Lagrange
Paul’s tutor is Magda, a professor in the mathematics department at Humboldt University. She’s one of a handful of specialists in the lofty research of Lagrangian mathematics, applied to dynamical systems and astrophysics. This year she only has two research assistants and Ph.D. students, Paul and a young lady, named Lise, who’s working on Lyapunov exponents.
Magda is in her mid-forties, a tall and handsome woman from Magdeburg. She and Paul struck up a friendship as soon as they met. Her office is on the top floor, with large bay windows overlooking an inner garden, with a view of Museen Insel. Today, she sees Paul immediately, and they start talking about the last iteration of his thesis.
Thesis
“Hello Paul, I have read this new version with interest, and have several corrections to suggest. I see you may have to rewrite the equations on the last section, as the notation you use is a little confusing.”
“You’re quite right,” Paul replies with a disarming smile, “I got carried away, after reading some notes Lise gave me about a paper from someone in Aberdeen, whose name escapes me.”
“Ah yes, I have seen this, Lise is very good at unearthing very good writing that can also be rather challenging! Look at this for example.”Magda hands over to Paul a bunch of handwritten notes. She leads him to a table away from her desk, covered with various papers.
Kaplan-Yorke
“But don’t get too distracted. Keep in mind the Kaplan-Yorke formula…”Paul browses through the notes, Magda smiles, sitting across from him at the table. A student brings some coffee. “As I said, I suggested some changes to the last section. I still have to look at the first part.”
“Yes, I have made some changes there too. How about the timeline?”
“Don’t be in such a rush. We’ll plan a peer review. I have some names of willing colleagues for the panel. But tell me, are you going to take a break, even a short one? You have been working non-stop on this since last year.”
Reims
“Yes, I am planning to go and see Sarah in London, and then take a short break in France. I’d like this version to be okay with you before I do so though.”
“Well, I think, talking about the timeline, you still have around six months of work on this, before the final product is ready. So, a short break now would be wise.
Paul thinks this is fine.”I will leave this with you,” he says, placing a neat folder on the table.
“This is the lot, with background and a whole volume of references.” Magda thanks him. She wants him to forget about work when he takes his break.
“When will you be going, and where will you go in France?”
Africa
“I have booked my flight for next Friday. After seeing my mother, I will then travel by train to Reims. I want to see a friend there, and then I will go and visit C…s, where my father lived in his youth.”
“Yes,” says Magda quietly, “I remember, Julian was at school there, wasn’t he, before he went to Africa…”
“You have such a good memory, Magda…”
They hug, and Paul departs. Before leaving the department, Paul drops a short note in Lise’s mailbox, then makes his way back to the avenue.
He crosses the bridge, walks to the Dom, and enters the building. Paul needs to reflect. He has not spoken with Magda about his interest in a second thesis, but there is a note about it in the folder he left with her. There may not be funding for it, and Paul has a solution which he will discuss with Sarah when he sees her. Sitting in a back row, Paul thinks of his parents: they came here from time to time, often around Christmas. They loved the organ, the baroque splendor of the church.
He then retraces his steps and catches the S-Bahn back to Schöneberg.
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