The Evolution of Genius: Every Night, I Get Smarter!-Chapter 73: Interesting

The banquet was not the most interesting event I’ve attended. The mathematician conversations weren’t engaging for me, at least not at that level.

However, I met a person at the banquet with whom the conversation took a slightly different turn.

She was a woman around 30 years old. What stood out about her was her hair, which was lightly tinted green at the ends.

She approached me on her own while I was talking to Terence Tao and greeted me, "Good Evening, Professor Sullivan, Professor Tao."

We turned our heads to her and welcomed her.

She then said, "My name is Lilian Veri. Mr. Sullivan, I have heard that you’ve been doing research in Quantum Physics."

"That’s true. Have you read my papers?"

"Yes. I have. And I must say, I’m very interested. Do you have a moment to talk about gravity?" she smiled.

My eyes opened slightly wider.

"I don’t know how you knew, but I’ve recently started focusing precisely on gravity."

Professor Tao looked at us and said, "I’ll leave you alone. Wishing you an effective conversation," he smiled and approached other mathematicians in the room.

After Professor Tao left, Lilian continued the conversation, saying, "You know, I’ve been conducting my own research, and I’m starting to think that gravity might not have much to do with the Quantum World."

I nodded in agreement, adding, "Theoretically, none of the known particles seem to be directly connected to gravity. In fact, I recently wrote a theoretical paper on Aetherons."

Lilian interrupted, saying, "Oh, I read that! I definitely agree. It would make sense if..." She paused, thinking for a moment, then continued, "If Aetheron field filled up the space between quarks, influencing their interaction."

I responded, "Exactly. However, in the Aetheron theory, mass doesn’t directly influence the field. If it did, we would be able to detect deficits or overflows of Aetherons, and so far, there’s no evidence of Aetherons being a thing. That’s why I’ve been entertaining a different idea lately. I’m exploring a theory where gravity has something to do with stability."

Lilian raised an eyebrow. She looked sort of shocked? Or maybe intrigued? she asked, "Stability? How does that work?"

I responded, "In this stability theory I’ve been exploring, the idea is that a huge mass creates a sort of stability in the time continuum. It becomes harder to change, and harder to influence. It’s as if all objects tend to absolute stability, seeking to be connected in time with these big, stable masses."

Lilian pondered for a moment and then said, "So, it’s like objects want to synchronize their time with the larger masses, and that’s what we perceive as gravity?"

"Not exactly," I replied. "My idea is that gravity is the tendency for objects to align their probabilities of existence in a way that ensures stability as time passes."

This theory wasn’t something I learned from the second layer of quantum physics. I only learned about how mass influences time. However, as I studied this, the thought came back to my mind that The Lord was able to notice unlikely events.

Lilian asked, "Are you suggesting that you believe the world is a simulation, then?"

"No, I wouldn’t go as far as saying the world is a simulation. My perspective is more inclined towards the idea that at its smallest scale, the world is inherently random. However, everything seems to have this innate desire to escape that state of randomness, seeking stability and order."

Lilian smiled and then smirked, "Aren’t people like that too? Don’t we seek stability?"

Lilian responded, "I really enjoy talking to you. Maybe we should meet up some other time and talk Quantum?"

"Sure, sounds like a plan. Do you want my number?"

She smiled, "No need. I’ll email you on your work email."

And with that, our conversation ended.

Oliv appeared to be engaged in conversation with a couple of younger mathematicians while I was talking to Lilian.

I spent the rest of the night talking with Olivia about where she would like to travel after her semester ends.

When the banquet concluded, we returned to our room with Olivia, and we had a very restful night’s sleep. Perhaps it was almost too good.

The following day, after our too-great of a night, I gave a lecture at Oslo University. It was a half-open lecture, meaning it wasn’t just attended by professors; doctoral students were also allowed to join and observe.

The topic of my lecture was p-adic Analysis, presented at a high level. Teaching this subject to even doctoral students is quite rare among professors, so I believed it would be interesting for those attending.

The lecture lasted for about 4 hours, including breaks, but they had requested a lengthy session, so I made sure to fulfill that request.

Following some evening snacks, the Abel Prize ceremony concluded.

Afterward, Oliv and I packed up and headed to Frankfurt, Germany, to visit the Fusion Engine.

Professor Hayes extended an invitation to her house, so that would be an opportunity to enjoy some quality time.

Upon our arrival in Frankfurt, we were driven directly to the location where the fusion engine was being built.

When we got there, I was extremely shocked. It had evolved beyond just the fundamentals; it was now an almost ready inertial confinement fusion engine facility.

Professor Hayes was waiting on the site of the massive project herself.

Together with Olivia, we stepped out of the car. This time, I wasn’t in a suit; I was dressed casually, and so was Olivia.

"Max! Welcome back," Professor Hayes approached me and extended her hand. She was dressed in work clothes, so I automatically assumed we might need to change into similar attire.

Olivia walked around the back of the car, and Professor Hayes addressed her, "And you must be Olivia! Max has told me about you. Welcome!"

After the welcomes, we made our way towards the massive agglomeration. The laser ignition inertial confinement fusion facility loomed before us.

At the entrance, just as I anticipated, Olivia and I donned work attire with metallic boots and entered the building.

As we walked through the laser ignition inertial confinement fusion facility, impressive machinery surrounded us.

Engineers in specialized suits, much like ours, were meticulously checking, repairing, and occasionally applying heat to sections of the metallic exterior.

Professor Hayes led us to the core chamber where the fusion reaction would place. I designed a lattice of mirrors and lenses to precisely focus the laser beams onto the center and it seemed like they executed it perfectly.

We passed by control panels with complex interfaces, displaying data streams and calculations.

On the way, Professor Hayes invited someone to join us. He was the lead engineer Mark Boss.

He started explaining, "Once we have the additional lasers and complete the installation of the final components, we’ll be ready to initiate the fusion reactions. The monopole compound is a critical element for the lasers, but its limited production has been a bottleneck. We’re working on scaling up the production to meet the demand."

Sparks occasionally flew as the engineers performed welds or made adjustments to the machinery.

"I need to say this is some incredible progress you have made.", I said.

As we ventured deeper into the facility, the scale and complexity of the fusion engine became even more apparent.

It must have been the quickest to-be-build facility of this size ever. Even the Chinese couldn’t do it at this pace.

After touring the entire building, we stepped outside, and Professor Hayes explained more about the surrounding infrastructure of the facility.

I was truly pleased with the work my employees had accomplished.

"So... you’re coming to my house?" Professor Hayes smiled in a peculiar way. I wasn’t sure what she had in mind.

"Of course. I already told Olivia that you invited us."

"Alright, then we’ll see each other at my place."

With that settled, Olivia and I sat in the car, and our driver took us to Mrs. Hayes’s house.

Several other cars were already parked there, indicating that it had invited again more members of the team. With Olivia, we made our way towards the door and entered.

"You can just leave your coats on the hanger and come in!" Mrs. Hayes called from the kitchen.

At that moment, Veronica descended the stairs, and her outfit... well, perhaps a bit unconventional?

I glanced at Olivia and noticed her slightly open-mouthed expression as she looked at Veronica.

Veronica was dressed in tight latex pants and a thin sweater. She was slimand through her pants, it was easy to notice how well-defined her muscles were.

Veronica, with a big smile on her face, approached Olivia. "Hey! You must be Olivia, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Veronica."

Olivia cleared her throat, "Ah... Yes! I’m Olivia. I have a question. Do you play some sport? You look really fit."

"Oh! Um... Thank you. Thank you, but I exercise for myself. I’m not an athlete or anything. I play the piano."

Olivia and I left our coats and proceeded to the guest room.