One of the great things about working in Oxford is that, so long as you’re not shy, you have easy access to some of the world’s leading researchers on topics which may (perhaps one day) relate to your own work.

Those of you who are up to date with my current predicament(s) will know that I’ve been struggling with the issue of numerically calculating stern waves — a problem which has plagued me since last year. I wrote about it here and here.

Ever since New Year’s, however, I’ve been working on a fundamentally different method of solving the equations using so-called Chebyshev basis functions (suitably modified).

Well, tomorrow I have a meeting with one of the world’s experts on numerical analysis, who just-so happens to work across the road.

This stuff should be right up his alley, so I’m pretty excited.

I guess it’s a bit like how some people feel when they’re about to meet the Pope or the Dalai Lama, and they ask something like, “What’s the meaning of life?”, or “Does the Earth revolve around the Sun?”, or “Do you believe in creationism…seriously?”.

You know, as if this one man or one woman possesses the answers to your deepest and most burdening questions.

Man, I hope I’m not disappointed.

I tell ya what, though. He better tell me something friggin’ amazing. Something that I haven’t thought of already. You know, like, “Punch X, Y, and Z into the computer and it’ll solve all your problems.” Something like that.