Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 352 91 I am a good family man

For someone like Aston, who has measured the precise atomic masses of countless elements and their isotopes, operating a mass spectrometer is a very familiar thing. It is even an exaggeration to say that he can do it with his eyes closed. success.

As long as there is a source of particles, it won't take long for Aston to be able to measure the mass more accurately.

The longer it takes, the more accurate the measured mass value will be.

In less than a day, Aston has given a relatively preliminary mass data. Whether it is hydrogen-deuterium fusion to produce helium-3, or deuterium-deuterium fusion to produce tritium and protium, the reactions of these two experiments are compared before and after. Both experienced mass losses, which means that both fusion reactions released energy outwards.

"It's amazing, it's amazing. The summer in Cambridge is really long. We are all thinking about how to spend the summer. Only you, Dr. Chen, can actually produce another academic achievement in this hot summer. "

Professor Aston praised from the bottom of his heart.

"How about it, have you written a paper? If not, how about we jointly write one? Arthur, do you have any objections?"

"Of course I didn't. This experiment was completely done by you physicists who got together. My contribution to the experiment was basically that I didn't interfere in any part. I was a bystander cheerleader throughout the whole process, cheering you on." . If my name can be added to this paper, I will definitely be grateful for this gift."

There was still some yin and yang in Eddington's words. Apparently he still had a grudge against Chen Muwu for inviting Aston to the front of the particle laboratory without inviting him.

"What about you, Chen?"

"Whatever, Professor Aston. I didn't think much about writing this as a paper before. I just regarded the experiment as a part of studying the energy source of the sun.

"The mystery of the sun has not been solved yet, but a preliminary result has been achieved, so I did not write a paper. I just sent a newsletter to Nature magazine, which said that the Cavendish Laboratory had made a new discovery. Just one isotope of hydrogen and helium.

"If nothing else, this report should be available in the next issue of Nature."

Aston nodded: "No matter what, it seems that the success of this experiment is indeed not worth writing a paper for you.

"Then I will follow your lead and send a text message to the journal Nature to make public the precise mass data of the tritium atoms and helium-3 atoms we just measured.

"It seems that the book "Isotopes" I published in 1922 has fallen behind the times in just five years, and the data in it needs to be updated again.

"Otherwise, I will take this opportunity to contact the publisher and discuss reprinting with them.

"Chen, you shouldn't have discovered several other new isotopes when this book was reprinted, and deliberately caused me trouble, right?"

Aston asked with a smile. This was not an accusation, but an affirmation of the young man he liked.

"Of course not, how is it possible?"

Chen Muwu, who was standing opposite and smiling, was polite, but he was thinking about something else.

He also holds in his hand another isotope that will be of great use in the future, called carbon-14.

Now that Aston has said this, is it necessary to make this isotope public in advance?
"Now that the mass of the atom has been measured, I will take a step forward and go back to write the newsletter for Nature magazine.

"You two should also work hard to study the sun and don't forget to take a rest. Let's go have a drink together sometime!"

Aston took a copy of his experimental data and politely left, and the laboratory returned to the state of only Eddington and Chen Muwu.

Eddington certainly felt resentful towards Chen Muwu's inconsistent behavior.

It's just that Aston successfully measured the data they needed, and the atomic mass can prove that there is indeed a mass loss before and after the two nuclear reactions. They are reactions that can release energy outwards. It seems to have solved the mystery of the source of solar energy. One step further.

Therefore, Chen Muwu's previous attentiveness was not without effect, and the anger in Eddington's heart gradually subsided.

"Chen, now that we have successfully simulated the nuclear reaction in the sun in the laboratory, should we really publish our experiments and conclusions as a paper like Professor Aston said?
"At the very least, this news should be conveyed to the public through The Times or other newspapers, so that everyone will no longer panic because the sun may explode."

He didn't forget why this experiment came about in the first place.

Chen Muwu partially agreed with Eddington's point of view: "I have no objection to finding a journalist friend to pass on this news. But if it is to write a paper, I feel that now is not the time."

"why?"

“Because we have now completed two experiments, one is the fusion of hydrogen-deuterium to produce helium-3, and the other is the reaction between deuterium and deuterium.

“It’s true that both of these reactions release energy outwards, but which one is the reaction in the sun?
“There’s another thing. There is a reactant that is inseparable from these two reactions, and that is deuterium.

"But there are a large number of hydrogen atoms in the sun, not deuterium atoms. We have verified in the laboratory that it is basically impossible to bombard hydrogen atoms with hydrogen atoms to fuse into deuterium atoms. So the sun Are there deuterium atoms in it? If so, where did these deuterium atoms come from?
“We haven’t been able to figure out the above issues so far.”

"Yes, Chen, you are right,"

Eddington nodded and agreed:

"When you and Professor Aston were doing experiments in front of the particle accelerator just now, I have been thinking about this matter, but after thinking about it, I have no clue. In our laboratory, we have not been able to successfully fuse two hydrogen atoms into one. Deuterium reacts, so what exactly is going on with the deuterium in the sun?"

“Actually, I have a vague idea that the collision between hydrogen atoms may not be because they carry enough energy, but through a quantum effect.

"We call this effect the quantum tunneling effect. This effect was discussed in the quantum mechanics lecture notes co-edited by Dirac, Oppenheimer and me last year.

"Using this quantum tunneling effect, one hydrogen nucleus can easily break through the potential barrier of another hydrogen nucleus and approach the other nucleus.

"As for whether they can fuse, I don't know.

"However, for a star as large as the sun, which has sufficient reaction time and sufficient hydrogen atoms, maybe a very small amount of hydrogen atoms will fuse and produce deuterium atoms, right?

"Of course, the above ideas are just my personal guesses, and there is no guarantee of their accuracy." As he spoke, Chen Muwu listed the wave equation on the paper and solved it, giving a hydrogen atom that does not need to be too high. It is a reasonable explanation that the energy can be close to that of another hydrogen atom.

As for the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to produce helium-2 and then rapid positive beta decay into deuterium atoms, Chen Muwu could not provide evidence for the time being because experiments could not be done in the laboratory, so he could only use an ambiguous statement. Let’s briefly highlight this reaction.

This cannot be said in too much detail, because neither neutrinos nor positrons have been discovered yet. The hydrogen fusion that people now understand is not a direct reaction between protons and protons, but a "proton-electron-proton" "A fusion reaction occurred among the three parties.

Chen Muwu was afraid that if he continued to speak, he would accidentally reveal some extraneous knowledge.

Eddington, who carefully read Chen Muwu's step-by-step calculations on the draft paper and listened carefully to his speech, strongly agreed with his point of view.

"Chen, what you mentioned is indeed a solution. As you said, since there is no experimental evidence, it can only be regarded as a conjecture.

"But don't forget that the nuclear fusion that we now think occurs in the sun is itself a conjecture.

"Everything you and I have done in the laboratory can only prove that fusion reactions between deuterium, hydrogen and deuterium can produce energy, but it cannot prove that these reactions actually exist in the sun.

“But if there is a conjecture, and the content of the conjecture conforms to the rules of physics, it is already a progress.

"Those who say that the sun is a big burning ball, and the fuel it burns is all coal, isn't their view just a conjecture? We can't prove that there is nuclear fusion in the sun, and they can't prove that the sun is a big ball. Briquettes!

"Chen, the conjecture you put forward is very constructive. I think no matter what, we must write a paper first.

“This will not only appease the British people, so that they no longer have to worry about the ridiculous thing that the sun may explode; it will also attract the attention of scientists from all over the world, allowing everyone to brainstorm, and maybe they can understand the mystery of the energy generated by the sun.

"Do you have any other guesses? If you do, there's no need to hide them. You might as well say them all in one go."

Other "guesses"?Of course!

For example, there are three ways to change helium-3 into helium-4, and the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycle, etc. Chen Muwumen'erqing has the more mature views on the source of solar energy in later generations.

But these conjectures were even more extreme than the one just now, and Chen Muwu was even less likely to say them out, so he could only shake his head pretending to be helpless.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t, the conclusion we have now is pretty good.

"Although the sun is the most important star in the universe for us humans, I think this paper should not be published in an astronomical magazine, but should be submitted as a professional physics paper. Chen, look at us Should you vote for Nature or the Royal Society's Transactions of the Natural Sciences? Or do you have other ideas?"

"I don't care, as long as everything goes according to your arrangement."

"Then the next thing we need to do is to write this paper together, and we will continue to work hard for you for a few more days."

"You're welcome, Professor Eddington."

From the beginning of the experiment a few days ago, Eddington played a urging role.

When it came time to write the paper, his role had not changed at all. He seemed to be eager to convert the conclusions they obtained through experiments into printed words and publish them in an authoritative physics magazine.

Eddington did this not for fame, but out of a desire to make the truth known to the public as soon as possible. Don't let people in the UK or even the world continue to panic, and don't let everyone continue to be deceived by the theory of solar briquettes. .

While writing his thesis, Eddington did not forget to call the reporter from The Times who had gone to Cornwall to inform him about the new achievements made by the Cavendish Laboratory in studying the principle of solar luminescence. Results.

Before ending the phone call, he specifically told Chen Muwu that most of the experiment was done by Chen Muwu, and he was just the one who did it. Don't take any credit for it.

The Times reporter initially felt that he had already obtained Chen Muwu and Eddington's comments on Elway's view that "the sun could explode at any time", even if he had completed the interview task.

He regarded Chen Muwu's previous statement that he would immediately design and conduct experiments in the Cavendish Laboratory as a kind of polite word belonging to a physicist. He only briefly mentioned it in the report and did not mention it at all. Take it to your heart.

Unexpectedly, he received a call from Eddington in just a few days, saying that Cambridge University had achieved initial results.

Shocked, the reporter immediately realized that this was big news, so he once again traveled back to Cambridge University in the north from Fleet Street, London.

The Times, which published his interviews with Chen Muwu and Eddington, and the journal Nature, which published Chen Muwu's first news article announcing the discovery of two new isotopes, were simultaneously released on the market on the first day of September.

After entering September, everyone in the Cavendish Laboratory began to end their holidays early and return to Cambridge University to prepare for the upcoming wedding of Kapitsa and Anna in the middle of this month.

Chen Muwu was only halfway through writing his essay when the groom's official asked him to help prepare for the wedding.

Eddington said that he would continue writing the paper, finishing the first draft first, and then finalize it after Kapitsa was married.

Or you can simply not submit it to a professional magazine, but bring it directly to the Solvay conference in October and publish it as a conference paper.

Eddington's idea coincided with Chen Muwu's. After all, Dr. Chen also planned to announce at the meeting that he had found tritium and helium-3 using a particle accelerator and completed the first nuclear fusion experiment.

For this reason, he deliberately used vague rhetoric in the magazine "Nature". He only said that he had found the isotope, but did not say how he found it.

However, before that, Chen Muwu had to move Kapitsa's house first.

This guy who likes racing saved money for several months, but the money was not sent to the car broker in the end, but bought a house in Cambridgeshire.

"Peter, when did you become a good family man?"

"I have always been."

Kapitsa's eyes were full of pride.

(End of this chapter)