1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 137 Atomic Planetary Model Shocked the Physics World!
Since the announcement of the second Nobel Prize in Physics, research on atomic structure has become mainstream.

Since existing optical microscopes cannot directly observe atoms and electrons, physicists mainly study atomic structure through imagination.

Just like Lorentz imagined the existence of electrons.

In the current world, except for a few top laboratories such as Cavendish, it is still very difficult to carry out research on atoms.

This is why even Wilson is so popular, and his cloud chamber is now a hot commodity.

In this era, the most important means of studying microscopic particles is the magnetic field.

As long as the particle is charged, it is easy to calculate its properties, such as mass, charge, etc., by deflecting it in a magnetic field.

Wilson's cloud chamber allows physicists to directly observe the trajectory of particles, which makes it very high-end.

Thomson's date cake model was proposed under such unique conditions.

In fact, before this, Lord Kelvin had proposed the solid charged sphere model.

He believed that electrons were uniformly positively charged spheres with negatively charged electrons buried inside them, and were in electrostatic equilibrium under normal conditions.

Later, this model was developed by Thomson and became the date cake model.

The date cake model assumes that electrons are distributed in a sphere, just like dates dotted on the surface of a cake.

The model not only explains why atoms are electrically neutral, but also how electrons are distributed in atoms.

It can also explain the phenomenon of cathode rays and the fact that metals can emit electrons when exposed to ultraviolet rays.

Based on the model, Thomson also estimated that the size of an atom is about 0.1 nanometers, which is a remarkable achievement.

It is precisely because the date cake model can explain many phenomena that it is accepted by most physicists.

However, with the example of special relativity, no other theory now dares to claim to be authoritative.

People have discovered that theory can completely surpass experiments and even guide experiments.

Although Thomson had a good laboratory like Cavendish, his theory was not necessarily correct.

Atomic structure may hold other clues.

So, during this period of time, different papers have been published every day, imagining how atoms contain electrons and what their internal structure is like.

On October 10, French physicist Perrin (20 Nobel Prize in Physics) proposed a model of atomic structure through conjecture at the French Physical Society.

He believed that the center of the atom was composed of some positively charged particles and the periphery was composed of some electrons orbiting around it.

The period of the electron's rotation corresponds to the spectral frequency emitted by the atom, and cathode rays are emitted when the outermost electrons are thrown out.

Perrin's model is basically very close to the nuclear structure.

However, he had no experimental data, so he could not describe the specific size and other properties of the atom's positively charged center.

On October 10, German physicist Lenard (22 Nobel Prize in Physics) proposed the neutral particle kinetic model.

He believed that most of the volume of an atom was empty space, with rigid matter occupying only one hundred thousandth of the space.

He also imagined that rigid matter was a combination of positively charged particles and negatively charged electrons within atoms.

On October 10, Japanese physicist Hantaro Nagaoka proposed the "Saturn model" structure at the Tokyo Society for Mathematical Physics and published the paper in British and German journals.

In his paper, he criticized Thomson's jujube-cake model, arguing that positive and negative charges cannot penetrate each other.

His Saturn model holds that there is a ring of electrons rotating inside the positively charged core of the atom.

In layman's terms, a massive positively charged sphere has a circle of equally spaced electrons around it that move in a circular motion at the same angular velocity.

The radial vibration of electrons emits a line spectrum, while the vibration perpendicular to the ring plane emits a band spectrum.

However, although Nagaoka Hantaro's theory is extremely close to the nuclear structure, it is still a conjecture and has no solid experimental basis.

Moreover, he was unable to explain the specific properties of the so-called massive positively charged sphere, which was a bit like Perrin.

When Li Qiwei saw that the Japanese had published a paper, he could no longer sit still.

Now he has changed history, and who knows, the Japanese might get there first.

As long as Nagaoka Hantaro could find a way to add some more experiments, he might be able to come up with a planetary model earlier than himself.

So, after three days of detailed discussions with Professor Thomson and with his consent, Li Qiwei finally published the contents of his doctoral thesis.

On November 1902, 11, a paper titled "The Scattering of Alpha Particles by Matter and Its Principle Structure" was published on the front page of the journal Nature.

Author: Bruce Lee!

This paper introduces the various scattering behaviors produced by alpha particles bombarding gold atoms through detailed experimental data.

One of the most important data is: for every eight thousand alpha particles incident, one alpha particle is reflected back.

This result strongly proves that there must be a massive core inside the atom.

The paper will refer to it as the [atomic nucleus].

The nucleus is positively charged and concentrated in a very small area inside the atom.

Calculated through experimental data, the mass of the nucleus accounts for more than 99.9% of the total mass of the atom.

Based on the above real and rigorous experimental data.

Li Qiwei proposed his planetary model hypothesis in the paper:

That is, the atom is like the solar system, the nucleus is the sun, which occupies the largest mass, and the negatively charged electrons are the planets orbiting the sun.

Inside atoms, the force that governs the interactions between them is the electromagnetic interaction.

As soon as the paper came out, the physics community was shocked!

This paper is even more important than the special theory of relativity.

Li Qiwei, who published this paper, once again stunned everyone and made them admire him. "What's going on? Isn't Bruce Lee a theoretical physicist? Why is he now studying atomic structure?"

"And his first paper is such a heavyweight one. His genius is simply despairing."

"Oh my God, is there really someone who can straddle both theoretical physics and experimental physics?"

"The key is to make results in each field that are powerful enough to change the world of physics."

At McGill University in Canada, Rutherford looked at the paper in his hand and smiled bitterly.

"Oh, if I had persisted, I might have been the one to discover the atomic nucleus."

His assistant Soddy smiled and asked, "Professor Rutherford, why did you give up your research on atomic structure?"

Rutherford sighed and said, "Well, it's not that I gave up, but I put the study of radioactivity first."

"My mind was full of the radioactivity of uranium salts, so I put the alpha particle experiment on hold."

"Professor Thomson told me before that Bruce had made a breakthrough in the alpha particle bombardment experiment. I was wondering about it."

"I did some experiments at the time, but I felt like there were no results."

Soddy consoled him, "It seems that doing physics experiments also requires good luck."

Rutherford waved his hands, no longer upset, and said proudly: "It's okay, I don't need this result anyway."

"Our hypothesis of elemental transformation is about to be completed, and it will definitely be no worse than Bruce's planetary model."

Soddy also smiled and said, "Professor Rutherford, it is my greatest luck to study with you."

It was while working alongside Rutherford that Soddy studied natural radioactive elements and eventually came up with the concept of isotopes.

Lord Kelvin was chatting with Thomson at a regular meeting of the Royal Society of London.

"Hahaha, this Bruce really can't rest for a moment. He just announced the overthrow of Newton, and now he wants to overthrow his own mentor."

"Thomson, how do you feel now?"

"Ah, I was also shocked when I saw the first draft of the paper he submitted to me."

"This topic was left by Rutherford. I didn't expect it to blossom and bear fruit in Bruce's hands."

"That guy is so smart. Not only is he good at theory, he is also very good at experiments. He assembled many of the instruments himself."

“I feel like he has a bright future ahead of him.”

Lord Kelvin smiled and said, "Your Cavendish school is considered a powerful family in the world of physics."

"First there was Maxwell, then Lord Rayleigh, and now you are in charge of the laboratory."

"After you retire, do you plan to let Bruce become the fourth director of Cavendish's laboratory?"

Thomson smiled bitterly, "It's a pity that Bruce is unwilling to become a British citizen, otherwise he would definitely have achieved greater success."

"I have privately advised him that Qing nationality would restrict his development."

"But that kid was too stubborn and refused to change his nationality."

Lord Kelvin understood what Thomson meant as soon as he heard it. He smiled and said, "Maybe he will become a school of his own in the future."

"Don't regret it then, hahaha."

Thompson could only sigh.

In Fuso Province, at the Faculty of Science of Tokyo Imperial University, 37-year-old Nagaoka Hantaro is already a professor at the Faculty of Science.

While he taught applied mathematics and theoretical physics, he continued his research.

His research areas are very broad.

In the field of basic physics, he mainly studies atomic spectra, electromagnetic fields, etc.

In the field of applied physics, he carried out measurements of magnetic declination and rock elastic waves, as well as gravity throughout the country.

Research is also conducted on Fuso geomagnetism, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes and other phenomena.

In real history, Nagaoka Hantaro was the founder of almost all fields of Fuso physics and was called the "Father of Fuso Physics."

The students he trained are spread across all disciplines of Japanese physics.

Yoshio Nishina, the founder of Fuso's theory of elementary particles, was his graduate student;
Hideki Yukawa, Japan's first Nobel Prize winner in physics, was also mentored by him.

In his later years, he held the highest position in Fuso's academic community and served in the highest position in academic administration.

However, at this moment, after seeing Li Qiwei's paper, Nagaoka Hantaro's hands could not stop shaking.

"Almost, just almost. Unfortunately, the equipment at the Imperial University is too poor to verify my theory."

"Otherwise, I must have been the first to propose the planetary model."

"Bruce Lee, Ridgway, what kind of person are you?"

He sighed, looked across the sea at the Qing Dynasty, and muttered to himself:
"The heritage of that ancient empire is so profound that it has clearly been surpassed by our Fusang Empire."

"But there are too many of them. There will always be one or two great geniuses who will turn the tide in desperate situations."

"Quantum theory, the photoelectric effect, special relativity, the planetary model of the atom."

"These great physical achievements were actually proposed by the Chinese."

"Mr. Li Qiwei, are you the genius in the field of physics?"

"In this life, I, Nagaoka Hantaro, swear to be your rival and always suppress China in the field of physics!"

(End of this chapter)