Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

There's a strange combination in Princeton.

That's Paul Krugman and Professor Albert-Laszlo Balabbas.

This is strange for a combination, not because of what happened between them, but because the subjects they study are generally difficult for people to understand. Even the avant-garde headmaster of Isgrub, after hearing it, gave an indescribable look and made no comment.

When it comes to the experience of two people, it's also full of surprises.

Initially because of the exchange of business cards at the dinner after an academic conference, the unexpected convergence of two people's opinions on the big proposition of where humankind is going to go in the future resulted in the brain hole of "quantitative analysis of this evolutionary process through mathematical models”.

Just two people, an economist who is passionate about natural sciences and a physicist who is passionate about sociology, are able to complement each other in their respective fields of expertise.

Although it was unfortunately not possible to pull the Ark together to study that mathematical model of predicting the future when we were in St. Petersburg, even without the help of the best mathematician in the world, the two of them have not given up their efforts in this direction.

Although so far there has been no obvious progress in the relevant research…

In a cafe near the teaching building.

As usual, the two of them sat relative to each other, enjoying their afternoon tea, and chatting about some of the most recent things that had happened.

“… for interstellar high-speed travel, relativity determines the phenomenon of temporal expansion within different coordinate systems. If you had a twin brother, one day your brother would board a spaceship and travel long distances to Alpha Civilization, while your brother would stay on Earth. When my brother returns to Earth, we will find that he is younger than his brother who stays on Earth… Is my interpretation okay? ”

Listen to Professor Krugman, Albert nodded with interest and said, "No problem… but what does it mean economically? ”

“It just doesn't mean anything, but if we swap these twin brothers for two speculative businessmen, the results will be completely different. You know, time is an important cost in business behavior, and if a trade route is less profitable than regular interest on a bank on home planet, then the flight is unprofitable. ”

“It involves a formula," a grassy line of formula written on a note, Krugman pushing it with his index finger in front of Professor Albert, “which is the starting point for everything. ”

[pE * · qE · pαpα * ≥ (C + pE · qE) · (1 + r) 2n.

Albert lifted his eyebrows voluntarily as he approached the formula on the note.

“… a strange formula. ”

“It's strange, but it contains a very important theory —— that's my first theory of interstellar trade," Krugman laughed boastfully, continuing, "In interstellar trade in the same inertial coordinate system, interest should be calculated using the interstellar inertial system clock, not the spaceship system clock. At the same time, the interest rate of Bank Earth is r, and when and only when unequal is established, the trip will not ‘lose money’. ”

Albert: “Interesting point... speaking of which, since there is a first theorem, is there a second theorem? ”

“Of course, because of trade competition, the planet with the same inertial coordinate system will gradually converge to the same interest rate, which is the second theory… But they are now all out of order, probably," The old man makes a chirping laugh, and although it is with regrettable results that his voice sounds quite pleasant, "all these theories are based on the absolute correctness of the theory of relativity, that is, we have not found a criterion for going beyond the speed of light. ”

“Now while relativity is still true, we have found a shortcut to an extraterrestrial planet… at least one that exists in theory. As time does not expand and flight time is shortened, we do not have to consider that long journeys may eliminate simple arbitrage. ”

“In fact, what I'm really trying to say is... didn't you notice? That hyperspace theory affects not only physics, but also economics. ”

When he heard that, Professor Albert fell into contemplation.

After a long time, he sighed lightly.

“You're right, advances in science bring great uncertainty to mathematical models, and even more perfect and rigorous calculations make it difficult to predict this nonlinear leap forward. Even if our mathematical model succeeds in predicting what might happen in the next hundred years, with the emergence of a 'Professor Lu' in that hundred years, we can overturn all of our predictions. ”

Krugman nodded softly.

“It is precisely this that worries me that the study of the overall changes in civilization must weaken the role of the individual in the civilizational process, but when the role of the individual cannot be ignored, the process will no longer be so objectively lawful. ”

At this point, a young man walked quickly outside the cafe.

He was wearing a grey suit and looked a little unusual, as if he had just seen or heard something incredible. The man walked straight to the two professors and said in a dreamy tone.

“Professor…”

“Good afternoon, Dr. Milson,” looked up at his assistant and Professor Krugman smiled amicably, "what gave you such a surprised look. ”

“You asked me to gather information on that Tiankuo Five alien galaxy colonial fund...”

“Any news? ”

“Yes," Kigi nodded, and the assistant hesitated for a while before saying in a difficult tone, "the fund… seems to be managed by Xiaotong. ”

“... Xiaotong? ”

Krugman stunned.

It took a while to get back to God, sitting right out of his chair, looking at his assistant incredibly, asking, “Wait, you mean... your sister? That Tong? ”

The assistant smiled bitterly.

“Yes… this is already an open matter. ”

The expression opened its mouth openly and remained silent for a while before Krugman spoke.

“I know… let's do this for now. ”

The assistant nodded and turned away.

Leaning back on the chair, Krugman pinched his eyebrows sadly.

In his plan, he was also going to find a way to get in touch with the manager of the fund, who had recently taken the lead in economics, have an afternoon cup of tea or something, exchange academic questions, and finish the topic he was thinking about.

However, now…

He really didn't expect this person to be his own student.

“I can't believe it...” Albert sitting across the street opened his mouth and stared at Professor Krugman, “It turns out... that your student is handling the fund. ”

That's $10 billion!

Not something as random as a graduation thesis!

Isn't that doubtful about Xiaotong's ability, but would a normal person give so much money to a PhD student who hasn't graduated yet?

“It does sound kind of fantastic…” Put your forefinger and thumb down on your eyebrows, and Professor Krugman's face has a slightly sophisticated look on it, "… but it does seem like something he can do. ”

In fact, Xiaotong's abilities are good and usually quite painful.

The only thing missing is probably the experience of practice.

In fact, according to his mentor, it might be better for her to start with a small assistant. It would be too risky to start such a difficult job directly...

But how?

If you don't care about hundreds of millions of gains and losses, you can ignore them.

Having such a good brother is one of her advantages...

“… Unlike the other students I have taught, she is less able to achieve balanced development between theory and applied economics, especially in places like Princeton, where it is very difficult to strike a balance between both and all. ”

Albert took a sip of coffee and asked curiously.

“Is she gifted? ”

“Not the most gifted,” Krugman shook her head, "but she probably tried her best. ”

And the starting point is much higher than the average person.

Keeping the halo of Nobel laureate's sister, even if the ark did nothing, it was only thanks to his academic prestige and his relationship with the many professors in Princeton that he was able to secure the greatest resources for her.

It's like a celebrity recommendation.

Her last name, in and of itself, is a very, very impressive letter of recommendation, and it's the kind that is common in academia and doesn't have to come out proactively.

In such a situation, even if she doesn't try, it won't be bad, let alone she is a girl who is hard-working in no way inferior to her brother...

“The future economics model is a very promising direction, and we have very little research in this area compared to other areas. And now, in a fast-growing era, the old theory is already difficult to adapt to new changes, even though it seemed very advanced at the time… just like the Interstellar Trade Theory I mentioned earlier. ”

Done, Professor Krugman goes on.

“I've learned about the topics of her recent thesis, which happens to be related to the recently burning 'Alien Colonial Fund’. It was an opportunity for her, both in applied and theoretical economics. ”

Professor Abbott: "Opportunity? ”

Krugman nodded.

“An opportunity to combine theory and application and find some kind of balance in it. ”

“The entire economics community is using the Tiankuo Five Extraterrestrial Galaxy Colonial Fund as a model for studying the future social and economic activities of human civilization and as a manager of this sample. I'm sure with her insight, it shouldn't be hard to find out what… After all, she's the closest to the 'truth' and even if I could get more information than she does. ”

“If… I mean, if she could summarize the patterns, find something different about human socioeconomic activity after hyperspace theory. ”

In the face of Professor Albert's gradual surprise, Krugman said in a tone that did not seem like a joke.

“Perhaps in her lifetime, she has real hope of touching the Nobel Prize...”