When Chen Jingrun was studying in Huaying Middle School in Fuzhou, he heard Professor Shen Yuan tell the story of Goldbach's conjecture: "The queen of science is mathematics, the crown of mathematics is number theory, and Goldbach's conjecture is the pearl in the crown." This gave birth to the young Chen Jingrun's motivation to learn mathematics.
Chen Jingrun didn't graduate from high school, and was admitted to Xiamen University on 1950, majoring in mathematics. 1in the autumn of 953, he graduated early because of his excellent grades and was assigned to a middle school in Beijing as a middle school math teacher. Chen Jingrun is good at doing research instead of giving lectures, which makes him feel very distressed. But he is very responsible for his work, and he still insists on discussing mathematical theory while teaching. Over time, he finally broke down from overwork. When he was ill, he happened to get Professor Hua's masterpiece "On Overlapping Primes", which was like studying hard.
When Wang Yanan, the eager president of Xiamen University, came to Beijing for a meeting, the situation in Chen Jingrun was only known. After talking with Chen Jingrun, Wang Yanan thought that from the development of Chen Jingrun, it would be better to stay in Beijing to teach middle school mathematics, and it would be better to transfer him back to Xiamen University for research. Therefore, Chen Jingrun was transferred back to his alma mater through organizational procedures and arranged to be a librarian in the library, which created a quiet environment for him to gallop freely into the mathematics kingdom. It should be said that the success of Chen Jingrun's career cannot be separated from Wang Yanan's care.
Not a genius, but a "slow talent"
In the library of Xiamen University, Chen Jingrun made an in-depth study of "The Theory of Prime Numbers" and "A Guide to Number Theory", and soon wrote a paper on "Number Theory, Other People's Problems" and sent it to Professor Hua of the Institute of Mathematics of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
After reading Chen Jingrun's paper, Hua thought he had a bright future and suggested that he be transferred to Beijing Institute of Mathematics as an internship researcher. At the end of 1996, Chen Jingrun, who had written more than 40 papers, was transferred to the Academy of Sciences and began to concentrate on the study of number theory under the guidance of Professor Hua.
In the office building of China Academy of Sciences. One day, Chen Jingrun asked mathematician Lin Qun (academician): "How do you know that the determinant of order 10 must be equal to zero?" Lin Qun told him that if he worked hard, it would be 10 year. But a month later, Chen Jingrun told Lin Qun, "I calculated it, and the result is exactly zero." Not long after, Chen Jingrun asked another question, "How to find all the solutions of a ternary quintic polynomial?" Lin Qun said it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. However, about a month later, Chen Jingrun told him, "All the solutions have been found. If you don't believe me, you can solve the equations one by one. As long as you are willing to spend time. " Lin Qun thinks that Chen Jingrun is not a genius, but a "slow genius". If he is asked to answer a question at once, he will not be able to answer it. But a few days later, he answered this question more deeply than anyone else. He can turn his thoughts into laser beams and penetrate steel plates. This is Chen Jingrun's Superman.
The Birth of "Chen Theorem"
In order to further study Goldbach's conjecture, Chen Jingrun taught himself German, French, Japanese, Italian and Spanish on the basis of mastering English and Russian. He believes that mastering a foreign language is an extra pair of eyes to observe the achievements of mathematics in the world. At the same time, I have done in-depth research and hard exploration in number theory. For example, he perfected the research results of mathematicians at home and abroad, such as "integer problem in a circle", "Waring problem" and "three-dimensional divisor problem". 1966, in may, he published his proved results in the 17 issue of the bulletin of science (1+2). Professor Min Sihe, a famous mathematician, checked his manuscript with more than 200 pages and confirmed that Chen Jingrun's proof was correct. Suggest that he simplify it. Chen Jingrun sleeps only three or four hours a night day and night, which makes him vulnerable to cold and heat. The calculated manuscript paper has six sacks. Finally, the famous paper "A big even number is the sum of the products of a prime number and no more than two prime numbers" was born. The theorem in this paper is praised as "Chen Theorem" by British mathematician Haberstein and German mathematician Li Xite, and it is the glorious culmination of "screening method". This achievement has been recognized by the world and promoted the solution of Goldbach's conjecture. British mathematician praised Chen Jingrun for "pushing mountains".
"Mathematicians' time is calculated in minutes. "
Chen Jingrun is famous for its precious time. During the "Cultural Revolution", after ten years of ignorance and madness, the rebels locked him in a small room and forced him to write a check. At night, the light was dim and he was nearsighted, so he moved his stool to the table and wrote near the light of a wire only one meter long from the ceiling. The rebels in charge of guarding Chen Jingrun mistakenly thought that Chen Jingrun was going to commit suicide. When he opened the room, he saw that he was writing an inspection report under the light. He stepped forward and shouted, "Why did Chen Jingrun climb so high?" Chen Jingrun told him, because of poor eyesight, to change. The rebel side from Chen Jingrun looked at his "check". It's all formulas that he can't understand. The rebel side got angry, tore up Chen Jingrun's calculus formula and called Chen Jingrun "stubborn".
Another short story is about the meeting of his eldest brother Chen Jingtong and Chen Jingrun. Chen Jingrun lost his mother when he was young, and his eldest brother Chen Jingtong and elder sister Chen Ruizhen took good care of him, so Chen Jingtong occupied an important position in Chen Jingrun's mind. Chen Jingtong visits his younger brother every time he goes to Beijing for a meeting. Once, because I felt it was inconvenient to find my brother's residence in Zhongguancun, I asked him to meet him at his hotel. Unexpectedly, Chen Jingtong was temporarily invited by a friend to climb the Great Wall. Because of the traffic jam, he didn't come back on time, which caused Chen Jingrun to wait in the hotel for half an hour. Meanwhile, Chen Jingrun had to take out the math magazine he carried with him and read it. The two waitresses looked at the plain-dressed guest and whispered, "Look at his split leather shoes. People who wear socks of different colors can still read foreign languages ... "Just then, Chen Jingtong came back. Chen Jingrun's greeting to his brother was a rude criticism: "You wasted so much time. Do you know that my time is calculated by minutes? " Chen Jingtong knew his brother's mood very well, and quickly explained that it was traffic, not other reasons. Chen Jingrun's face turned from cloudy to sunny, and the two brothers were telling their worries affectionately.