Translator: Dreamscribe
The steakhouse was just as excellent as the rumors said.
““Wow....””
The steak brought by the server was nearly the size of a cutting board. At the overwhelming presence, the three of them let out exclamations at the sa ti.
Click.
“Aricans really eat at this big.”
Mi-young took out her phone and snapped a picture.
Gulp.
Seo-eun swallowed her saliva.
Mi-young carefully picked up a knife and sliced the at. The knife went in more easily than expected.
“The at is so tender!”
While Mi-young was cutting the steak, Seo-eun was tightly gripping her fork and knife with both hands. After a mont, she took a big piece her mom had cut for her and bit into it with a big “ahh”, soon forming a happy smile.
“It’s so delishous!”
Seo-ha also hurriedly began cutting his steak.
As he took a bite, juice gushed out from the thick at like a waterfall.
At first, they thought the portion might be too much, but the accompanying salad and mashed potatoes kept them eating endlessly.
Before they knew it, the huge steaks had vanished cleanly.
“Mom, I can’t eat anymore.”
Seo-eun leaned back on the chair and patted her stomach.
“What did you do with Seo-eun today?”
Seo-ha had been worried since neither his mom nor Seo-eun spoke English, but seeing their expressions, it seed they had enjoyed themselves in their own way.
“Today? Seo-eun was absolutely thrilled.”
At her words, Seo-eun’s eyes sparkled as if she had been waiting for the cue.
“Oppa! People called a princess!”
“Princess?”
At Seo-eun’s words, Mi-young giggled quietly.
“I dressed her in hanbok.” (TL: Korean traditional clothing)
“You brought a hanbok?”
“Yeah, I rembered sothing I saw on TV and brought only Seo-eun’s. I dressed her up and took her to the park, and people kept coming up to us. There was even a line of people asking to take pictures together!”
Seo-eun made a proud V sign with her fingers.
“She seriously looked like a doll. The skirt and the ribbons fluttered slightly in the wind, and usually she’s always running around, but with the hanbok on, she stayed calm. She’s usually super shy too, but today she greeted people really well.”
Seo-ha nodded.
Seo-eun had a tendency to open up easily to people who were kind to her.
“Hehe. I was super popular.”
Mi-young playfully poked the tip of Seo-eun’s nose.
"That's why your nose is reaching the sky."
“Everyone was so nice to !”
Mi-young opened her phone and showed them pictures.
Under the clear sky, his little sister in hanbok was smiling brightly among a crowd of people. Seo-ha felt truly relieved that this first overseas trip for the two of them had beco a pleasant mory.
***
On the second morning of the forum,
The MIT campus was full of energy despite the cold air.
Groups that had bonded through networking the previous day were gathered in various spots. So were drinking coffee while exchanging ideas, others were checking their presentation materials on tablets.
Seo-ha neatly buttoned up his jacket and entered the event hall.
Today’s topic was “Interdisciplinary Research between Mathematics and Other Fields”.
That is, a session exploring what new insights arise when mathematics ets fields like physics, life sciences, and the arts.
Mathematicians had continuously expanded their domain for hundreds of years. As a result, modern mathematics no longer ant just “numbers and formulas”.
In physics, it had beco the language of quantum chanics and relativity; in life sciences, it served as a tool to interpret gene networks and protein structures. In economics and sociology, it laid the foundation for predicting human choices and market trends.
Recently, mathematical logic had even begun to perate the realms of art and creation.
MIT also encouraged such endeavors by mathematicians.
The session proceeded in an open presentation format by researchers from various countries, with no restrictions on fields.
Seo-ha sat in the sa spot as yesterday, greeted Yusuke and Maria, then attentively listened to the presentations.
The first presenter was a university student from France.
He introduced a study analyzing the aesthetic balance of artworks through topological patterns.
The golden ratio in the Mona Lisa, Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, Kandinsky’s lines... Interpreting all these as “functionalization of geotric sense” his presentation was intriguing even to Seo-ha.
After that, the researchers took turns presenting their work. One connected mathematics to biology and analyzed the nonlinear patterns of cell division, while another combined math with linguistics, attempting to model sentence structure using graph theory.
When all the presentations ended, gentle applause spread throughout the hall.
Soon, Professor Whitman, the Dean of the Mathematics Departnt, stepped onto the stage and took the microphone.
“Excellent presentations.”
His expression was bright, showing how pleased he was with their research.
“The results you’ve shown today demonstrate that mathematics, once confined to formulas on paper, is now expanding into a universal language of the world.
It’s truly moving to see mathematics et with such a variety of disciplines.”
Another round of applause erupted among the audience.
“Now, let’s take so ti to freely discuss with the presenters and exchange ideas. On days like this, inspiration often strikes during conversation.”
At his words, the researchers began to move about.
Around each small round table, people gathered to check each other’s na tags and ask about their affiliations and fields of study.
Seo-ha was just about to approach a researcher who had presented on music to continue the discussion.
Clack-
The sound of the door opening was heard.
Everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward the back.
Step, step.
Two elderly n with graying hair slowly walked into the hall.
Whitman montarily furrowed his brows.
The gentle smile that had lingered on his lips throughout the presentation disappeared.
“Why have they co here?”
Whispers spread among the surrounding professors.
They were Professor Leonard, Dean of the Physics Departnt, and Professor Ramanathan, a renowned authority in computer engineering at MIT.
Leonard wore a relaxed smile, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
“I hope we’re not disturbing anything. I just couldn’t sit still when I heard young mathematicians were here. We’ll just look around briefly, so please don’t mind us.”
Whitman clenched his jaw with a hardened expression.
Mathematics was the root and foundational language that could branch into any field of science. Because of that, it was also a departnt prone to frequent talent drain.
'The greatest physicists are always found among mathematicians.'
This saying was accepted as truth in both mathematics and physics.
Newton, who wrote the laws of classical chanics, Euler, the founder of fluid dynamics and celestial chanics, Fourier of the heat conduction equation, Gauss who established the principles of electromagnetism, and Weyl who proposed gauge theory...
All of them had been outstanding mathematicians of their ti.
Whitman turned his head.
'Ramanathan, why is that man even here?'
He shook his head.
It was a foolish question. After all, the people who had created computers and computer science itself had all been mathematicians.
They were uninvited guests, but no one could stop them. Their gaze rested on one person.
A startled Whitman quickly moved to intercept them.
“Leonard, Ramanathan. We are in the middle of a discussion session. If you have personal business…”
But Leonard gently cut him off.
“No, it’s not personal. I just thought that if there was a student with an interest in physics, I might be of so help.”
“I’m the sa. I dropped by thinking I could offer so advice to promising students.”
Watching them shalessly reveal their true intentions, Whitman showed a furious expression. At the sa ti, a question ca to his mind.
'They weren’t the type to be so disrespectful.'
However, when the two of them walked straight over, as if they already had a destination in mind, and sat down behind a particular student, he could guess the reason.
Their talk of helping students was an outright lie. They must have co to et Yu Seo-ha.
His insides churned with anger.
'Elijah Cronen... that damn ddler...'
Yu Seo-ha’s Four Color Theorem had gained international attention due to Cronen’s verification.
Naturally, MIT couldn’t ignore it either. Internal research networks, alumni forums, and even external research institutions had all jumped in to examine his paper.
Whitman had been shocked beyond words. Seo-ha hadn’t just recombined existing formulas, he had built an entirely independent mathematical system.
As a result, he had reduced the constrained conditions of a problem once thought impossible into a completely new type of functional symtry.
The mathematical consistency that ran through the entire paper, and the density of condensed thought hidden within, astonished even seasoned researchers.
The structure that eliminated contradictions, explored possibilities, and ultimately converged on a single solution, this was truly a work of genius that could be called the second coming of Newton without exaggeration.
Whitman could tell.
This boy was not just an outstanding student. His very way of thinking belonged to a higher dinsion of humanity.
Currently, not only MIT, but also Princeton, Stanford, Oxford, and even the University of Tokyo in Asia were all striving to bring Yu Seo-ha to their institutions.
How overjoyed he had been when Seo-ha turned down invitations from Japan and the UK and said he would co here?
But now, figures from physics and computer science had shown up, seeking to claim the fruits that rightly belonged to the Departnt of Mathematics.
Leonard naturally spoke to the boy.
“Seo-ha, Newton devoted his life to exploring physical laws, and even Hilbert, toward the end of his life, was deeply involved in relativity and imrsed himself in physics.
Considering that the interests of great mathematicians eventually turned toward the laws of reality... what do you think about that?”
Leonard’s face showed both subtle anticipation and confidence. After all, scholars are beings who want to prove their logic within the real world.
Seo-ha turned to him. Then he opened his mouth.
“Professor, I believe physics is also just a small part of mathematics.”
The hall fell silent, as if everyone was holding their breath.
“If mathematics is infinite order, then isn’t physics simply a finite area carved out from within that order which touches reality?”
The two professors were at a loss for words.
Then, a loud burst of laughter rang out.
“Khahahaha!”
Whitman patted Seo-ha on the back, as if proud.
“Well said! Where do you think geography and geology ca from? From geotry! That’s math! It ans the whole world is mathematics.”
Leonard looked montarily flustered but soon nodded.
“That was a very fine answer. Certainly a valid point, Seo-ha.”
His eyes briefly sharpened.
“But modern mathematics has already fragnted itself too much.
Geotry, topology, analysis, number theory, category theory, algebra, combinatorics... it’s now at the point where they can barely understand each other’s language.
Who here would deny that a combinatorics researcher and a differential geoter can’t even have a proper conversation?”
Leonard looked at Seo-ha with a steady gaze.
“Compared to that, physics is simple. Like Stephen Hawking said, we have only one goal, to explain reality.
Use that brilliant mathematical brain of yours for reality. You might even surpass Richard Feynman. Why not join us?”
Richard Feynman, the legend produced by MIT’s physics departnt.
A genius who read the world through equations, and the master who completed modern quantum chanics.
When Leonard ntioned his na, everyone was surprised.
But Seo-ha shook his head.
“I appreciate the offer. But I’ve never imagined a life as anything other than a mathematician.”
Without being rude, Seo-ha politely declined his proposal.
Seo-ha had not yet sailed through the vast ocean that was mathematics. To be told to be satisfied with seeing just a part of it was, to him, no different than torture.
However, what Leonard said next made every hair on Seo-ha’s body stand on end.
“I see. That’s truly unfortunate. I was going to show you ‘Quantum Chaos’ in action today.”
Seo-ha turned around with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
Leonard’s lips slowly curled up, as if to say, “I knew you'd react that way.”
There were, at most, only about seven laboratories in the world where one could actually observe quantum chaos with their own eyes, not through mathematical modeling or simulation.
And naturally, MIT was one of them.
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