s Fourier optimization framework, all the way to the position of |α|=4.

And so, they fell silent...

As for those who couldn’t understand it, while they couldn’t decipher the fine-grained scaling of the high-order remainder terms, they could understand the reactions of their peers.

When the big shots in the field—the ones who were usually the most venomous with their words and the harshest with their reviews—all went silent at once...

It meant that something big was about to happen in the world of mathematics...

...

Shanghai, East Suburb Hotel.

Li Dong had just woken up in the morning when his phone rang.

It was his uncle, Li Yang.

"Xiaodong."

Li Yang’s voice on the other end was loud, but his tone held a rare note of restraint.

"I’m in Shanghai too. Just came from the Huaxuan Technology headquarters. Have you eaten? How about we grab a meal together?"

Li Dong was taken aback.

’My uncle came to Shanghai? And he went to the Huaxuan Headquarters?’

"Sure, Uncle. Where are you? I’ll come find you."

After quickly washing up, Li Dong headed out.

The two met up near the East Suburb Hotel and found a small, clean-looking restaurant where they ordered a few dishes.

Li Dong noticed that his uncle’s expression was a little off.

Li Yang sat opposite him, not saying a word.

This wasn’t like him.

Normally, Li Yang was famously talkative.

When drinking with clients, he could talk about everything from the creation of the universe to quantum mechanics... er, though he didn’t know a single thing about quantum mechanics, that never stopped him from spouting nonsense.

Li Dong smiled and broke the silence.

"Uncle, what’s wrong?"

Li Yang seemed to want to say something but hesitated, then finally spoke.

"Xiaodong, I just went to the Huaxuan Headquarters and met their Director Lin."

"Mhm." Li Dong nodded, not interrupting.

Li Yang put down his teacup.

"Director Lin spoke with me for quite a while. First, he asked about my factory, and then he said..."

"He said that Huaxuan Technology has a technical training system for its core supply chain partners, and he asked if I was interested in participating."

Li Dong raised an eyebrow.

’A technical training system for core supply chain partners?’

For a high-tech company of Huaxuan Technology’s caliber, its supply chain was stratified.

The outermost layer consisted of ordinary contract manufacturers doing the most basic rough processing work. Their profits were low, they were easily replaceable—to put it bluntly, they were just turning screws.

The core supply chain, however, was completely different.

The companies within it were required to be deeply involved in the technological roadmaps of Huaxuan Technology and even its parent company, the National Power Equipment Group.

For companies that entered the core supply chain system, Huaxuan Technology would regularly organize high-level technical training. This helped these partners improve their precision machining capabilities and quality control systems, aligning their technical standards with Huaxuan Technology’s needs.

To put it simply, this was Huaxuan Technology cultivating its own people.

And once inside this system, a company was no longer a peripheral supplier that could be replaced at any time.

The stability of orders, profit margins, and technical barriers would all rise by several levels.

But the problem was...

His uncle Li Yang’s factory, despite developing well over the past two years with support from Chengfu Precision, was still, at the end of the day, just making basic, rough-processed metal parts.

It wasn’t technologically advanced and was a million miles away from the standards of Huaxuan Technology’s "core supply chain."

Li Dong understood in an instant.

This was Huaxuan Technology’s way of showing its sincerity.

During their previous meeting at Yan University, Lin Wei had offered him a special consultant fee of 5 million a year, plus a 100-million bonus after the algorithm’s implementation, to join the extreme ultraviolet light source task force.

But now Li Dong’s algorithm had been iterated on...

Those terms no longer seemed sufficient.

Now Lin Wei was taking the initiative to look after his uncle’s business.

He was clearly telling Li Dong something.

’We’ll take good care of the people around you, too.’

’This Lin Wei... he really knows how to get things done.’

"So you agreed?" Li Dong asked.

Li Yang shook his head.

"I told Director Lin that I had to think about it."

After saying this, he looked at Li Dong very seriously.

"Xiaodong, is there something Huaxuan Technology wants from you?"

Li Dong nodded, not denying it.

Li Yang was silent for a moment.

Then he took a deep breath, his tone calm but firm.

"Then I’ll turn Director Lin down."

"I’ve earned enough money anyway."

"Xiaodong, don’t feel like you have to do anything on my account..."

Li Dong cut him off with a smile.

"It’s fine, Uncle. You can go ahead and accept his offer."

"I’ve already made my decision."

Seeing that Li Dong wasn’t joking, Li Yang finally nodded.

He also breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

After all, who wouldn’t want a chance to climb higher?

He wasn’t a saint; he had his own selfish desires.

It was just that, in front of his nephew, his bottom line was that he could never allow himself to become a burden.

"Alright! Then I’ll call Director Lin back tomorrow!"

Li Yang’s tone instantly lightened up.

He picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of braised pork, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Come on, come on! Eat, eat! The braised pork at this place is pretty good. Not any worse than your mom’s."

Li Dong laughed too, picking up some food with his chopsticks and putting it in his mouth.

The two of them ate, talking and laughing, the atmosphere much more relaxed than before.

Halfway through the meal, Li Yang suddenly remembered something, put down his chopsticks, and asked.

"By the way, Xiaodong, how was that academic conference you came to Shanghai for today?"

Li Dong replied while eating.

"It was good. I gave a presentation. It went smoothly."

Just then, Li Dong’s phone rang again. It was an unknown international number.