2015年我曾电话采访过张益唐，他那时候还是 Professor of Mathematics at University of New Hampshire. Although brief, our conversation left me with the impression that he is a humble and dedicated scientist who does not cease taking new journeys in the area of Number Theory after the receipt of the 2014 MacArthur Award.
高妹: You once disputed the view of mathematicians as geeks who have few connections with the real world. Do you ever feel the need to discuss your projects with your peers?
Dr. Zhang: I used to spend many hours thinking about mathematics without communicating with other people. To me, the initial exploration of a new problem involves a lot of intuition. You may have some feeling about the possible strategies that could work or the direction it's heading toward, but articulating your thoughts to others can be difficult. The nature of my research determines that I'm not in a business that invites teamwork or benefits from collaborations. A mathematician needs to endure solitude, and I have been avoiding activity that's unlikely to yield a meaningful outcome.
高妹: That's interesting. What you have described sounds almost like artistic creation. What got you interested in the study of twin primes conjecture? How would you summarize its impact?
Dr. Zhang: I have known this conjecture for many years. It is interesting to many people, not only to me. I think it's possible that more hypotheses in this area may stem from my work, but that could take a while and, for now, it's not clear.
高妹: You once said there are other on-going projects you are proud of, but wouldn't want to throw them out yet?
Dr. Zhang: Yes, but it is not easy to describe them right now. All I can say is that they don't quite belong to the same category of the problem I have just solved. And I can't map out a timeline when they might be finished. It could happen one day unexpectedly, just like the last time.
高妹: How does your mind engage in different research topics?
Dr. Zhang: I used to concentrate on one problem, but also try to know what happened to others. To me, there is no boundary that separates work from the rest of my life. When I'm working on a problem, it lingers in my mind all the time.
高妹: In physics, a law doesn't have to be unconditional or universal to be valuable. People constantly bring up new theories that overwrite an old principle or exceed its limit. Is being right or wrong more absolute in mathematics? Do you agree with what Michio Kaku said about God being a mathematician?
Dr. Zhang: In mathematics the situation might be different. For example, it was Euclid who first proved that there are infinitely many prime numbers. Today we can only say this is true. Although sometimes I do marvel at the exquisite structure of math and its power to explain the physical world, generally I'm not a philosophical person who likes to dwell on the origin or purpose of life.
高妹: If you were given a chance to go back in time and rebuild your career, would you have done anything differently? Did you remain optimistic during the days when things didn't work out?
Dr. Zhang: I might have done something differently, as I have learned many lessons from my academic career. For example, at the beginning, I should have listed all possible methods that could apply to my problem; once I ignored some of them, I wasted time. But I used to be optimistic, as I regarded the difficult time was just the start of a new road.
高妹: You mentioned you don't like the distractions of a large team. Do you plan to recruit students in the near future?
Dr. Zhang: I have been considering this problem, but no decision has been made. In the past few years, I have received several applications from prospective students, most of whom were Chinese. Because those were not full applications but Letters of Interest, with limited mentoring experience, I was uncertain how to judge the qualification of the applicant and whether a match existed.
Of course, I want my students to eventually become masters of the field, not just qualified graduates who could find jobs. In the past summers, I was invited to spend time in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where I saw clear talents in their students. I have been interacting and advising a few of them, but a formal relationship is yet to be established.
高妹: I hope something would work out soon. What is your favorite course to teach?
Dr. Zhang: It is hard to say. I love teaching various courses. Giving lectures in a classroom is different from mentoring graduate students. I have more experience with the former but little with the latter.
高妹: Would you like to say something about the western academia and scientists in their early careers?
Dr. Zhang: What the academia here attracts me the most is the freedom to pursue topics we are interest. I'd like to tell the young scientists: if you really love sciences, do not give up easily.
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