Director Pickering showed Li Yu the results of the Harvard University Observatory. They have now taken more than 100,000 astronomical photos, and have classified the spectra of tens of thousands of stars. They have already made preliminary spectral classifications.
Among the many data and results, Li Yu is more interested in a result that is currently somewhat unpopular.
"This is Cepheid!" Li Yu said in surprise.
The woman who made this achievement in front of her did not speak.
Pickering came over and said, "This is Ms. Leavitt. Unfortunately, she has lost her hearing."
Li Yu quickly said: "Sorry!"
LeWitt could see that Li Yu admired her discovery very much, and said: "I have discovered many such stars. Their properties are worthy of attention, although I don't know what their uses are."
Leavitt lost her hearing only as an adult. After being admitted to Radcliffe College, she already mastered five languages.
However, I contracted a strange disease the year after I graduated and gradually lost my hearing.
"Yes, this is a very noteworthy discovery," Li Yu said.
Lord Kelvin nodded: "That's him."
The vigorous development of astronomy and astrophysics actually began in the early twentieth century, so LeWitt was almost the woman who stood behind a large number of great astronomers in the future, but she herself was unknown and died of cancer early.
If the distance cannot be measured effectively, a lot of information will be lost, and subsequent astronomical research will be impossible to carry out.
"Of course," Baron Rayleigh said, "he just added "-1" to the denominator of Wien's formula, and it was completely consistent with the black body radiation curve. But anyone with a discerning eye would know that it was just made up, because what about the black body radiation problem?
It would be so simple.”
Huggins' professional field is astronomy and he is not good at theoretical physics, but of course he has heard of the problem of such hot black body radiation.
President Huggins saw that Lord Kelvin was deep in thought and did not answer himself, so he directly took Li Yu's paper and read it.
The key point is that Li Yu once again used his mathematical ability. The derivation process was extremely rigorous and it was impossible to find faults.
This is just the first item. With such a large amount of data, more valuable scientific research results must be produced.
This is not over yet. With so much data at hand, the question of spectral redshift on the large scale of the universe must also be raised!
In the Royal Society, Lord Kelvin's hands almost trembled when he looked at the paper in front of him.
On the one hand, it is because it is too far away and difficult to observe; on the other hand, it is impossible to measure the distance and does not know the distance.
The second director of the Cavendish Laboratory was Baron Rayleigh, but he voluntarily resigned long ago and gave way to Thomson, who was only 28 years old at the time. This move was very sensational at the time. After all, Thomson was too young.
Many people disagreed, but Baron Rayleigh recognized Thomson's talent early and resolutely gave up his position to him.
After carefully reading the data from the Harvard University Observatory, Li Yu quickly understood what to do, and what he wanted to do was not just a discovery:
First, he could correctly map the structure of the Milky Way based on various star distances.
"Sir, wait a moment, I want to verify it carefully."
"Mr. Lord, although you are excited every time you see a paper from Li Yu, this time it is a bit too much." said Huggins, President of the Royal Society.
Lord Kelvin said: "It should also be given to him, but the main review opinion of the paper must be followed by Professor Planck."
Then he remembered that LeWitt had lost his hearing and he couldn't speak sign language, so he had to give her a thumbs up to show respect.
Of course, he also raised questions: "Why can he stand so firmly on my side of quantum theory?"
Lord Kelvin said: "It is better for me to take the paper to Baron Rayleigh myself and show it to him."
Looking at the entire scientific community, there are really few people who can support quantum theory so strongly, which of course made Planck feel incredible.
"Then," Rayleigh looked at the paper carefully again, "the problem is not in mathematics, but in physics."
A few years ago, some astronomers gave a structural diagram that the Milky Way may be a whirlpool structure, but the error was huge. The spiral arms and galactic center of the Milky Way were drawn wrong, and even the most familiar position of the solar system was also drawn incorrectly.
Rayleigh also raised this question: "The Lord also knows that no matter what, mathematics is the forerunner and the crown, and it cannot conflict with mathematics in any way."
Of course, President Huggins respected Lord Kelvin's views more in this field of pure physics, so he called editor Joelson over and asked him to transcribe two papers as soon as possible and send them to Planck and Rayleigh respectively.
With such practical results, LeWitt, a woman who had some regrets in her life, could gain more respect during her lifetime.
Planck did not read the article immediately. He stood up and looked at the sky, feeling as if he had met a close friend but was afraid of being disappointed after reading it.
President Huggins said: "Shouldn't it be sent to our Baron Rayleigh? He is now at Cambridge University."
Of course, Li Yu knew the value of Cepheids. They are "rulers" for measuring the sky, which can be used to measure the distances of distant stars.
Pickering didn't think so. He just thought there was a special type of star whose brightness changed over time, and asked LeWitt to conduct relevant research.
Therefore, in his second research, he wanted to use LeWitt's Cepheid variable star method to find the extragalactic galaxy - the Andromeda Galaxy - for the first time in human history.
But Li Yu completely broke away from their shackles and conducted real theoretical derivation based on quantum concepts.
However, after finishing these things, Li Yu was not in a hurry to announce it, because now he still had someone to meet.
But this head start can make Li Yu's status very transcendent.
"Planck?" President Huggins thought for a while before finding this person in his mind. "Professor Planck of the University of Berlin?"
This is her greatest effort, and she is a woman who is not recognized by the scientific community. She can persevere in such a boring and complicated job because she truly loves astronomy.
"Remember Planck's weird formula?" Kelvin asked.
Although Planck is now far less famous than Lord Kelvin, and not as famous as Baron Rayleigh, Planck is still a university physics professor and an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. As a reviewer, his opinions must be respected.
.
Pickering said: "To be honest, as far as I know, variable stars are not uncommon and there is nothing special about them."
The facilities at the Harvard University Observatory are quite advanced and are currently among the best in the United States.
Rayleigh had studied the problem of black body radiation for a long time and was already familiar with it. It didn't take long to realize that there was nothing wrong with the demonstration process, but the use of Planck's quantum hypothesis did feel very "out of the ordinary".
However, Li Yu knew in his heart that for the scale of the universe, millions of light years are as small as a microscopic particle.
Although the general theory of relativity has not yet been born, red shift cannot yet be used to explain the expansion of the universe, and the subsequent distance measurement of many other extragalactic galaxies will take many, many more years - by then the value of red shift will be more slowly realized.
Since then, there have been inspirations for the search for extraterrestrial life, but that involves the material composition near the galactic center. Li Yu does not need to discuss those issues too much now.
Lord Kelvin asked: "What do you think of this article? I mean, are there any flaws?"
Rayleigh said: "You also believe that this world is discontinuous? How is that possible!"
Although people have generally accepted the heliocentric theory, they believe that the sun is the center of the Milky Way, and the Milky Way is the entire universe.
"Are they all right?" Huggins asked.
Lord Kelvin said: "I don't know whether I should believe it or not. This reminds me of the fractal graphics mentioned in Li Yu's influential book "Fractals and Chaos". They are not differentiable everywhere and are equally bizarre. But
No matter how bizarre it is, it is undeniable that his proof process is so perfect."
"Publish it," said Lord Kelvin. "We never expected that Li Yu would send us such an extraordinary article."
In this era, the Nobel Prize is also divided into "levels": the physics prize is an absolute crown level, much higher than the others.
In fact, this is not the most important star spectrum classification work at the Harvard University Observatory at this time, but is an unpopular matter.
These three things, one after another, are all heavyweight astronomical research results.
Riley breathed out: "This is something incredible."
So, let’s get started.
Lord Kelvin is of course more famous, but in the current world of physics, Baron Rayleigh's status is not much weaker.
The most important thing is that no one knows what a variable star is or what its value is.
The University of Cambridge is right next to London, only 70 to 80 kilometers away.
This is also related to the relatively limited understanding of the current astronomical community.
Lord Kelvin said: "I thought so too at first, but I didn't know how to say it. You can see for yourself."
When Ruili saw the name "Li Yu" on the cover, he felt a little interesting, "It turns out to be him."
Lord Kelvin held the manuscript of the paper in his hand and said: "There is an article that I don't know whether to make you happy or disappointed. I must show it to you in person."
Baron Rayleigh said in surprise: "What article is worthy of your lord coming here in person?"
The Andromeda Galaxy is more than two million light-years away. This distance is far beyond the scope of the Milky Way and is a distance that is difficult for humans to imagine at this time.
The Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge is world-famous. Its founder was Maxwell, the master of electromagnetics, who was also the first director of the laboratory.
So after getting approval from some of the big guys at the forefront of blackbody radiation, Lord Kelvin made up his mind.
He was an expert in this field, and seemed to be much faster than Baron Rayleigh. He soon discovered that Li Yu's theoretical foundation was terrifyingly solid, and his understanding of quantum theory was also astonishingly deep, not even inferior to his own.
Afterwards, Thomson also used practical actions to prove that Baron Rayleigh's vision was correct.
Lord Kelvin took a long time to answer: "I don't see the problem, but I really can't believe that after making such a great contribution to the field of thermodynamics, he would break away from thermodynamics at this time."
Huggins said: "I don't understand what you mean."
In order to have greater repercussions, Li Yu must make greater changes in people's current understanding.
People in later generations will have to work hard to accept quantum mechanics, let alone this enlightenment period of quantum mechanics.
Lord Kelvin and Baron Rayleigh are both men with titles. Don't underestimate them by thinking that they are just the youngest barons among princes and princes. Barons are also very special.
Looking at the specific content of the article, it is even more subversive.
LeWitt naturally knew Li Yu's identity and was very happy with his appreciation.
"Of course, no problem," Pickering said, "You just need to indicate the source. Originally, these will be published publicly in the future."
"Oh my God!"
Planck took a few puffs of his cigarette, took a deep breath, sat back and unfolded Li Yu's paper.
At the same time, the British side had received Li Yu's paper on the derivation of the blackbody radiation formula.
"What kind of person is this!" Planck couldn't help but exclaimed, "What kind of person can write such a sharp article! Between the lines, every number and every symbol seems to be shouting that the quantum theory is correct!"
Generally speaking, the annual parallax method is used to measure the distance of stars within 300 light-years;
Spectral analysis is used to measure the distance of stars between 300 and 100,000 light-years away;
"Mr. Lord, why are you here?" Baron Riley was quite surprised when he saw Kelvin. People of their status had fewer and fewer private exchanges.
Lord Kelvin said: "His argumentation process is so novel that I can't fully explain it. I'm afraid I have to let Planck himself in Germany take a look."
For stars that are particularly distant, such as more than 100,000 light-years away, the Cepheid method is used;
Of course, if the distance reaches hundreds of millions of light years, we can only use the red shift method.
However, the Mount Wilson Observatory built by Hale of the American Astronomical Society and the Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago will become even more powerful.
Lord Kelvin has already declared Planck as a reviewer in his letter, so what else is there to say!
In addition, the binaural effect, such as why the human ear can distinguish the location of sounds, and why the sky is blue, were the earliest explanations given by Baron Rayleigh.
Li Yu's previously published papers on the second law and the third law of thermodynamics are in the field of thermodynamics. In fact, the problem of black body radiation is now considered to be a thermodynamic problem.
However, the astronomical community's current understanding of the universe still remains within the Milky Way, or it is believed that the Milky Way is everything.
Of course, it is really great for Li Yu. High-quality data can save a lot of trouble.
"Is Planck right?!" Lord Kelvin said to himself.
After all, Baron Rayleigh is also the person who will win the Nobel Prize in Physics next year, and his Nobel Prize is not based on the wrong black body radiation formula like Wien's, which is somewhat watery.
Planck immediately wrote a reply eloquently: "This is a very groundbreaking paper. There is no doubt that Mr. Li Yu is already at the forefront of mathematical science. Whether it is from a mathematical or physical perspective, you cannot
Pick out even one flaw. It’s hard to imagine that this is just a first draft, but I can clearly say that it doesn’t need to be revised a word, and not a word can be changed. It is worth remembering by the whole world!”
Well, Planck's praise really gives him enough face.
"Yes," said Lord Kelvin, "I think the core lies in the quantum hypothesis at the beginning."
Li Yu can use these data to correctly give a diagram of the spiral structure of the Milky Way, which will be of great help to astronomy. In particular, the correct structure of the spiral arms of the Milky Way is definitely a first-class event in astronomy.
Director Pickering himself certainly hopes that these data can play a greater role in the hands of those who understand them, which will be beneficial to his own observatory and Harvard University.
Planck also received the letter soon. He had known Li Yu's name for a long time, and he had already caught a hint of quantum theory in Li Yu's paper. He had long felt that Li Yu recognized his point of view. Now,
This paper refers directly to his blackbody radiation formula. He doesn't need to read the content. He knows that the core is quantum just by looking at the name.
Li Yu said: "But the variable star discovered by Ms. Leavitt is indeed special."
The current research on blackbody radiation in the physics community shows that only high frequencies are in good agreement with Wien, and only low frequencies are in good agreement with Baron Rayleigh. They basically use thermodynamic methods.
This is the view of most scientists now. Planck's formula is indeed too similar to Wien's formula. The only difference is that the denominator is added by a simple step of "subtracting 1", which is difficult for anyone to accept.
Baron Rayleigh sat at the table, concentrating on each word, and then said after a long time: "I can only say that his argument process is perfect, without any problems."
Lord Kelvin read it carefully again. He was too familiar with the problem of black body radiation. He said "two dark clouds" himself.
Rayleigh was not against new science, but the second mathematical crisis had only just passed, and the scientific community had just accepted the concept of infinitesimals in mathematics. Now physics suddenly says that there are no infinitesimals, which really makes everyone feel awkward.
Li Yu said to Director Pickering: "Can I use the data from the Harvard Observatory?"
Lord Kelvin smiled and said: "I agree with you. It seems we have to wait and see what Planck of Germany says."
Lord Kelvin handed Li Yu's manuscript to Baron Rayleigh.
So when Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for no reason later, he was a little unhappy. He himself said: "Science only has one subject: physics, and the rest is just collecting stamps."
Planck read the paper several times in a row and couldn't help but exclaim that it was brilliant, "Although they are all based on my quantum hypothesis, it is obvious that his proof process is much better than mine."
Therefore, Baron Rayleigh has absolutely nothing to say in terms of scientific conduct and is very generous.
Lord Kelvin nodded: "Your question is very accurate, but this Li Yu's mathematics is really good. He obviously knows this contradiction, so his mathematical argumentation process is extremely perfect, so that you can't find fault at all. I
I even suspect that my mathematical knowledge is out of date and I should make up for it."
President Huggins said: "Does that mean we also have to issue him authorization at the same time?"
"There is no problem!" Lord Kelvin affirmed. "The importance of this paper is indescribable. He should definitely be granted the status of a foreign academician of the Royal Society. I am even worried that if we invite him later, other academies of science will issue applications."
President Huggins felt that Lord Kelvin was right, and immediately said: "Yes, I will write the authorization letter in my own hand right now!"
Lord Kelvin smiled and said: "Let's send a telegram first. Look at Li Yu's letter. He is now in the United States. Just send it to the Qing Embassy in the United States."