Super God-Level Top Student
Chapter 946 - 359: I Have a Better Suggestion

Even for a historically significant, large-scale institution like the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, having a world-renowned theoretical physicist like Edward Witten is of paramount importance.

Not to mention, he is the only theoretical physicist in the world to have ever won a Fields Medal.

It can be said that wherever such a towering figure resides, the academic prestige and international reputation of that place are vastly elevated.

To put it bluntly, even in Princeton's current physics department, several top scientists are there because of Edward Witten. Additionally, many donors are willing to fund the Institute for Advanced Study precisely because of his name.

If Edward Witten were to just walk away like this, the resulting issues would undoubtedly leave the director scrambling to pieces.

Roth Dugan is also a director, so he can empathize with such feelings.

If some pillar of the School of Mathematics left in such a manner, he would probably lose his mind as well.

"Your Excellency, there's no need to get so upset. Honestly, Edward is still extremely responsible. If you carefully read his parting message, you'll see that he made quite proper arrangements for everything in this period. At the very least, there shouldn't be any major troubles. Besides, isn't it always possible to call him?" Roth Dugan quietly explained.

To be honest, he didn't fully believe his own words.

When someone leaves, issues are bound to arise to some extent.

After all, many donor-funded projects were contributed solely because of Edward Witten's reputation. For teams focused on certain theoretical problems, once the news spreads that Edward Witten has gone to Huaxia, whether they will still recognize the value of these efforts becomes an open question.

There's no helping it. For those unfamiliar with the field, they tend to place more faith in authority. And in the realm of superstring theory, Edward Witten is indisputably the highest authority.

What's most exasperating is that, as everyone knows, superstring theory is so advanced that it cannot be verified within the current technological system. It can only rely on mathematics to hold its ground. While physicists generally have decent mathematical skills, that's only to a certain extent. People like Isaac Newton are, after all, rare exceptions.

Take, for example, Albert Einstein.

Otherwise, Edward Witten would not be the only physicist in history to have received a Fields Medal.

"Responsible?" Mani Ballard cast a glance at Roth Dugan. Although he couldn't agree with this statement, it did calm him down somewhat. He took a deep breath and asked, "Let's set that aside. Roth, you must at least tell me why Edward decided to go to Huaxia."

Roth Dugan, seeing the piercing look in Mani Ballard's eyes, decided to tell the truth: "Qiao Ze wrote him a letter, proposing a novel mathematical method. It was convincing enough for Edward to believe that if the two of them worked together, they might solve the Grand Unified Theory in a short time."

Mani Ballard rubbed his chin. Although his expression remained displeased, this reason at least seemed reasonable.

"The Grand Unified Theory, huh?"

After a long pause, Mani Ballard sighed, rubbed his chin again, and said somewhat regretfully, "Why did Qiao Ze insist on finding Edward? For a mathematics problem, he should approach Peter Scholze. And Peter Schultz is only 37 years old. The two of them together would be a perfect match."

Indeed, that logic checks out. If Qiao Ze could truly invite Peter Schultz to Xilin, it would be the University of Bonn that would end up with the headache.

"This 'Grand Unified Theory' isn't the kind of mathematical unification like the Langlands Program; it's a unifying theory that connects mathematics and the four fundamental forces of physics. It should be more advanced than superstring theory. I don't know the details. While I hate to admit it, purely in terms of mathematical ability, I can't compare to those two. As for physics... um, let's not even go there."

Roth Dugan casually explained.

"Oh..." Mani Ballard said with an unmoved expression. "Then all the more reason to invite Peter Schultz. After all, problems of this level in physics likely still rely solely on mathematical approaches at this stage."

"You're absolutely right. By the way, there's a bit of bad blood between the University of Bonn and Qiao Ze. Perhaps I should send Qiao Ze an email and remind him about this." Roth Dugan said with a smile.

The grudge between Qiao Ze and the University of Bonn dates back to the first paper from the Group Wisdom project.

It might seem like a long time ago, but in fact, it was only two years back.

"That's true. Imagine two Fields Medal winners, a future Fields Medal winner, and two Nobel Prize-laureate physicists working together—it's not impossible they might solve this problem. Plus, Peter Schultz is currently in need of proving a major conjecture. Perhaps Qiao Ze could inspire him."

Mani Ballard nodded in strong agreement as he spoke.

Roth Dugan could tell that Mani Ballard was quite serious when saying this. Of course, that was a good thing—it meant he had come to terms with Edward Witten's impending departure. Now, he was thinking about how to disrupt someone else's happiness to balance his own mood.

Human nature has no logic, only patterns.

For instance, there's the Law of Conservation of Happiness. When someone experiences something unfortunate and is in a bad mood, finding out that an acquaintance has encountered something even worse can often alleviate their distress significantly—all accomplished subconsciously.

By comparison, Edward Witten is over seventy years old, while Peter Schultz hasn't even turned forty yet, which is the prime age for mathematicians to achieve great things. Theoretically, if Peter Schultz were also recruited by Xilin, the University of Bonn would suffer a far greater loss than the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.