1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 222 Genius? It's just the threshold to see Professor Bruce
When Li Qiwei expressed his attitude, the bosses present felt very relieved.

Although classical physics seems helpless in the face of new discoveries, it is the foundation of new theories.

Its position will never be replaced.

So next, many bigwigs began to discuss the content of modern physics.

They were shocked by Li Qiwei's summary and had many questions they wanted to clarify.

At this time, Roentgen said: "Bruce, why are you sure that X-rays are produced by atoms?"

"At present, the exact nature of X-rays has not been fully researched, so what evidence do you have to make a judgment on it?"

Li Qiwei smiled when he heard this.

Of course he knew that X-rays were produced because high-speed moving electrons suddenly slowed down when they collided with metal materials, and the lost kinetic energy was released in the form of photons.

These released photons form X-rays.

The interaction between high-speed electrons and metals is very complex.

It will collide with the outer electrons of metal atoms and interact with the inner nuclei.

Both processes produce X-rays.

But now, it is not clear whether X-rays are electromagnetic waves or matter, so he certainly cannot say this directly.

"Since Becquerel first discovered that uranium salts were radioactive, Marie Curie discovered radium and polonium, which are even more radioactive."

"But no matter what kind of radioactive element it is, there are only three types of radioactivity."

"Professor Rutherford has already determined that they are alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays."

"The essence of alpha rays is helium ions, and the essence of beta rays is electrons."

"The nature of gamma rays is still unclear, and Professor Rutherford is studying this issue."

Hearing this, Madame Curie and Rutherford both nodded slightly.

Since discovering the radioactivity of radium and polonium, Madame Curie has been committed to purifying radium, using its radioactivity in the medical field, and studying its effects on the human body.

This is also related to the fact that Madame Curie is a woman.

When she learned that the radiation emitted by the element could cure diseases, the first thing she thought of was how to cure more people and diseases.

In real history, Madame Curie played a huge role in medical rescue during the war.

Rutherford was more concerned with the mechanism of radioactivity, looking for other radioactive elements and studying them.

The two have different focuses on their research on radioactivity.

One studies the application, the other studies the mechanism.

"And now we know that cathode rays are essentially streams of electrons."

"So, the mechanism of X-ray generation is the interaction between electrons and metal targets."

Roentgen nodded. The opportunity for him to discover X-rays was when he was studying cathode rays.

It just so happened that the cathode rays hit the metal at that time, and thus he discovered X-rays.

"According to my planetary model, inside atoms there are nuclei and electrons, and the rest of the space is empty and void."

"Therefore, I believe that the ejected electrons must have entered the interior of the metal atoms and interacted with the nuclei or electrons in some way."

“And thus the X-rays are produced.”

"Of course, it's still not very clear what X-rays are."

"A few years ago, a dispute broke out between Professor Barkla and Professor Bragg at King's College about the nature of X-rays."

"To be honest, I support Bakla."

“His research on the scattering and polarization of X-rays has been a great inspiration to me.”

At this time, Professor Roentgen smiled and said, "When you came to Germany for a visiting scholar program, I was also impressed by Bakla when we met. He is a very good guy."

Ridgway said, "Professor, much of what I say comes from my physics intuition."

“The final result must be verified through experiments.”

Roentgen smiled and was very satisfied. The research on X-rays was very popular at that time, which made him the target of many visits.

As the discoverer of X-rays, he wanted to know the nature of this thing better than anyone else, and this made his research career complete.

Rutherford suddenly continued, "Bruce, I remember you said at the European Radiology Conference that gamma rays are also electromagnetic waves, right?"

"What evidence do you have so far?"

Li Qiwei said frankly: "I have no evidence."

"I know that the way physicists currently study various rays is to let X-rays or gamma rays interact with different substances."

“Then we study what changes occur in the rays after the action, or in the matter itself.”

"However, this method currently lacks a theory to explain it, and many phenomena may be overlooked."

The bigwigs present nodded one after another.

Li Qiwei's statement is very profound, and most people simply cannot understand what he means.

In fact, experimental physics surpasses theoretical physics.

Without appropriate theoretical support, some special phenomena will be regarded as errors or unimportant details and ignored by the experimenters.

This will test the experimenter's physical intuition.

Hertz's discovery of the photoelectric effect and Roentgen's discovery of X-rays are both examples of super strong physical intuition.

They did not miss any seemingly ordinary or difficult to explain phenomenon, but recorded it truthfully and then analyzed it slowly.

When Li Qiwei was a doctoral student in later life, he often met his junior colleagues who found that the experimental results did not match the theory, or the experimental data were very strange.

Their first reaction was not that the theory might be wrong, but that their own experiment was wrong.

Either the material is wrong or the instrument is not adjusted.

In short, you must first think that the fault lies with yourself.

I have to say, this is sad.

What they call research is not research, but verification research under the guidance of theory. But we can't blame them for this, there is nothing they can do about it.

Under the pressure of studying for a master's or doctoral degree, no one has the leisure to study new things.

True scholarship is a luxury.

At this time, the host Lorenz suddenly asked: "Bruce, I have a question."

"You just said in your speech that the biggest problem in spectroscopy is why the emission spectra of elements are discrete rather than continuous."

"The Zeeman effect says that the spectrum emitted by an element will split in a magnetic field, and one spectral line will become three."

"My electron theory can explain the Zeeman effect, but why can't it explain discrete phenomena?"

After hearing the question, Li Qiwei was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. This is your theory, why are you asking me?

"Professor Lorentz, your electron theory is indeed the pinnacle of classical physics."

"Using the knowledge of classical physics, the content of modern physics is explained logically and self-consistently."

"But with all due respect, I think your electron theory is really just a symptom of a deeper theory."

"It's like Newtonian mechanics is an approximation of special relativity at low speeds."

boom!
As soon as Li Qiwei finished speaking, there was another round of surprise in the venue.

Who is Lorenz?

The second winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, the master of classical physics.

Even Planck, Roentgen and others admired him.

And now, Li Qiwei directly denied the achievements of the electron theory.

Lorenz himself was also in a trance.

If someone else said this, he would just think that the other person was a clown.

But Li Qiwei is different.

Since he dared to speak, there must be a reason, even if the reason is intuition.

Many ironclad facts tell all physicists one thing:
In some ways, Bruce's intuition is even more reliable than experiments.

This shows everyone's worship for Li Qiwei.

And now, Li Qiwei has bluntly pointed out the shortcomings of the electron theory.

Even though this is a theory that won the Nobel Prize in Physics, he doesn't care.

If the electron theory is wrong, what would the Nobel Prize committee think?

This slap on the face hurts so much.

Lorentz sighed in his heart: Bruce, Bruce, do you have a grudge against classical physics?

Newton, Kelvin, and I, all classical physicists have been denied by you.

I think you are here to cause trouble.

"Bruce, do you have any evidence?"

"Could it be that your quantum theory can be used to explain the problem of elemental spectrum separation?"

Li Qiwei really wanted to say: Congratulations, you got it right.

However, he naturally had to take into account the feelings of his seniors.

"I've had some initial ideas recently."

"Since elements emit radiation, why not study atoms directly?"

“I want to introduce the concept of quantum into atoms.”

"I plan to hand this project over to Bohr."

Bohr, who was frantically recording at the side, was suddenly startled.

What's going on? Did I hear it right?

Professor Bruce is going to give me a project soon?
Bohr began to get excited.

Today's meeting made him understand that there are always people better than you.

When he graduated with a master's degree from the University of Copenhagen, his supervisor praised his thesis as excellent.

Bohr felt very proud at that time, thinking that he was a child of destiny and extremely intelligent.

However, today's meeting taught him a good lesson.

Every word of the bigwigs made Bohr immersed in the ocean of knowledge.

The talent he was so proud of was only enough to keep him afloat on the sea. If he wanted to truly travel, he was still far from it.

Especially Professor Bruce, that's someone he needs to look up to.

Bohr thought, what’s the point of genius? Genius is just the threshold to meet Professor Bruce.

Being able to talk to Professor Bruce for an hour is enough for a genius to brag about for a lifetime.

And now, the other party is going to give himself an important task.

This topic aims to solve problems that even Nobel Prize winners cannot solve, and may even overturn their theories.

Bohr didn't dare to think any further. He just felt that happiness came too suddenly.

He originally thought that Professor Bruce would let him continue to study metal electron theory.

I didn't expect that the other party was not interested in classical physics at all.

Bohr was excited and thought that young people should study modern physics.

Ridgway used Lorentz's problem to help Bohr successfully enter the study of atomic structure.

As his top general, Bohr's future was destined to be bright.

At the same time, the bigwigs present couldn't help but think: What is the relationship between atoms and quantum?
(End of this chapter)