There are roughly two types of letters sent to Chen Muwu from mathematicians around the world.
The first is praise, praising him for his significant achievements in mathematics. He wrote the letter because he wanted to further academic exchanges.
The second type is that Chen Muwu is here to cause trouble. Hilbert is not wrong, and the plan proposed by Hilbert is not wrong either. It is just a fuss made by Chen Muwu, an amateur.
But generally speaking, there are still more of the former type than the latter type in these letters.
The letters Hilbert received were also divided into two types.
One is to comfort him, saying that Mr. Hilbert has made a lot of achievements in mathematics throughout his life, and this failure does not hide his flaws and means nothing.
The other type felt confused and came to seek advice. As soon as Chen Muwu's incompleteness theorem came out, the foundation of the mathematical building fell. So where should we go in the future?
Hilbert himself felt very strange to receive so many letters suddenly.
Neither the letters to comfort him nor the letters seeking advice were understandable to him.
I obviously didn't make a mistake, but it was Chen Muwu's paper that made the mistake. Why did they all behave like this?
I am about to fight to the death, why do all my beloved ministers surrender first?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, so he asked von Neumann to send the "Transactions of the Natural Sciences" which had been mailed to Göttingen for many days.
He carefully read the complete version of Chen Muwu's paper from beginning to end, and suddenly felt a little unsure.
But the newly recruited assistant von Neumann was a low-key person. He still had a doctorate in chemistry from the Federal University of Technology in Zurich.
Although he kept saying that Hilbert's plan failed, Hilbert didn't quite believe what von Neumann said.
The postman once again delivered a batch of letters from all over the world, and Hilbert dug out one from Zurich, the capital of Switzerland.
The person who wrote the letter was his good student, Hermann Weyl.
Weyl was also a famous mathematician, and Hilbert had chosen him as the person who would inherit his legacy in the future.
If nothing unexpected happens, Hilbert thinks he will retire after working for a few more years and enjoy the leisurely life in the last few years of his life.
Before retiring, he would recommend Weyl to the University of Göttingen and ask them to invite him back from Zurich to succeed him as director of the Institute of Mathematics.
But now an accident is about to happen. I wonder if Hilbert will retire as planned under such changes, or will he retire a few years earlier or later?
Von Neumann was not recognized by Hilbert, but Weyl was still very much recognized.
It took several days for Weyl to write this letter to him, and the content in it should be his heartfelt words after careful consideration.
I don’t know if he is here to support me or to comfort me?
If Weyl thought Hilbert was right, then he, as a teacher, would have no need to worry about it.
That is to say, after more than two thousand years, human beings have developed more and more civilized.
Otherwise, an ignorant layman would create a false alarm in the mathematics world.
If this were placed in ancient Greece, Chen Muwu would definitely be fed to sharks like Hippasos.
Hilbert hurriedly opened the letter from Switzerland.
Although the wording that Weyl carefully considered for a long time was very obscure, Hilbert knew that his student also believed that Chen Muwu's incompleteness theorem overturned the grand plan that he had been seeking to establish.
Russell before him and Weyl after him both said that Hilbert's plan was impossible to realize.
He put down the letter with trembling hands, his empty eyes filled with confusion.
A second ago, Hilbert was still thinking about sending Chen Muwu to take a bath in the Aegean Sea.
But at this moment, there was only one thought in his mind, am I wrong? Am I really wrong?
Hilbert suddenly thought of the analogy that Poincaré, his old friend who died young, made after the third mathematical crisis caused by Russell's paradox was temporarily resolved.
"To prevent wolves, we fenced the sheep. But no one knows if there are any wolves inside the fence."
The wolf in Poincaré's words refers to the series of semantic paradoxes represented by Russell's paradox, while the sheep are the mathematical edifices.
The fence is an axiom system proposed by Zermelo in 1904 and reinforced and perfected by Frankl in 1922.
Yes, the ZF axiom system has solved the third mathematical crisis. The solution is not to prove that Russell's paradox is not a paradox but a paradox, but to drive away wolves, excluding the kind of set constructed in Russell's paradox. Beyond set theory.
Poor Hippasos, his body was destroyed in the sea.
Russell was slightly luckier than Hippasos. All he was wiped out was his own thinking.
Now, the wolf appears again.
The last wolf was created by Russell, and the one who created this one was Russell's student at Cambridge University, Chen Muwu.
To say that these British guys are really annoying, they can always give you a fatal blow from time to time.
Von Neumann had never seen such an expression on his teacher's face.
Confused, depressed, with a bit of unwillingness in his eyes.
"Uh, teacher, I think..."
He tried to comfort him, but he didn't know what to say.
As soon as "Transactions of the Natural Sciences" was mailed to Göttingen, von Neumann went to the library reading room to borrow this new journal.
After reading Chen Muwu's paper, he was even more convinced that the imperfection theorem was very correct and Hilbert's plan could never be realized.
These days, as an assistant, he has helped deliver countless letters to this office, which is enough to show how big a splash Chen Muwu's paper made in the mathematics world.
But von Neumann did not dare to tell the teacher about this, so he delayed it until today. Weyl's letter finally made him realize that he had made a mistake.
Hilbert waved his hand towards him, which relieved von Neumann's embarrassment.
"John, you don't have to say anything. I know what you want to say.
“What’s wrong is what’s wrong, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.
"I have achieved so many achievements in mathematics in my life. When I am about to retire, it should be harmless to make a mistake, right?
“I originally thought that I would work at the University of Göttingen for a few more years and retire in 1930 to take care of myself.
"It's just a pity that Dr. Chen's paper, which couldn't be simpler, came out of nowhere in the mathematics world and disrupted all my future plans.
"But this time he gave me new motivation and made me realize the mystery of mathematics and my own ignorance. Now I have a new research direction, which is to study my plan based on the incompleteness theorem. Make repairs.
"If this plan is not repaired, I will not retire. It is because I am unwilling to retire with regrets!"
In the original time and space, Hilbert did retire in 1930, and Gödel published a paper proposing the incompleteness theorem one year later, in 1931.
There is a time difference between the two, which is why Hilbert said the most famous sentence "We must know, we will know" (Wir müssen wissen. Wir werden wissen. We must know. We) at the retirement ceremony. will know.).
Now Chen Muwu proposed the incompleteness theorem before Hilbert retired, and the latter planned to delay his retirement.
Whether this famous saying will still appear, we don’t know.
After delivering this ambitious speech, which was like "an old man who is still in trouble but aims for a thousand miles", Hilbert turned his attention to the assistant standing in front of him.
"John."
"teacher."
"When will the task I assigned you be completed?"
Hilbert was referring to the rigorous proof that matrix mechanics and wave mechanics are mathematically equivalent.
"Probably, it will take some time."
Hilbert nodded: "Well, then hurry up and try to do it as quickly as possible. While improving the speed, you must also ensure the rigor and accuracy of the argumentation steps."
"Okay teacher, I'll do it as soon as possible."
Von Neumann felt that the request made by his teacher was somewhat nonsense.
He arrived in Göttingen, Germany not long ago from Zurich, Switzerland, how could the results be obtained so quickly?
Moreover, if the problem is so simple, how is it possible that Chen Muwu proposed quantum mechanics in 1924, but no one could prove it in 1926?
Thinking of this, von Neumann suddenly had another idea in his mind.
Chen Muwu, he can even propose the incompleteness theorem, so can he really not prove that the two calculation methods of quantum mechanics are equivalent?
Or is it because he doesn’t have time, is unwilling, or thinks it’s too simple and there’s no need to prove it?
Von Neumann immediately became full of a sense of crisis. While Chen Muwu's attention was still on mathematics, he had to hurry up on the work at hand.
Otherwise, if this delay continues, one day, another paper will be published in a British magazine. The author of the paper is still Chen Muwu, and the content is exactly his current work.
"I will do it as soon as possible!"
Unconsciously, he repeated the last words he just said loudly.
If this were in Etajima, I might get a compliment saying "You're very energetic!"
But this was Göttingen, and Hilbert just looked at von Neumann with a smile, and then explained to him unhurriedly. Why am I pressing so hard on this matter?
"John, I asked you to finish it as soon as possible because I want to win a scholarship to send you to Cambridge University in the next month or two.
"Quantum mechanics is probably the theory that Dr. Chen is most dedicated to in physics. If you can prove that the two calculation methods are equivalent, we will have a common topic with him.
"Then you go there and study and work with Dr. Chen for a period of time. Understand what the geniuses of our time are like in daily life.
“Finally, if possible, could you please invite Dr. Chen to the University of Göttingen and let him come to my place to work together to rebuild the building of mathematics.
“Professor Einstein in Berlin said in the newspaper that the German education system cannot cultivate geniuses in all subjects.
"I don't believe in this evil. I have to let this person who has obtained a degree certificate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich see what the most orthodox German education is like!
"Well, John, what I just said was not intended to offend, nor was it directed at ETH Zurich. I just disagreed with Einstein's statement. Don't take it to heart."
Hilbert transferred the anger he had suppressed after Hilbert's plan proved to be a failure to Einstein.
But after he finished cursing vigorously, he realized that the assistant in front of him was actually a school friend of Einstein.
Hilbert's last words really made von Neumann feel a little uncomfortable.
This was not because the teacher criticized the school where he graduated, but because Hilbert said that he wanted to invite Dr. Chen to the University of Göttingen to prove that German education can also cultivate all-round talents.
But does it take Chen Muwu's arrival to prove this?
The person standing in front of the teacher can do the same!
Isn’t this a bit too underestimating oneself?
But when I thought about it, it would be great if I could go to Cambridge University and meet Chen Muwu.
There should be a lot of scientific topics among young people, and maybe they can get a lot of new inspiration from Dr. Chen.
"Okay, teacher, I will definitely seize the time."
Von Neumann was also impatient.
Meanwhile, Cambridge University.
At the Cambridge Apostolic Society’s regular private gathering every Saturday, Chen Muwu once again became the focus of the gathering.
It should be said that he appears in news reports every now and then and is always the center of attention.
But Chen Muwu doesn't like to be public, and he basically never makes any lofty speeches at gatherings. He has always kept a low profile.
As he is in the news again this time, it is impossible for him to keep a low profile.
The apostles, like Rutherford and his colleagues in the Cavendish Laboratory, asked Chen Muwu to speak at the gathering about what the incompleteness theorem was.
What is different from the first two is that most of these members of the Apostolic Society are from noble families. Their families have trained them since childhood on how to become a polite gentleman.
Except for Ramsey and a few Russell and Moore students, most of the others could not understand what Chen Muwu was talking about.
But they still upheld gentlemanly etiquette and listened to these incomprehensible things with smiles on their faces.
Since the publication of the incompleteness theorem, Ramsey has long wanted to chat with Chen Muwu.
So after the speech, he got close to Chen Muwu.
Just as Ramsey was about to speak, someone came over with a wine glass to greet Chen Hongren.
"Brother Chen, hello! First time meeting me, I am Ivo Montague, a new member of the Apostolic Society who joined this year."
Ramsey, who has become a researcher at King's College, Cambridge University, added: "This is a student of King's College, and his father is Baron Swaythling II."
(End of chapter)
