Terence Tao arrived two days early, and he was greeted with exceptional hospitality--
By Zhao Yi in person.
Zhao Yi toured the university with Terence Tao, discussing the Goldbach Conjecture, digital compression technology, and other topics along the way.
By evening, he escorted Terence Tao back to the hotel, and during dinner, they discussed potential ideas to solve the Twin Prime Conjecture.
And so on.
Even though the day was filled with enriching exchanges, Zhao Yi felt the need to distance himself from Terence Tao.
Could this guy talk about anything besides academics?
Exhausting!
Terence Tao's mathematical proficiency was indeed impressive. Whether it was knowledge in specific areas of expertise or a general understanding of some theory in applied math, Zhao Yi felt it was simply unattainable. In terms of knowledge accumulation, he was still somewhat behind the world's top mathematicians.