For the Chinese people, the name Chen Jingrun can be described as a household name. In the difficult years when the country was still under construction, Chen Jingrun lived in a small house, and the story of the Goldbach conjecture was proved by paper and pencil against the kerosene lamp, which inspired almost every student's dream of scientific exploration.
Chen Jingrun's most talked-about mathematical achievement is to prove the "1+2" in the Goldbach conjecture.
Although this achievement is a big step forward in the proof of the conjecture, it is still far from fully confirming the conjecture. From then until his death in 1996, he was unable to complete the conclusive proof.
So Chen Jingrun, who has spent his whole life proving the Goldbach conjecture, has other mathematical achievements besides the "1+2" results?
(Chen Jingrun, who immersed himself in the Goldbach conjecture)
First, the teenager who is determined to crack the conjecture.
Chen Jingrun's love for mathematics stems from his junior high school math teacher, a 30-year-old Tsinghua graduate who is knowledgeable and gives vivid lectures. Under his influence, the teenager Chen Jingrun became more and more interested in mathematics. At that time, he taught himself the math textbook in only two weeks, which surprised the teacher and thought that he had a very high talent in mathematics. So he taught him some more difficult mathematical knowledge according to his aptitude.
Chen Jingrun's math scores in high school were even better, which also amazed Mr. Shen, who taught math. In a class, he said to Chen Jingrun: The achievements of the ancient Chinese in mathematics have far surpassed those of the West, and I hope that you will create greater achievements in mathematics in the future and win glory for the country. For example, cracking the famous Goldbach conjecture at that time pushed the cause of human mathematics to a higher level.
Teacher Shen's words deeply touched the heart of this teenager, and since then he has taken cracking goldbach conjecture as his goal.
(Old photo of Chen Jingrun)
Second, the mathematical dream of the librarian.
The Goldbach conjecture, which fascinated mathematicians, was proposed in 1742 and stated that any even number greater than 2 could be written as the sum of two prime numbers. But Goldbach, who came up with this conjecture, could not prove it, so he asked the great mathematicians of the time for help. But more than two hundred years later, it has still not been confirmed, and this conjecture has been left behind and has become a major problem in the mathematical community.
At the age of 20, Chen Jingrun graduated from Xiamen University and stayed on as an administrator of the school library. Since then, he has read a lot of books while insisting on conducting verification studies on conjectures outside of work.
By chance, he wrote a paper on his argument for conjecture and sent it to Professor Hua Luogeng, a famous mathematician at the time, hoping to receive guidance. After reading the paper, Hua Luogeng was quite appreciative of his mathematical skills and talents, and when he learned that this young man was just a librarian, he decided to transfer him to the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and let him specialize in his beloved mathematical research, so that he could make the best use of him.
In this way, Chen Jingrun went from a librarian to the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences by his own efforts. Under the guidance of Professor Hua Luogeng, Chen Jingrun was able to devote himself to the confirmation of the Goldbach conjecture.
Third, the "1+2" conjecture is a major advance.
With the guidance of Professor Hua Luogeng, Chen Jingrun's momentum to crack the Goldbach conjecture is even stronger. However, in order to obtain more foreign mathematical research dynamics that prove conjecture, it is necessary to have the ability to read foreign literature directly. So Chen Jingrun began to learn many foreign languages, and with amazing perseverance, he mastered many Chinese words such as English, Russian, French, Japanese, Italian, and Western in a very short period of time.
After that, Chen Jingrun began to immerse himself in research in a six-square-meter office of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. After more than ten Spring and Autumn Periods, in 1965, Chen Jingrun published an important paper entitled "Expressing even numbers as the sum of a prime number and a product of no more than two prime numbers", in which Chen Jingrun made a strong proof of the "1+2" in the Goh's conjecture.
The paper immediately attracted the attention of the mathematical community around the world, and his methods and views of proof were unanimously recognized. When people learned that this achievement was only done in a 6-square-meter office, independently of one person, one table and one pen, they could not help but marvel at it. Mathematicians in Britain and Germany also incorporated the paper into university textbooks, naming it "Chen's theorem."
Of course, as a famous mathematician, Chen Jingrun, who is famous for proving "1 +2", has gained a lot in other mathematical research while exploring the Goldbach conjecture.
For example, in the early days, in order to prove the Goldbach conjecture, he conducted in-depth research and major improvements on mathematical theories such as the Tarry problem, the Waring problem, the ball inner grid point, and the round inner grid point, and achieved a series of important results.
In addition, he successfully pushed the previous minimum prime number from 80 to 16. The screening method he explored has also become the most effective method, paving the way for the mathematical research of future generations.
With his contribution to the study of the Gordoch conjecture, Chen Jingrun's three words are enough to remain in the history of human mathematics forever. His spirit of fearlessness and courage to explore and willing to dedicate himself to scientific research alone should become an example for the masses of the people.
(Reference: From Goldbach to Chen Jingrun, etc.)