Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 345 84 Experiment Assistant Eddington

The experiment Chen Muwu told the Times reporter was to repeat the nuclear fusion experiment Olyphant had done, which used accelerated deuterium nuclei to bombard hydrogen.

With deuterium in the raw materials and a particle accelerator in the instrument, this experiment will have to be done sooner or later.

In that case, why couldn't the person who conducted this experiment be Chen Muwu himself?
Although this experiment was also one of the experiments that teacher Rutherford wanted to do, Chen Muwu felt that there was no need to wait for Rutherford to return to Europe from New Zealand and finish the Solvay Conference in Brussels, Belgium, before conducting experiments on particles. This experiment was performed on an accelerator.

Just leave the experiments that discovered neutrons and positrons until after he returned to the Cavendish Laboratory.

Because what Rutherford would rather see than bombarding hydrogen with deuterium nuclei is the discovery of neutrons.

His original intention at first asking Chen Muwu to bombard deuterium with accelerated hydrogen nuclei was not to see whether the lightest nuclei of the two atoms could fuse when they came together, but to see if they could use accelerated hydrogen nuclei to fuse. Can hydrogen nuclei bombard out the "electrically neutral" particles that are more abundant in deuterium nuclei than hydrogen nuclei?

What's more, so many British people are eagerly waiting, hoping that responsible astronomers will soon stand up and point out that the theories of the unlearned upstarts in the United States are all nonsense, and the sun will not explode at all. , give them a reassurance.

In fact, the reporter from The Times who came to Cambridge University today also had some pessimistic thoughts on this matter.

However, due to his responsibilities, he also represents an official mouthpiece in disguise, so he has to come here for interviews, and he hopes that astronomers can give positive answers.

He did not expect that Chen Muwu would be very optimistic about the fact that "the sun will explode at any time" and pointed out categorically that the theory put forward by the Americans was complete nonsense.

The reporter's facial expression finally no longer looked serious, but showed a somewhat curious expression: "Dr. Chen, you are saying that what happens in the sun can be understood in the Cavendish Laboratory. Simulate it?"

“I just said I’d give it a try, but I can’t guarantee whether it will actually work.

"I just hope that through experiments we can understand the principle of the sun's continuous supply of energy to the earth. If we can successfully find the secret, it will be enough to let the people relax and no longer have to worry about the sun exploding every day, thus causing unnecessary of panic."

While he answered the reporter's questions in a rather official tone, he complained in his mind that due to the limitations of the times, the reporter's questions were really unprofessional.

Simulating the movement of the sun in the laboratory?

Even if this thing happens in another 100 years, and scientists have more money and more sophisticated instruments, they may not be able to create artificial controllable nuclear fusion in the laboratory.

Even then, the running time of devices such as tokamak will still be measured in seconds.

The experiment he is going to do next in the Cavendish Laboratory is nothing more than pinching hydrogen and deuterium together to generate helium-3, and "finding out" the reaction principle in the sun.

After hearing Chen Muwu's answer, the reporter was still confused.

He asked the latter for advice on how to write the press release this time.

"Just say, I said that the news of the sun's explosion is completely nonsense. The real source of energy inside the sun is because the light atomic nuclei are fused into heavy atomic nuclei. Einstein's mass-energy equation is used to convert the mass loss into energy. .

"For the specific principles, you can refer to the popular science article published by Professor Eddington a few years ago. What he said in that article was basically correct. It was just because of the limitations at that time that Eddington The professor made some mistakes in judging the elements involved in the reaction.”

The reporter was dubious about Chen Muwu's statement, but at the same time he felt that he had received an unexpected surprise when he came to Cambridge University.

Originally, I just thought that no matter what the Cambridge astronomers really thought, Eddington or Chen Muwu had to stand up for the government that wanted to stabilize people's hearts and tell everyone that there was no need to worry or panic, and that the sun would rise as usual tomorrow.

As a result, before he could induce Chen Muwu to say such words, the other party said it naturally, and it could be heard from the words that he was very confident about it.

Therefore, the reporter was somewhat moved by Chen Muwu's confidence. After thanking the other party, he left Cambridge University overnight, completed the first draft of the news on the train back to London, and handed it over to the editorial office in Fleet Street as soon as possible. .

Then came scheduling and printing, and before dawn the next day, they had already been delivered to subscribers' homes across London.

Regarding the fact that the sun was about to explode, it was not just the Times newspaper that reacted, nor was it just the scientific community.

When people encounter such a catastrophic event that may destroy the whole world, their first reaction may not be to believe in science, but rather to place their hopes on unrealistic and illusory religion.

The magicians in Yemen know this rhetoric very well, and they directly applied it to the Great Flood, saying that the day when the sun exploded was the day of judgment, and only the faithful believers chosen by God could survive the disaster. , lucky enough to live until the new sun appears.

Some people even took this opportunity to encourage believers to donate money and materials to build a brand new "Noah's Ark" before disaster strikes.

Why does this plot look so familiar?It seems like the science fiction movie "2012".

Although most people are somewhat superstitious religious believers, because of the circulation and influence of The Times, many people still read about Sir Astronomer Royal Dyson of the Greenwich Observatory, Professor Jeans of the Royal Astronomical Society, There is also the opinion of Dr. Chen Muwu, who spoke on behalf of Professor Eddington, the director of the Cambridge University Observatory who went on vacation in Cornwall, on this matter.

Sir Dyson’s statement was very official, saying that the Greenwich Observatory and members of the Royal Astronomical Society across the UK had reported that in recent continuous observations of the sun, no abnormalities were found in this star that continues to shine and heat. The United States Hervé may have made a misjudgment of the sun's condition.

For Chen Muwu's speech, the reporter directly copied what he said to himself at Cambridge University: The sun above human heads is very stable, and its energy source is not a burning fireball mixed with various flammable gases as is generally believed. But nuclear fusion.

Professor Hervey used wrong theories to derive wrong conclusions, and the result can only become more and more wrong.

It was still the same reporter. After handing the interview manuscript to the editorial office of The Times that night, he rushed from London to the seaside in Cornwall, the resort, the next day, wanting to explain what Chen Muwu mentioned in his words. Professor Eddington, conduct a follow-up interview.

The reporter repeated Chen Muwu's views expressed at Cambridge University to Eddington, who had not yet had time to see the Times published that day.

Eddington was very satisfied when he heard from reporters that Chen Muwu expressed support for the solar fusion model he proposed a few years ago.

Chen was worthy of being recommended to him by Einstein and kept him in Cambridge through his own efforts. The two of them stood unswervingly on the same front under all circumstances.Eddington feels very lucky to have an old friend, Einstein, and recently a new friend, Chen Muwu.

This kid not only has excellent academic skills, but he also very considerately helped him modify his bicycle.

He also heard a reporter say that Chen Muwu felt that the contradictions in the nuclear fusion theory could be solved by simply modifying the reaction substances, and decided to conduct experiments in the Cavendish Laboratory in the near future.

Eddington was very interested in this matter. He felt that he should end his vacation early and return to Cambridge University to help Chen Muwu.

The reporter, who couldn't read the air, wanted to continue asking Eddington for his views on the idea that "the sun may explode" and his evaluation of Chen Muwu's rhetoric.

What responded to him was a roar from Eddington: "Idiot, what qualifications do you have to doubt a genius who discovered the Yellow Emperor Star at the age of 21 and won the Nobel Prize in Physics at the age of 22? And what he has accomplished in scientific research For his achievements, he can at least win at least two more Nobel Prizes! Dr. Chen’s point of view is my point of view, don’t ask any more nonsense that has no meaning at all!”

Several years have passed since Eddington beat up the editor of the "Journal of Philosophy" in anger, but his temper has not changed at all and he is still so irritable.

Before issuing the eviction order, Eddington did not forget to add a word of support for Chen Muwu to reporters: "For such a genius in academic circles, the idiots in Cambridge University and the British management are still deliberately thinking all day long. Thinking about how to drive Dr. Chen out of Cambridge, or even out of the UK!"

After seeing off the reporters from The Times, Eddington ended his summer vacation early, packed his luggage, took the nearest train, and rushed back to Cambridge from the resort of Cornwall.

He carefully read the newspaper report about Chen Muwu on the train, and the more he read, the more excited he became.

"Chen, I heard that you are going to do a nuclear fusion experiment, right?"

Eddington, who had just arrived at the Cavendish Laboratory, was very excited. He got straight to the point after entering Chen Muwu's office, and he didn't even take off the hat on his head.

This performance, which was not quite in line with the status of a gentleman, was enough to show how excited Eddington was now.

"Oh, Professor Eddington, why are you here? Aren't you on vacation at the beach?"

Seeing this unexpected guest, Chen Muwu quickly got up and went to make tea for him.

Taking advantage of this time, Eddington briefly told the whole story.

"You said those Americans are so unreliable. How dare they say such nonsense?"

Eddington's unfavorable impression of Americans stemmed from the General Assembly of the International Union of Astronomers held at Cambridge University two years ago. The group of wealthy upstarts from the United States were opposed to those at the Cambridge Observatory. Old astronomical instruments pointed disdainfully.

"The reporters in the United States are also very boring. It is obviously a sensational piece of fake news, but after they publicize it, it seems like the end of the world!
"However, although this is a piece of news that cannot be false, I am still very happy to hear that you want to study the nuclear reaction in the sun. Chen, how is your experiment going?"

Chen Muwu, who boasted about Haikou but had not yet had time to prepare for the experiment, never thought that there would be a follow-up to the incident.

He just boasted a few big words to the reporter. How could Eddington be so eager to return to Cambridge University?
"I have the idea of ​​doing an experiment, but I've been busy helping Peter get married these past two days, so I haven't started preparations yet."

It was clear that Chen Muwu did nothing, but he still brought out a Kapitsa to cover for him.

Aren’t the so-called good friends just for taking the blame?

"It's okay, are you done now? Can we put the experiment on the agenda?"

"Of course, of course it's no problem." Chen Muwu agreed with some guilt, "Professor Eddington, I'm going to call the British Air Company and ask them to help separate some liquid deuterium from the liquid hydrogen and send it over.

"Our Cavendish Laboratory now has a proton source and a particle accelerator. As long as the liquid deuterium is delivered, we can start experiments."

Oliphant's experiment chose to bombard hydrogen with accelerated deuterium.

But now that there is a ready-made proton source at the particle accelerator, it is not a bad idea to reverse that experiment.

Whether bombarding deuterium with hydrogen or bombarding hydrogen with deuterium, the experimental conditions are not complicated.

As long as one of the two has a kinetic energy of more than one hundred thousand electron volts and collides with the other, the two can merge into one and become a helium-3 nucleus.

This accelerating voltage is more than enough for the particle accelerator of Cambridge University. You don't even need to use the accelerator. You only need to go to Viridian Forest or the unmanned power station to capture a wild Pikachu and level it up to level 26. level, after learning one hundred thousand volts, you can easily accelerate hydrogen nuclei or deuterium nuclei to provide energy for this simple nuclear fusion reaction.

Regarding the issue of nuclear fusion, Chen Muwu showed a calm demeanor, which made Eddington feel that this experiment seemed to be a piece of cake.

——For the University of Cambridge, which has a particle accelerator, it is indeed a piece of cake.

So Eddington couldn't wait to urge Chen Muwu: "Chen, what are you waiting for? Maybe the experiment we are about to do will completely answer the questions that have been plaguing countless astronomers. The sun, including the stars in other stars, will Where does energy come from?

"I'm going to call the oxygen company. After the experimental materials are delivered, I'll come and help you."

Seeing Chen Muwu staring at him with some doubts, Eddington said with some dissatisfaction and pride: "What are you looking at! Are you questioning me as an astronomer who can't do experiments? Remember when I entered the Cavendish Experiment Room, when you were doing experiments with Sir Thomson, you might have just learned to speak, Chen!"

Eddington entered the laboratory in 1905, and he was right.

(End of this chapter)