Keeping feet on the earth and looking up at the stars is the only way for the development of every advanced intelligent civilization.
If there are other intelligent civilizations similar to humans in the universe, perhaps the vast space is also a headache for them at the moment.
The universe is so vast that even if it travels at the speed of light, it will take at least 93 billion years to fly out of the observable universe.
Beyond the observable universe, no one knows how vast the entire universe is.
Not to mention the entire universe, even the tiny dust-like solar system in the Milky Way is a far distance that humans cannot currently cross.
Human civilization has launched the farthest-traveling probe, Voyager 1, and it has only traveled 25 billion kilometers to the edge of the Kuiper Belt.
It is still at least 17,000 years away from the Oort Nebula, the frontier of the solar system.
This time is enough for the development of human civilization to restart at least twice.
Speed is undoubtedly the core key for any intelligent civilization in the initial stage of exploring the space and universe.
Therefore, Xu Chuan still attaches great importance to magnetic reconnection electromagnetic propulsion technology.
One-tenth the speed of light, for an intelligent civilization that has just entered space, this speed is undoubtedly the ultimate speed that can be reached.
Unfortunately, the entire physics community and astrophysics community currently do not know much about the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection.
Most of the observed magnetic reconnection phenomena originate from the sun, the nearest star to the earth.
For example, the post-flare ring phenomenon, that is, the magnetic arch after the flare, sometimes has an obvious sharp angle at the top, which is derived from the magnetic reconnection phenomenon.
But knowing that it comes from magnetic reconnection does not mean that we have figured out all the mechanisms behind why magnetic reconnection occurs.
Just like solar flares, they are divided into two forms: 'slow reconnection' and 'fast reconnection'. No one knows the reason behind this.
From the current point of view, this is a very promising theory. It not only involves the dynamics of the electric field, but also is related to the corresponding magnetic field.
If we can figure out the 'truth' behind it, humankind's control over the 'electromagnetic field' will go one step further.
Control thunder and lightning in the true sense!
...
In the office, after chatting for a while, Xu Chuan also stood up and left.
In the office, Chang Huaxiang picked up two papers from the tea table, flipped through them, stood up and put the planning documents for the manned mission project into the drawer of his desk.
After thinking for a while, he came to the School of Physics on the Gulou Campus of NTU with another paper related to magnetic reconnection theory.
With his level of physics, it is not easy to understand this kind of paper.
But here at NTU, he had an old classmate who happened to be a professor in the field of astrophysics.
No matter which aspect you consider, it is definitely right to find someone to understand the magnetic reconnection theory first.
As for the thesis, it must have been approved by Xu Chuan.
Although he has no way to judge the value of this paper, he still knows the importance of this kind of thing.
.....
NTU, in the office building of the Department of Astrophysics, School of Physics.
After knocking on the open door, Chang Huaxiang smiled and called out: "Long time no see, Lao Miao."
Miao Jianguo, who was leisurely drinking tea and reading the newspaper in his office, suddenly heard a familiar voice.
Turning around, I saw that my old friend of many years was standing by the door.
"Hey, Lao Chang, what brought you to my place? What a glorious place." Miao Jianguo stood up quickly and said hello with a smile.
Chang Huaxiang looked around the office and said with a smile: "You are quite leisurely. You are reading the newspaper and drinking tea. Your life is nourishing."
Miao Jianguo smiled and said: "There are not many things that can be done in the astrophysics and physics community, and they are not as good as those of you who are engaged in aerospace. If you want, you can also come here. I welcome you at any time."
"Forget it, I'm not engaged in astrophysics research, why am I here?"
Miao Jianguo glanced at Chang Huaxiang, and said with a smile while making tea: "Look at you, you are saying that my life is prosperous here, and I asked you to come, but you don't come, aren't you just here to pick a fight with me?"
"What's wrong? I'm drinking some tea and reading the newspaper here, and I've offended you? Do you want to come over and criticize me?"
Chang Huaxiang smiled and said, "Don't blame me. I came here today to see you for something."
"oh?"
Hearing this, Miao Jianguo looked over in surprise and said: "The famous Academician Chang, who is responsible for several super aerospace projects, comes to see me, an unknown person? How can I help?"
After leaving Beihang University and joining Xinghai Research Institute, the projects Chang Huaxiang was responsible for and the things he did were envied by people not to mention in the aerospace industry, but also by the outside world.
The research and development of the space shuttle, the success of the manned moon landing project, the construction of the lunar scientific research base...
Every item you pull out can make any astronaut envious to death.
Even he, who drank tea and read newspapers in the office every day, lamented that this old school friend from decades ago had taken off in his later years.
Chang Huaxiang smiled and shook his head, saying: "Don't be poor, I really want to see you for something serious."
"No problem." Miao Jianguo said with a smile: "You can ask me for help, but it's not possible if you don't have a few meals."
"Okay, if you can solve it, you can take it for a year, let alone a month." Chang Huaxiang said with a smile.
"It seems like your food is not delicious."
Miao Jianguo glanced sideways at Chang Huaxiang, handed over a cup of tea, and said, "Tell me, what is the situation? You left thousands of researchers at Xinghai Research Institute and came to me instead."
When talking about business, Chang Huaxiang also suppressed the smile on his face, took the tea and said seriously: "How much do you know about the magnetic reconnection theory?"
"Magnetic reconnection?"
Hearing this term, Miao Jianguo glanced at his old friend curiously and was a little surprised: "This is something in the field of astrophysics. When did you study this?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Let's talk about it first, I will tell you the details later." Chang Huaxiang picked up the tea and took a sip.
"OK."
Nodding, Miao Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "The magnetic reconnection mechanism was proposed very early. In the 1950s, some people proposed related theories."
"However, there was a gap of several decades between a relatively complete explanation of the mechanism and the discovery of observational evidence to support it. It did not appear until the 1990s."
"Simply put, it is a very important rapid energy release process in astrophysics, and it is also a mechanism for converting magnetic energy into kinetic energy, thermal energy and radiation energy of particles."
"Academically, there is a significant connection between the magnetic reconnection effect and plasma fluctuations, among which the eigenmodes of quasi-static fluctuations, shock waves and dynamic Alfvén waves are important components of the magnetic reconnection structure."
"Its high-frequency fluctuations can not only absorb the free energy of particles, but also cause heating of particles and the generation of abnormal resistance. These multi-scale fluctuation processes reveal the multi-scale nature of energy conversion in magnetic reconnection...
.”
After briefly introducing the theory related to magnetic reconnection, Miao Jianguo picked up the water cup on the coffee table, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then said:
"The specific mechanism of magnetic reconnection is currently unclear, but in the astrophysics community, it is generally believed that the energy release of stars is caused by the magnetic reconnection mechanism."
"In terms of expression, what has been observed can be divided into two types."
"One is the activity on the star, such as flares on the sun, corona activities, etc."
"The other is the reconnection of plasma instability and asymmetry formed when planets with some magnetic fields, such as the Earth and Venus, encounter external erosion such as cosmic radiation and solar wind."
"The simple situation is like this. If you want to know more about it, I can recommend two textbooks and several papers to you."
After listening to the description of his old friend, Academician Chang Huaxiang nodded, thought for a while and then asked: "What about the magnetic reconnection phenomenon and the application of the theory?"
"Has it happened over the years?"
With Miao Jianguo's explanation, he had a more or less in-depth understanding of the magnetic reconnection mechanism.
Aerospace is still related to physics. Although it is not in-depth, it is not a big problem for him to understand these basic theories.
If the magnetic reconnection mechanism does have potential, then what concerns him most is undoubtedly the applicability of this theory.
Prior to this, whether there are scientific research results in other directions, there is still a lot of reference value for whether the magnetic reconnection mechanism can be applied to aerospace engines.
Miao Jianguo nodded and said: "Although there are not many, there are still some."
"For example, the acceleration mechanism of cold ions, satellite in-situ observation of turbulent magnetic reconnection, research on the conformation of biological macromolecules, etc. The development of these theories and technologies are all key to magnetic reconnection."
Hearing this, Academician Chang Huaxiang's eyes moved and he quickly asked: "What is the cold ion acceleration mechanism?"
Miao Jianguo thought for a while and said, "This may be more complicated to explain."
After thinking for a while, he organized his words and continued: "To put it simply, it is the process of using plasma fluctuations to affect the magnetic reconnection mechanism."
"You know very well that controllable nuclear fusion technology is the control of hot plasma. The cold plasma acceleration mechanism is another application."
"Cold plasma plumes are generally composed of ions and electrons with energy below 100eV, and have the characteristics of low speed and high density. They can be detected through the electron cyclotron whistle wave and left-polarized ion cyclotron whistle wave (L) in the magnetic reconnection mechanism.
(wave) excitation characteristics to excite quasi-parallel and anti-parallel whistle waves, thereby increasing the gyration radius of cold ions to a certain extent."
"When the gyration radius of cold ions increases, its speed will also increase to a certain extent, which is the so-called acceleration mechanism."
Hearing this, Chang Huaxiang's face looked a little touched, and his breathing quickened.
"In other words, it is possible to accelerate plasma by using the magnetic reconnection mechanism?"
He really didn't expect to get this answer when he came here today.
If the current technology can achieve a certain degree of ionization acceleration of cold ions, then the current application of thermal ion acceleration in aerospace engines is also feasible.
One-tenth the speed of light.
For any intelligent civilization that first enters space, this is an irresistible technology.
Even if they are currently unable to do this, they can still improve a lot of performance based on the original electric propulsion engine.
In terms of speed, doubling the speed won’t be a problem, right?
According to Xu Chuan's calculations, it only takes half a month to travel from the Earth to Mars. Mars, which is more suitable for immigrants than the moon, will undoubtedly become China's far-flung territory!
Miao Jianguo didn't think that much, or he simply didn't have the conditions to think about it.
Nodding, he said: "Theoretically, the magnetic reconnection mechanism can indeed be applied to the acceleration of plasma."
"but...."
"But what?"
Miao Jianguo shook his head and continued: "But whether it can be done, I really don't know."
"Strictly speaking, the cold ion acceleration mechanism is actually just a theory, not an application. The physics community has observed this phenomenon in the laboratory, and simulated and reproduced this magnetic field through the 2.5DPIC (Particle-in-Cell) method.
It’s just a reconnection process.”
"But this replica experiment is difficult to control the cold ion plume. It can only use the effect of a weak magnetic field to affect small-mass plasma and electrons to a certain extent."
"And more importantly, there is still no complete theory in the physics community that can explain the excitation characteristics of whistle waves and the acceleration mechanism of cold ions in this magnetic reconnection."
"Not to mention accelerating and manipulating massive heavy ions."
"so...."
Sighing, he continued: "It's not that easy to make a breakthrough in this area of research."
“It’s not just research being done at home, but also abroad.”
"If I remember correctly, NASA, Nivel Corporation, and Sakura Country's DENSO Electric Co., Ltd. in the United States have conducted research in this area."
"But there has been no breakthrough so far. Let alone applications, I haven't seen even a few theoretical papers related to the magnetic reconnection mechanism."
Although astrophysics is a relatively leisurely field, it generally refers to traditional astrophysics that studies the universe, the physical properties of stars (luminosity, density, temperature, chemical composition, etc.), and the interactions between stars.
.
In fact, to this day, astrophysicists usually need to apply in many different academic fields.
Classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, relativity, particle physics, etc. are all research and study objects for astrophysicists.
Although he seems to be drinking tea and reading newspapers all day long, as a professor of astrophysics at NTU, he is still very concerned about research in fields related to astrophysics.
If this were not the case, Chang Huaxiang would not have come here to discuss the magnetic reconnection mechanism with him.
"Don't you have any theories?"
Chang Huaxiang frowned slightly, thought for a while, took out the paper Xu Chuan gave him from his arms, and handed it over: "Take a look at this."