Chapter 60 Xu Ming's First Academic Paper

Professor Zhang Luping's advanced analysis seminar was attended primarily by senior elite competition students. Xu Ming walked upstairs to the tiered lecture hall, and looking around, he saw that the front rows were already mostly occupied.

He found an empty seat and had just sat down when he noticed Lu Mingzhe walk in. The two exchanged only a brief glance.

Neither spoke to the other.

Soon after.

Holding a double-walled glass cup and wearing a pair of reading glasses, Zhang Luping walked from the classroom entrance to the podium.

Instantly, everyone fell silent, focusing all their attention on the lecture.

"Quite a lot of people today."

Zhang Luping put down his cup and raised his gaze, sweeping his eyes in a fan shape across the room. After locating Xu Ming's figure, he made this casual remark with a satisfied expression.

The lecture for today officially began.

"Today, we will discuss the philosophical revolution of integration theory, the Lebesgue pre-lecture, and the Weierstrass function."

...

Zhang Luping's seminar was a high-density, pure-theory intensive course. Although Xu Ming had already self-studied the entire textbook on mathematical analysis, he still dared not lose focus during the two-plus-hour class and listened intently.

From it, he gained entirely new insights.

Additionally, he noticed that Zhang Luping occasionally cast attentive glances his way.

This left him rather surprised.

He had not expected that simply scoring a full mark on the diagnostic test would draw such high regard from the Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences.

As time ticked away second by second, the class gradually drew to a close.

"The essence of analysis is not computational technique, but the art of mastering infinity through inequalities."

Almost the exact moment Zhang Luping finished his closing remarks, the class-ending bell rang out sharply, and the students stood up to leave, still looking unsatisfied and eager for more.

[Through diligent study, your [Mathematics] proficiency has increased, and you have gained 8 experience points.]

Drawn by the prompt floating before his eyes, Xu Ming glanced at it, only to hear Lu Mingzhe’s excited voice the moment he regained his focus.

"Hello, Professor Zhang."

"The brutal practical application of Dededeck cuts that you discussed in class gave me a lot of inspiration."

"I previously read your paper on 'Contractive Mappings in Complete Metric Spaces,' and today I finally have the opportunity to attend your lecture as a student."

Raising his gaze, Xu Ming saw that Zhang Luping had somehow been intercepted by Lu Mingzhe just below the podium.

Yet, just as Xu Ming expected Professor Zhang to show interest and engage in conversation with Lu Mingzhe, the professor dismissed the topic in just two sentences and walked directly toward where Xu Ming was sitting.

"I remember you, the gold medalist of this year's competition. It's quite impressive to get a full score on the diagnostic exam."

Hearing the professor's praise, Lu Mingzhe maintained a modest expression on the outside, but could hardly conceal his joy within.

However, before it could last even a few seconds, his expression instantly froze upon seeing Zhang Luping's attitude toward Xu Ming.

"Can you keep up with the pace?"

"The intensity of the advanced classes from now on won't be much lower than this lecture; we skip elementary techniques and go straight into real number theory," Zhang Luping paused in front of Xu Ming, asked in a deep voice, and then added.

Xu Ming quickly stood up and replied, "No problem."

He was not surprised at all that Zhang Luping recognized him. Leaving aside the fact that attending this lecture was required by the professor himself, he was already quite a well-known figure on the campus forum.

"You self-studied university-level knowledge over the summer break. How far have you reached?" Zhang Luping nodded and threw out a new question.

Xu Ming answered truthfully, "I have currently finished all the compulsory coursework for the freshman year."

"Oh... that's quite a fast pace."

Hearing Xu Ming's words, Zhang Luping paused briefly before getting straight to the point.

"The method you used for the last question on the diagnostic exam was extremely concise. You proved a new inequality chain for weighted Gram matrices, didn't you?"

"Let's go to my office to discuss it."

"Alright, Professor Zhang." Realization dawned on Xu Ming, and he readily and decisively agreed.

With that, he followed Zhang Luping out of the classroom and headed toward the Science Building, where the professor's offices were located.

Lu Mingzhe stood frozen in place, gazing at their retreating figures until they completely vanished from his field of vision before finally looking away.

His mind was filled with questions, and he felt utterly bewildered.

Wasn't I also a full scorer?

He could not fathom why Professor Zhang valued Xu Ming so much when they had both achieved the exact same score.

...

A short while later, Xu Ming arrived at the office. Entering right behind Zhang Luping, he immediately greeted Liu Xinjie, who was seated at a nearby desk, out of politeness.

"Senior Brother Liu."

Clearly aware that Xu Ming was coming, Liu Xinjie smiled faintly at the corners of his mouth and nodded in acknowledgment.

There was no further conversation.

For the next moments, Xu Ming accepted a draft sheet from Zhang Luping, sat down directly, and began writing out his proof process.

After completing the formulaic steps, he handed the paper over for guidance.

"Professor Zhang."

"This is my proof for the new weighted Gram matrix inequality."

Having seen the problem-solving steps earlier, Zhang Luping was already quite intrigued. Now that he had the complete process, he was naturally delighted. Eager to know whether Xu Ming had genuinely succeeded in his proof, he leaned right over his desk and began carefully calculating and verifying it.

At first, his expression was relatively calm, but soon enough, a visible look of pleasant surprise welled up on his face.

Finally, he stopped writing, immediately looked up at Xu Ming, and offered his praise without the slightest hesitation.

"The proof process is very rigorous. You have indeed derived a new inequality chain for weighted Gram matrices, which can solve certain problems more accurately and simply."

"It holds no small significance, especially in the field of numerical analysis."

"I suggest you write it up and submit it for publication. The quality is easily high enough for an SCI-indexed paper in the field of mathematical analysis."

Xu Ming was certainly confident in his proof steps, but he was somewhat surprised to hear that it could be published as a paper.

After all, his primary plan for this stage was still to focus on studying mathematical knowledge.

He had not expected that a concept he tried proving simply for academic experience points could yield an SCI-indexed paper in mathematical analysis.

It was a pleasant surprise indeed.

As he was quietly pondering this, Zhang Luping's gentle voice sounded beside his ear once more.

"Sooner or later, you all have to write papers anyway. Consider this a practice run. If there is anything you don't understand, you can come and ask me or your Senior Brother Liu. Besides, the department also provides a bonus for publishing an SCI paper."

"You can skip the school's educational training week."

"Also, since you've already self-studied the compulsory freshman curriculum, if you have enough confidence in yourself, you can take the specialized midterm exam. If you pass, the department will allow you to attend classes with the sophomore advanced students."

Hearing this, Xu Ming could find no reason to refuse. Besides, it wasn't his first time writing a paper.

His mind operated swiftly as he nodded and said, "I understand, Professor Zhang."

Although Liu Xinjie appeared to be busy with his own work, his attention was actually fixed entirely on Xu Ming and his advisor. Hearing that Xu Ming had proven a formula worthy of publication as a paper, his jaw dropped open in utter astonishment.

For his fellow graduate students, publishing an SCI paper might be a perfectly normal matter.

However, he knew that Xu Ming had only enrolled very recently.

Therefore, the moment Xu Ming left, Liu Xinjie voiced the doubt in his mind to his advisor.

"Advisor."

"Isn't it a bit too early to let Xu Ming try writing a paper now?"

"Have you forgotten what kind of place this is? Peking University's School of Mathematical Sciences has never lacked mathematical geniuses." Hearing this, Zhang Luping glanced sideways at Liu Xinjie and dropped those words.