Chapter 69
"Therefore, in terms of the conclusions of this paper, the two papers, 'Research on Quantum Resonance Tunneling Transistors Based on Toroidal Chen Insulators' and 'Preparation of quantum materials based on superconducting topology,' as well as the review published this month in Annual Reviews, are suitable supplementary reading materials. I have sent them to the public email address, and students who need them can download them themselves."
After Ji Zhixing announced the end of get out of class, as usual, students immediately lined up in front of the podium to ask Ji Zhixing for clarification.
"Professor Ji, when you were talking about miniaturization and integration of quantum devices, there was something I didn't understand. How can we effectively prepare and manipulate quantum states on terahertz quantum devices?"
"You can refer to the article 'Photoelectric testing technology and system for terahertz quantum devices' published in Nature last week, which mentions the latest progress in two types of terahertz quantum devices. Simply put, it's about achieving multiphoton entanglement at the subwavelength scale..."
Liang Cen, who was ranked second, secretly clicked his tongue in amazement while holding his notebook. It was always like this; no matter what question was asked, Ji Zhixing could always draw on a wealth of knowledge, immediately connect it to the appropriate relevant literature, and provide an answer. He really wanted to crawl into Ji Zhixing's computer and see just how much literature he had read to be able to handle things so effortlessly.
Seeing that the person before her had finished asking, Liang Cen quickly stepped forward, opened her notebook, and asked, "Teacher Ji..."
He called out "Teacher Ji" willingly, as did all the students who came to listen to his class.
At first, everyone felt a little awkward. They were all master's and doctoral students from Yenching University, but the instructors were undergraduates from Guangling University. Ji Zhixing had the achievement of solving the Navier-Stokes equations and the honor of the Fields Medal. The students from Yenching University admired him and looked up to him, but they also had their own sense of pride.
In the past, if a famous person who came to give a speech at Yenching University was just a good-for-nothing with a reputation, no matter how prestigious that person was, Yenching University students dared to question him or even boo him off the stage on the spot.
Therefore, Ji Zhixing's reputation and honors could not earn him the heartfelt respect of Yenching University students. What truly made everyone who came to listen to his lectures call him "Professor Ji" was his academic rigor, in-depth research and insight into the papers.
After spending half an hour resolving all the issues, Ji Zhixing packed up his notebook and left the classroom, only to find a young man standing hesitantly at the door. Upon closer inspection, he recognized him as Yu Zhuli.
"Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?" Ji Zhixing took the initiative to speak, firstly because he admired Yu Zhuli's choice to stay in China instead of accepting the Princeton offer, and secondly because he knew that Yu Zhuli was even more socially awkward than him, and was standing here hesitating because she didn't know how to start the conversation.
Yu Zhuli then moved closer to Ji Zhixing and said shyly, "It's just... could you please guide me on my thesis?"
Ji Zhixing waved his hands repeatedly: "It's alright, I wouldn't dare call myself 'guidance'!"
Yu Zhuli graduated with his doctorate at the age of 25 and now teaches at Yenching University; he is a true professor. Moreover, his main research area is partial differential equations. In this field, aside from the Navier-Stokes equations, who would Ji Zhixing dare to make such pronouncements on other matters?
Yu Zhuli didn't say much and simply handed over the printed paper in her hand.
Ji Zhixing took a look and realized that it really was the Navier-Stokes equation.
At the beginning of the year, he solved the Navier-Stokes equations, and recently, papers applying the general solution of the Navier-Stokes equations have been appearing one after another in major journals. Moreover, due to the limited review period, there are certainly many more papers waiting in the inboxes of editors of various journals, but this is the first one he has personally seen.
He glanced at the abstract, then looked up in surprise: "You solved clear-sky turbulence?"
Yu Zhuli nodded shyly, "Perhaps."
"Can I take it back to read?" Ji Zhixing asked, knowing he certainly wouldn't be able to finish reading it all in a short time.
Yu Zhuli nodded, opened her mouth and managed to utter a "thank you," then turned and left.
Ji Zhixing felt that compared to Yu Zhuli, he was practically a master of social graces and adept at handling all situations.
He had previously taken every opportunity to audit classes, including Yu Zhuli's. Yu Zhuli's classes were highly valuable, and his teaching style was the concise and to-the-point kind that he loved. However, he was indeed very socially awkward; he would talk incessantly at the blackboard and write non-stop from beginning to end, never giving the students in the audience a second glance.
Back in his dormitory, Ji Zhixing didn't start studying the system courses as usual, but instead opened Yu Zhuli's paper and read it carefully.
"Clear-air turbulence" is a nightmare for the aviation industry and an "invisible killer" of aircraft.
So-called "clear-sky turbulence" refers to turbulence that suddenly appears in the air when the weather is clear. It is usually caused by the convergence of cold and warm air or unstable air shear. The turbulence often exhibits vertical fluctuations with the characteristics of ocean waves.
Worse than ships encountering storms, clear-sky turbulence is caused by the meeting of air masses and is mostly cloudless, so it cannot be directly observed with the naked eye and is difficult for airborne radar to detect, thus posing a huge threat to flight safety.
For example, a flight CZ322 from Sydney to Guangzhou encountered clear-air turbulence over the Philippines. The plane was suddenly thrown up and then dropped more than ten meters, resulting in head or neck injuries to more than 20 passengers and crew members.
But this is already considered lucky.
In 1966, British Overseas Airways Flight 911 took off from Haneda International Airport in Japan. While passing over Mount Fuji, the plane suddenly experienced severe turbulence. The tail rudder and elevator broke off instantly, and the four engines under the wings detached one after another. The plane eventually crashed, killing all 124 people on board. This was due to encountering clear-air turbulence.
According to statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), clear-air turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to passengers and crew in non-fatal flight accidents. However, before the Navier-Stokes equations were solved, clear-air turbulence could only be detected and analyzed under idealized conditions, but it could not practically assist aircraft at high altitudes in timely avoidance.
Therefore, if there are no logical errors in the methodology of Yu Zhuli's paper, it would be a great thing for flight safety.
Ji Zhixing read through the paper in just over two hours, and he once again marveled at how improving his learning ability could truly enhance efficiency across the board. At the first level, this paper would have taken him a whole day to read and another four or five days to understand.
The next day, he added Yu Zhuli by the number left on the last page of the paper and sent him a message.
"In my humble opinion, the mathematical model established in the paper is impeccable, except for a unit error in the tropospheric curve. (Image)"
Soon after, Yu Zhuli replied with a very brief message: "Thank you."
Two minutes later, the message was retracted, and a new message appeared in the chat box: "Thank you!"
Ji Zhixing felt that Yu Zhuli was probably struggling with how to express her gratitude while holding her phone for those two minutes, so he didn't reply with "You're welcome." Otherwise, the socially anxious person would definitely continue to struggle with whether to reply and how to reply.
After finishing his conversation with Yu Zhuli, Ji Zhixing received a call from the director.
"Zhixing, I heard you've started classes at Yenching University?" Zhu Ren's voice sounded somewhat worried on the other end of the phone.
Ji Zhixing replied, "It's not really a class, it's just talking about papers."
Zhu Ren said with great distress, "You must not fall for this!"
"Fooled?" Ji Zhixing didn't understand. "Fooled in what way?"
"Let me tell you, Peking University will definitely tell you soon that they want to offer you a position, but I estimate that at most you'll be an assistant professor. You absolutely mustn't agree!" Zhu Ren said, slapping his thigh hard.
Since Ji Zhixing arrived in Beijing, he had been closely following his studies at Yenching University. However, Guangling University was recently undergoing an inspection by higher authorities, which was related to the allocation of funds and was of great importance. Therefore, he had been extremely busy preparing for the inspection and had neglected to keep up with news from Ji Zhixing.
Unexpectedly, after successfully sending him to the higher authorities, he heard that Yenching University's official website had launched a course reservation module for Ji Zhixing.
He immediately understood what was going on. Yenching University was also very envious of Ji Zhixing's Fields Medal status. Such an internationally renowned scholar would be of great benefit to enhancing the university's international reputation and raising its overall ranking among world universities.
However, Yenching University, as one of the top universities in the country, was naturally proud and arrogant, fearing that directly hiring Ji Zhixing would seem too obsequious. After all, Ji Zhixing only had a bachelor's degree, and Yenching University had always refused to hire external professors who were not PhDs or postdoctoral fellows.
Therefore, in order to save face, they facilitated the fait accompli of Ji Zhixing teaching at Yenching University. Next, they would definitely say that they were "recruiting talents without being bound by convention" because of Ji Zhixing's knowledge and reputation in class!
“Director, are you perhaps…” Ji Zhixing swallowed back the words “overthinking” and used a more tactful word instead, “Aren’t you overthinking it? My presentation of the paper to everyone was purely accidental.”
Zhu Ren slapped his thigh again, saying urgently, "Yenching University is just seizing this 'chance' to push things along! Even without this paper-sharing incident, they would definitely have created some other 'chance'!"
“Zhixing!” Zhu Ren softened his tone and said frankly, “It’s not that I or Guangling University want to block your path to success. It’s just that, given Yenching University’s style of doing things, they certainly won’t give you a professorship directly because of your academic qualifications. At most, you’ll be an assistant professor.”
"You know Yu Zhuli, right? He has a doctorate and high academic level, but because he didn't have overseas study experience, he only started as an assistant professor at Yenching University. How many years would it take to rise through the ranks to become a professor?"
"Do you remember our president's promise? If you're willing to stay at the university after completing your master's and doctoral studies, you'll be appointed as a professor! I suspect Yenching University knows this and is trying to secure your position as soon as possible!"
Finally, Zhu Ren expressed his concern for Ji Zhixing's study abroad experience and his hope for his early return to his alma mater, before saying that he would not delay Ji Zhixing's rest.
After hanging up the phone, Ji Zhixing stared at his phone in silence for a long time. He still felt that the director was overthinking things. That very day, however, Director Zhu came to his office in the laboratory building with the appointment letter.
Director Zhu thanked Ji Zhixing for his hard work during this period, then unfolded the letter of appointment in his hand and said, "The school has decided to make an exception and appoint you as an assistant professor. What do you think?"
"The director is truly prescient," Ji Zhixing thought to himself. He politely declined, "I'm sorry, but at this stage I still want to focus on my studies."
"You might have misunderstood. 'Assistant Professor' doesn't mean 'professor's assistant.' It's just one level below associate professor," Director Zhu explained, giving another example. "For instance, only about 3% of Chinese scholars who obtain their doctorates in the United States typically secure this position at a university there."
This example made Ji Zhixing frown. He refused Director Zhu not because of the difference in their positions, but because his current priority was still studying. He was willing to spend time explaining his papers to everyone because it would also be very beneficial for him to gain a deeper understanding of the knowledge. However, officially taking on a teaching position would definitely take up a lot of his study time.
Moreover, what can he teach students? Literature analysis? Navier-Stokes equations?
The Navier-Stokes equations have been solved, but he doesn't want to stay in his comfort zone and hopes to push his limits in new fields. For example, quantum mechanics is quite interesting.
Director Zhu tried to persuade Ji Zhixing for a while, but Ji remained unmoved. He said he would continue to talk about his thesis, but he would have to give up his teaching position.
"The experiment is about to begin, excuse me." With that, Ji Zhixing left the office and headed to the laboratory.
Director Zhu sighed as he watched Ji Zhixing's retreating figure, then went to Gao Xiao and asked him to act as a mediator.
Gao Xiao said coolly, "I won't do such a despicable thing."
"What are you saying? Is it immoral to offer him a teaching position at Yenching University?"
"Heh." Gao Xiao sneered, unscrewing the thermos and speaking slowly, "With his ability and hard work, he could easily complete a combined master's and doctoral program in less than five years. After getting his doctorate, he'll have plenty of good opportunities. Instead, we're keeping him at Peking University for over a decade before he can become a professor. Isn't that a despicable thing to do?"
Director Zhu and the school are well aware of this, but if they don't act now, the initiative will be out of their hands later.
He did some quick calculations and said, "It doesn't necessarily have to be more than ten years. We can promote someone without regard to the usual procedures."
"Come on, it would be a miracle if our school's leaders had that kind of vision and courage!" Gao Xiao mocked the leadership, then added, "Besides, would Fan Ji'an just watch Lao Yan's disciple rise so high at Yanda University? It would be strange if he didn't interfere."
Director Zhu frowned: "Oh dear, he has everything now, so why would he bother with a young man?"
"Heh." Gao Xiao rolled his eyes and said, "I won't be at ease until he's in his coffin."
Director Zhu said angrily, "Then why did you make him give a presentation on his paper to everyone? I thought you were finally thinking about the school."
"Hmph, I also want to get him to give lectures on his physics master's and doctoral dissertations at various universities."
"You're... building connections for him?"
Gao Xiao picked up his thermos and took a sip before saying, "Old Yan's disciple is just like him, lazy in social interactions. So let's just take the mass line and make everyone accept his favors."
Back then, when Yan was tripped up by Fan Ji'an, it was precisely because he was so unpopular and few people spoke up for him. Otherwise, why would he have angrily left Yenching University and moved to Guangling?
In life, it's inevitable to encounter one or two petty people. If Ji Zhixing wants to go far in academia, in addition to his own strength, his network is also very important—the future academic world will be dominated by master's and doctoral students.
Speaking of his plans, Gao Xiao proudly picked up his thermos and took another sip.
Director Zhu tried everything to persuade Gao Xiao to act as an advocate for the school, but to no avail. He complained irritably:
"You think you're so great at getting along with people? I've been sitting here for so long and you haven't even offered me a sip of water!" she said, reaching out to snatch Gao Xiao's thermos.
Gao Xiao flinched, his hand gripping the thermos: "I won't give you any."
Director Zhu glanced at him sideways: "Such a stingy person, he can't even bear to part with a sip of water."
"I'm doing this for your own good, I'm afraid you'll get diarrhea from drinking it." Gao Xiao said, taking another slurp.
What's in your stuff?
"Iced cola—"
After angering Director Zhu and leaving, Gao Xiao carried a thermos cup to the outside of the laboratory and looked inside through the window.
In the laboratory, Liang Zi pointed to the quantum gravity gradiometer and said to Ji Zhixing, "This parameter can measure the change in the gravitational pull when an atomic cloud falls..."
After a while, Ye Shi pulled Ji Zhixing over to look at the data that had just come out of the quantum resonance analyzer.
Since Ji Zhixing started presenting his papers to everyone, the subtle distance between him and the other lab members gradually disappeared.
Gao Xiao sipped his cola, turned around and left, keeping his achievements and fame hidden.
Actually, he wasn't without his own selfish motives. Although he appeared to treat all students equally, he was most worried about Deng Ji. The reason was simple: Deng Ji's talent and temperament were exactly the same as his own when he was young.
He used to be just as carefree and playful in the sea of knowledge, with Lao Yan pulling and pushing him forward. Back then, he had no good teachers but some helpful friends, while Deng Yi had good teachers but no helpful friends. It's not that the other students in the lab were bad, but they weren't the kind of helpful friends who could urge and guide him to improve.
Therefore, when he arranged for Deng Yi to pick them up at the airport, he had the intention of bringing the two of them closer. Fortunately, this idiot was blessed with good fortune; Ji Zhixing was indeed happy to help others and was willing to lend him a hand.
...
A new discussion thread has appeared in the relevant Weibo super topic.
"What has Ji Zhixing been up to lately? We haven't heard from him at all."
"He has already graduated with a bachelor's degree. Next, he will either pursue further studies or find a job."
"Didn't Hengtai Technology advertise on its official website a while ago that it was offering Ji Zhixing a high salary? He might be working in Shi Yanshi's earthquake software lab right now."
"No way! Our school's former heartthrob is in there too. The last time I saw him, his once black hair had all fallen out and his looks were gone. You can imagine how hard he works there."
"Doesn't he own Zero Gravity Company? He doesn't need to work for someone else."
"I know where he is; he's at Yenching University teaching master's and doctoral students."
"! Doesn't he have a bachelor's degree?"
"So what if I have a bachelor's degree? I just hate people like you who value academic qualifications more than knowledge."
"(In the photo) Look, they're discussing their thesis. It's happening twice a week now."
"I'm curious, I wonder how well it went."
So someone uploaded a self-recorded video, and soon a real physics student discovered this treasure trove of a video.
Laymen see the spectacle, but experts see the details. Ji Zhixing's analytical skills quickly attracted a wave of master's and doctoral students researching quantum physics.
"I really need this kind of paper analysis course! Can I audit it?"
"I need it too! I get sleepy as soon as I start reading literature, and after reading 100 articles, I'm left with a complete mess of thoughts."
"There is a reservation area on the Yenching University website, but seats are limited and only Yenching University students can make reservations."
"That's not fair! Ji Zhixing isn't even a student of Yanda University, so why should Yanda University monopolize him!"
"I strongly urge resource sharing! Reading academic papers is exhausting, and writing paragraphs is making my head spin!" (bitter.jpg)
"Exactly! I can't get into Chinese, and I can't get into English either. When I read academic papers, I feel like a hopeless person with zero language skills."
"Save the child! I've developed a disease that makes me go crazy and scream like an inflatable doll whenever I read academic papers!" (Image of an inflatable doll swaying in the wind.)
Quantum physics is inherently profound, and academic papers, due to journal space limitations, are often very concise. While it's true that condensation is the essence, this essence can be so difficult for many to digest that they end up with headaches and indigestion.
Those who struggle with reading literature are enthusiastically enrolling, and supplementary teaching materials and classes for primary and secondary school courses are springing up everywhere. However, tutors for university students, especially those specializing in master's and doctoral studies, are extremely rare. Now that such a top-notch lecturer has appeared, everyone is scrambling to enroll in his courses.
The first university to contact Yenching University was Tsinghua University, which wanted to invite Ji Zhixing to teach classes for Tsinghua University students.
Gao Xiao pressed Ji Zhixing down, telling him not to agree, until the director of the academic affairs office of Tsinghua University personally came to Ji Zhixing's door to negotiate and ask if the class could be recorded. Only then did Gao Xiao relent.
He said to Ji Zhixing, "Don't rely on Yenching University. Let's build our own independent platform. That way, you'll have control over the classes and the intellectual property rights of the courses."
"Ah..." Ji Zhixing didn't expect that a simple paper presentation could be made so complicated. "Thank you, Professor, but... won't it be too troublesome?"
He didn't want to spend too much time on trivial matters outside of academics.
"No trouble at all!" Gao Xiao waved his hand casually. "I'll contact a tech service provider for you to set up the platform. We don't need any complicated features, just the 'course videos' and 'discussion forum' modules will suffice. It'll be quick."
"In addition, I'll have Deng Yi be your assistant. He'll handle things like recording and uploading videos. You just need to focus on your thesis."
Thus, with Gao Xiao's strong support, a professional platform specifically designed for analyzing documents was quickly established.
Ji Zhixing's paper analysis course is highly regarded. Everyone who has listened to it says it's good. The number of views for each video continues to climb, and the discussion forum is also very lively. You can see professional terms such as "spintronic boson" and "multi-level magnetic trap" everywhere, which will confuse laymen at first glance.
The lectures attract not only those who struggle with reading academic papers, but also master's and doctoral students skilled in analyzing them who are eager to hear their peers' insights. This platform has become a treasure trove for master's and doctoral students across all physics disciplines, with nearly 99% of them having attended Ji Zhixing's lectures. Master's and doctoral students from other disciplines also come to learn methods for analyzing academic papers.
The platform also opened up permissions, allowing those willing to share to upload their own literature analyses. Gradually, the forum's content became increasingly diverse, expanding beyond physics to include other disciplines, and it became a must-visit website for researchers.
Ji Zhixing thus accumulated a great deal of implicit support in the academic community, and as a result, he frequently appeared in the public eye.
Every time the platform uploads a new course, many onlookers go to admire Ji Zhixing's style, and then, due to the profound content, they go crazy and return to the Weibo super topic to ramble on.
"The paper analyzed in this issue is very meaningful. The wave-particle duality mentioned by the top student is based on the two-dimensional equation that potato shreds and ginger shreds cannot coexist. It establishes a superposition state in which tomatoes are both vegetables and fruits. Based on the polarized divergence of durian smell, it can be deduced that cilantro is the source of all evil."
"I think your point of view is biased. In order to ensure that the eggs are all nonlocal mixed states laid by chickens, the survival of polar bears must be coupled with a quantum-safe protocol of one fish a day. However, the Calabash Brothers have already rescued their grandfather. This super-entangled purification model can accurately predict that it will rain tomorrow."
"I disagree. Without a medium, the only thing that can be transmitted is the coconut jelly in milk tea. Multi-particle systems, such as why mangoes have pits or fish have bones, cannot reasonably explain the quantum mass structure of the twitching left eye as good fortune and the twitching right eye as bad fortune. Moreover, Bald Qiang's hairstyle has almost perfect spatial antisymmetry."
...
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