Inside an office at the School of Mathematical Sciences, Capital University.
Jiang Yubai was wearing a pair of reading glasses, holding the latest issue of Mathematics of Computation.
He read slowly, his eyes lingering on certain formulas from time to time.
As one of the country’s preeminent authorities in analytic number theory and arithmetic Algebraic Geometry, Jiang Yubai’s standing in the academic world was beyond question.
This was especially true of his landmark paper, "On the Local-Global Compatibility of GL2 Automorphic Representations in Cases with a Ramification Index Not Exceeding 2."
The paper had played a significant role in advancing the Langlands Program, cementing his current position in the nation’s pure mathematics community.
He was even just one step away from the title of Academician, the highest honor in Huaxia’s academic circles.
Of course, many in the field were well aware that if he hadn’t been up against Liu Ruochuan from the Yan University School of Mathematics—who was currently at the height of his fame—Jiang Yubai would have been a shoo-in for Academician this year.
KNOCK KNOCK.
A soft knock came from the door.
"Come in." Jiang Yubai didn’t look up, his gaze still fixed on Math. Comp.
A middle-aged man in his late thirties with a slightly receding hairline walked in.
"Professor."
The man approached the desk, a hint of excitement in his voice.
"We’ve heard back from the Supercomputing Center."
"The nodes we applied for are running that new algorithm at full capacity to search for non-trivial zeros. We’ve now reached the hundred-trillion scale!"
Hearing this number, Jiang Yubai finally took off his reading glasses and nodded slightly.
"Xiaozhou, keep an eye on it."
Jiang Yubai’s tone remained steady.
"It’s not enough. The project we’re currently working on needs higher-order data for support. This order of magnitude is still too low."
"Understood, Professor. I’ll stay on top of it." The man nodded, then turned and left the office.
Quiet returned to the office.
Jiang Yubai closed the copy of Math. Comp., murmuring softly to himself.
’From Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School, is he? ... What a promising kid. You’re still holding something back with this algorithm...’
「Meanwhile, inside a large tiered lecture hall at Yanjing University’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering.」
Li Dong sat right in the center of the front row, his attention fixed on the blackboard.
At the lectern, lecturing on Structural Chemistry, was Zhang Lufang, a senior professor from the School of Chemistry.
The professor was in her late sixties, nearly seventy. Her hair was gray, but she was still full of vigor.
Her lecturing style was slow but meticulous, and her handwriting on the blackboard was neat and orderly.
The students all listened attentively.
In the School of Chemistry, Mrs. Zhang had a habit known to the entire department.
She always liked to end her sentences with the phrase, "isn’t that right?"
If it had been a younger or less distinguished professor, this verbal tic would have likely become a running gag throughout the School of Chemistry long ago.
However, when it came to Professor Zhang Lufang, no one dared to make a joke of it.
It couldn’t be helped; the old professor’s seniority was simply too high.
The current dean of Yan University’s School of Chemistry had been one of her own students back in the day!
"...So, let’s look at the basic principle of the scanning tunneling microscope, or STM."
"When the tip of a metal probe approaches a sample’s surface, according to quantum mechanics, electrons will experience a tunneling effect, passing through the potential barrier."
"By detecting this weak tunneling current, we can map the atomic-level topography of the sample surface, isn’t that right?"
Li Dong nodded vigorously.
He had been grinding away at these methods for characterizing microstructures for some time.
At this point, Mrs. Zhang paused and looked at Li Dong.
Although she was getting on in years, her memory was still quite sharp. She could recognize most of the first-year students from the School of Chemistry in her audience.
But Li Dong’s face was unfamiliar to her.
"Excuse me, young man."
The old professor looked at Li Dong and asked.
"Which class are you in, from the School of Chemistry? I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. You aren’t here covering for someone at roll call, are you?"
Her tone wasn’t harsh, but Li Dong’s heart skipped a beat nonetheless.
He quickly stood up to answer.
"Hello, Teacher Zhang. I’m not covering for anyone. I’m from Yuanpei College, just sitting in on your lecture."
Hearing that he was a student from Yuanpei College who was auditing the class, Mrs. Zhang’s expression softened considerably.
"Ah, I see. In that case, please sit. Pay close attention, isn’t that right?"
For the remainder of the lecture, Mrs. Zhang covered the fundamentals of X-ray absorption spectroscopy and atomic orbitals.
RING RING RING...
Mrs. Zhang gathered her lesson plan and dismissed the class.
Students began to file out of the lecture hall.
Li Dong, however, remained in his seat.
He was mentally integrating Mrs. Zhang’s lecture on STM principles and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. He felt there was still something he didn’t quite grasp about local detection capabilities on the single-atom scale.
What he wanted to understand was how to combine synchrotron radiation X-ray technology with the quantum tunneling effect at the single-atom limit, in order to achieve elemental identification and chemical state analysis on a single-atom scale.
Seeing that Mrs. Zhang had gathered her notes and was about to leave the classroom, Li Dong quickly went after her.
"Teacher Zhang, please wait a moment!"
"I was listening to your lecture, but there are a few things I still don’t quite understand. I was hoping I could ask you about them."
Mrs. Zhang stopped and smiled, looking at this studious young man from Yuanpei.
"Oh? And what part didn’t you understand?"
However, she glanced at the students coming and going now that class was over and added:
"Why don’t you follow me to my office? We’re blocking the hallway here, isn’t that right?"
"Of course, Professor!"
Li Dong hurried to follow the professor toward the School of Chemistry’s faculty offices.
Along the way, everyone they passed—be it an old professor holding a mug or a young instructor clutching research papers—greeted the old woman respectfully the moment they saw her.
"Hello, Teacher Zhang."
"Finished with your lecture, Professor Zhang."
The old professor responded to each of them in turn.
Some of them had been her students, while others were her juniors in the field.
The two arrived at the professor’s private office.
The professor sat down and gestured to the chair opposite her.
"Have a seat. Now, tell me, what part didn’t you understand?"
Li Dong laid out the difficult problem in micro-characterization that he had been grappling with.
"Teacher Zhang, in your lecture, you spoke about using tunneling current to characterize surface topography."
"But what if... we wanted to take it a step further?"
"What if we combined synchrotron radiation X-ray technology with scanning tunneling microscopy?"
"When X-rays excite the core electrons on a sample’s surface, it produces photoelectrons or local excited states."
"Could we use the STM’s metal probe as a local detector to collect these X-ray-excited tunneling electrons, which would carry chemical information specific to that element?"
"If we could do that, couldn’t we directly analyze an element’s chemical state and characterize its molecular orbital orientation, all on a single-atom scale?"
"This would confirm not only local detection capabilities at the single-atom limit, but also that more complex structures and evolutions of chemical states do indeed exist within the atom, right?"
The office fell silent.
The old professor listened quietly, not answering right away.
She sized up the student before her.
After a good while, the old professor finally spoke.
"Young man... did you truly understand the material I covered in my lecture?"
"These concepts you’re asking about—the coupling of synchrotron radiation X-rays with the tunneling effect, the characterization of orbital orientation on a single-atom scale..."
"This isn’t basic material for a first-year Structural Chemistry course. In fact, it’s not even covered at the undergraduate level."
The professor looked at Li Dong.
"This is third- or fourth-year material, maybe even for graduate students, isn’t that right?"
Questioned like this by the professor, Li Dong could only answer truthfully.
"Teacher Zhang, I understood all the foundational knowledge you taught in class."
"It’s just that building on that foundation, I did some outside reading on my own. I’ve hit a bit of a logical snag when it comes to local detection at the single-atom limit, which is why I wanted to ask for your guidance..."
Just as Li Dong was preparing to elaborate on his thinking,
KNOCK KNOCK.
There was a knock at the office door.
Before the professor could say anything, the door was pushed open a crack.
A female student with black-rimmed glasses poked her head in.
"Teacher Zhang..."

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