Chapter 494: Becoming the biggest miracle of the 21st century
The critical magnetic field strength of 40T+ is enough to prove that introducing a strong diamagnetic mechanism into superconducting materials to enhance the magnetic field strength of superconductors is the right path.
For Xu Chuan, the breakthrough of improved superconducting materials is not only a big step forward in superconducting materials, but also the hope of realizing small-scale controllable nuclear fusion and aerospace engines.
It’s not that he doesn’t have more advanced room-temperature superconducting materials in his hands, but in fact, it’s not just the critical temperature of superconducting materials that affects the development of technology.
For superconducting materials, whether it is critical temperature, critical magnetic field, or critical current and current density, they all affect the scope of application of superconductors.
For small-scale controllable nuclear fusion technology, aerospace engines, and even large strong particle collider, these technologies place greater emphasis on the strength of the magnetic field formed by superconductors.
Because only high magnetic field strength can more effectively restrain the violent high-temperature plasma and provide a stronger accelerating magnetic field.
This is why Xu Chuan has been studying how to improve the critical magnetic field of superconducting materials.
The normal-temperature superconductor in his hand does not have an advantage in this regard. He needs a superconducting material with a higher magnetic field strength to complete magnetic field confinement and magnetic field acceleration.
Fortunately, he found this way because of an "room-temperature superconductor" mistake.
Although the process went through many twists and turns, a superconductor with a magnetic field as strong as 40T finally appeared in his hands.
...
After handing over the remaining tests on improved superconductors to the Chuanhai Institute of Materials, Xu Chuan returned to the villa at the foot of Purple Mountain, washed himself briefly and fell directly on the bed.
He sticks to the bed and sleeps, this is his current state.
Although there is still a report meeting to be held tomorrow, he should familiarize himself with the paper and make some preparations tonight. But this meeting has been going on for several days in a row. If he doesn't take a good rest, even his iron body will not be able to bear it.
The next day, Jinling, Nanda.
Physicists and materials scientists from all over the world have entered this ancient campus.
There are big red banners hanging everywhere here, such as "Warmly Celebrating the Convening of the Report on the Unified Framework of Strongly Correlated Electronic Systems", "The Holy Grail of Physics, the Crown of Condensed Matter Physics" and other various banners on the campus of NTU.
Hanging at the door and on the campus road.
Although this is not the first time for NTU to hold such a grand event, no matter which university or institution holds such a world-class conference, it can only hope to bring a lot of benefits.
After all, this kind of conference that presents an image to the international community not only enhances the academic influence and honor of universities, but also the political achievements of the school and even Jinling City as a whole.
In the morning, as it approached eight o'clock, physicists and materials scientists who came from all over the world passed the strict security checks one after another, walked into the NTU campus, and walked towards the auditorium.
At the school gate, Witten, who was wearing a woolen sweater and a pair of round glasses, handed the invitation letter in his hand to the guard, passed the inspection and walked into the campus.
Behind him, David Gross, whose hairline was already bald on most of his forehead, also walked in through the security check.
Walking quickly to Witten, Gross glanced curiously at the tight security behind him and asked Witten: "Is the inspection here so strict? Why does it feel completely different from before?"
Although he does not come to China often, he has also come to China to attend some briefings and meetings. He felt that the security this time was completely different from before, and it seemed particularly strict.
Witten: "It has something to do with Xu Chuan. The report meetings he leads basically follow this procedure. It may be to prevent any unexpected situations from happening at the meeting."
This was not the first time he attended this student's report. There was a mathematics seminar held in the capital not long ago, and the security specifications were similar to this one.
Gross: "This is too exaggerated. Even the utility knife on the key chain was taken away."
There was a tool knife on his key chain, which was less than three centimeters in total and resembled an ornament. However, when he passed through the security check, he was told that he was not allowed to carry it and it was confiscated.
Witten shrugged and said, "Don't worry, they will arrange for someone to return it to you when you leave. Even if you don't remember it, you don't have to worry about leaving it here."
He was not too surprised by this level of security. Although he was a little surprised like Gross at first, it made sense again when he thought about the achievements of his student.
The two of them came together to the auditorium where the report meeting was held. There were many people who had arrived earlier than them. The dark figures and the sound of whispering discussions merged into one in the auditorium.
After passing through the crowd, Witten found his seat and sat down.
Sitting next to him was another top physicist, Michael Kosterlitz.
Michael Kosterlitz won the 2016 Nobel Prize for his discovery of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.
Witten didn't show any surprise. He greeted him with a smile and sat down.
"Witten, did you see him yesterday? He doesn't seem to be in this school?" After chatting for a few words, Michael Kosterlitz looked at Edward Witten and asked.
He arrived here yesterday, but he could not find Xu Chuan on the NTU campus, and no one answered his phone calls, which made him regretful.
Originally, he wanted to talk to Xu Chuan about the basis of strongly correlated systems and topological states of matter, but he couldn't find anyone.
Shaking his head, Witten said: "No, I also sent him a message yesterday, but I didn't receive a reply."
After a slight pause, he continued: "But you will definitely see him at the report meeting today. He is always punctual."
Kosterlitz: "Let's wait until the report is over. By the way, I heard that CERN seems to have made some big changes?"
Witten nodded and said: "CERN is discussing canceling the construction of the LC-LHC high-luminosity collider. Of course, it has not been decided yet."
Hearing this, Kosterlitz glanced at him in surprise and asked: "Why should it be cancelled? Hasn't physics stopped developing?"
Although he is not a scholar in the field of high-energy physics, he also knows the importance of the Large Hadron Collider to physics.
Witten: "China is ready to take over this work. They are preparing to build a higher-energy hadron collider. They are currently discussing cooperation with the directors of CERN."
Kosterlitz: "But shouldn't this kind of thing be in our own hands? This is a collider, a necessary scientific research equipment for the development of basic science."
"Also, if China controls the collider, will we all have to come to China for research in the future?
Witten smiled and said, "Is there anything wrong with it?"
Costley shook his head. He always felt that doing so was giving up the development of basic science, at least in the fields of high-energy physics and particle physics.
In fact, he is not the only one who holds this view.
There are ongoing arguments within the CERN board of directors about whether to continue building the high-luminosity LHC and the Future Circulation Collider (FCC).
Some people support it, and some people oppose it.
Those who support it believe that China has decided to build a 100 Tev energy level hadron collider, and even if the LHC is upgraded to become an LC-LHC high-luminosity collider, it will have no competitive advantage, so it is better to give up altogether.
Especially the government representatives, many people think that since China wants to take over this aspect of work, let them take over, so that the funds can be diverted and used in other areas.
Anyway, the achievements in the field of high-energy physics are basically fully disclosed. China did not try to be alone and invited them to participate.
If needed in the future, just build another one. Anyway, they have the technology, so what are they afraid of?
Those who oppose it believe that basic scientific research equipment such as the Large Hadron Collider must be in their own hands. There is no doubt about the importance of basic science, which can lead the development of science and technology.
If we do not take the initiative in basic science, I am afraid that the dominant situation in future scientific and technological development will be completely changed.
To this end, many meetings have been held at CERN, but each time they ended in vain.
Witten is not interested in participating in these things. For him, whether CERN continues to build high-brightness LC-LHC or not, it probably will not affect him.
On the one hand, the string theory he studied is not something that can be discovered in this century.
On the other hand, China has its back. No matter what, China will not refuse the participation of a top physicist in research, and will treat every participating country and physicist fairly and equitably.
This was promised to him personally by his student.
...
Time passed amidst the discussion of the crowd, and at nine o'clock exactly, Xu Chuan, dressed in formal attire, walked steadily to the front of the auditorium.
Standing on the reporting platform and looking around at the audience who had quickly quieted down, Xu Chuan felt particularly calm.
He was not excited about today's report.
The results that should be produced have been produced. Although the paper has not yet been published and reviewed, he has actually obtained the corresponding results.
The improved superconductor with 40T is the best verification of his achievements.
Reaching out to straighten the microphone, Xu Chuan briefly tested whether the microphone was working properly and then spoke in a calm and clear voice.
"First of all, welcome to everyone who has come to participate in the exchange report. I am also very grateful to you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here to listen to my academic report."
"Today's exchange report, as you can see, is about the unified framework theory of strongly correlated electronic systems."
"I believe that everyone here has read the paper since it was published, so I won't waste time and go straight to the point."
After making a simple opening, Xu Chuan went directly to the main topic.
The screen behind him lit up, clearly showing the content of today's report.
"The main difference between a strongly correlated system and a weakly correlated system is the intensity of electron interaction. In a strongly correlated system, the Coulomb repulsion between electrons cannot be ignored, causing the originally applicable band theory to fail."
"In this regard, we have always lacked effective calculation methods and related unified theories."
"Today, I will give a demonstration here, hoping to bring you some inspiration."
"...Consider the second variable of a two-variable function f(x1,x2) in a complete set of single-variable basis functions {φi(x)}i=1^N. Expand f(x1,x2)
=∑^ni=1bi(x1)φ(x2), the coefficient bi(x1) can be obtained as a function of the first variable."
"The basis function is further expanded to..."
Following Xu Chuan's explanation, in the auditorium, the scholars listening to the lecture at the front desk raised their heads and listened carefully.
Including Witten, who had already understood the complete paper with Xu Chuan before, and Michael Kosterlitz, who was sitting next to him.
Especially the latter, he had a lot of doubts in his mind, which he hoped to be answered at this report meeting.
Sitting in the front row, Qiu Chengtong, who came all the way from Shuimu University, looked at the figure on the stage and suddenly felt a little emotional.
"It's unimaginable."
On the side, Chen Zhengping from Nanda University heard this and asked curiously: "What?"
Qiu Chengtong smiled and said: "It's hard to imagine that he can make so many achievements in so many fields at such a young age."
Hearing this, Chen Zhengping thought for a while and replied: "If I remember correctly, during the Chinese New Year last year, he had just celebrated his 24th birthday and was on his 25th birthday."
"Twenty-five years old?" Upon hearing this answer, Qiu Chengtong was stunned for a moment, as if he was lost in thought. After being silent for a while, he said:
"At the age of 26, Einstein wrote four papers that shocked the world, establishing his status as the greatest physicist of the 20th century."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Do you think he has the chance to create the same miracle and become the greatest physicist of the 21st century, or even surpass all his predecessors?"
Hearing this question, Chen Zhengping was stunned for a moment, then smiled dumbly and said: "I'm afraid this is not easy."
After a slight pause, he continued: "Although I have never denied his talent, I can say that over the years, he is the most talented scholar I have ever seen. But it is very difficult to surpass everyone in physics.
Difficult to achieve.”
"If he concentrates on doing research in physics, I think he will have a chance."
"But look at how many fields he is involved in now, including mathematics, physics, astronomy, materials science, computational chemistry, and even computer programming modeling, applied science... I am afraid there is no one in the world who can compare with him.
He has become more involved in science."
Qiu Chengtong smiled and said, "I'm quite optimistic about him. This guy might be able to create an unprecedented miracle."
"What?"
"Reaching the highest peak in history in both mathematics and physics."
Qiu Chengtong uttered a few words, which made Chen Zhengping stunned again, and then he shook his head with a dumb smile.
To be honest, even his former mentor had never thought about it this way.
The highest peak in history, this must surpass all mathematicians and physicists at the same time.
Seeing Chen Zhengping shaking his head, Qiu Chengtong smiled and said: "Then let's make a bet. I think he really has hope of doing it, and he can even see it in my lifetime."
Hearing this, Chen Zhengping was stunned again. Qiu is seventy-three years old this year. Even if he can live to be ninety, this is already a long life, but it will only last seventeen years.
It is undeniable that in mathematics, his student's results are enough for him to compete for a ranking in the history of mathematics. It may still take time to settle, but there is indeed hope.
Whether it is algebraic variety and group mapping tools or micro-element construction methods, they can be expanded enough to become tools such as calculus and Fourier transform, as long as he is willing to promote them.
But in physics, the results he created may not be enough.
Seventeen years, that is to say, Xu Chuan will surpass his predecessors in mathematics and physics before reaching the pinnacle of mathematics and physics before he is forty-two years old. This is probably beyond description of difficulty.
If he really does this, he will be the biggest miracle of the 21st century.
.......
PS: There is another chapter in the evening, as usual, it may not come out before twelve o'clock.