1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 323 You don’t really understand the general theory of relativity!

Amid the applause of the crowd, Li Qiwei slowly stood up.

He walked to the podium in front, with a tall and straight figure and deep and wise eyes.

Everyone felt a divine aura approaching.

This man is so terrible!

At the mere age of 32, he reached the pinnacle of physics.

He can be compared with the greatest figures of all time.

Archimedes, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Maxwell.
A hundred years later, Bruce's name will be ranked alongside theirs and become a shining star in the sky of human science.

His name represents an era.

Everyone present had a heavy sense of witnessing and participating in history.

At this time, Li Qiwei said loudly:

"My speech today has two parts."

“The first part is an introduction to my theory of general relativity.”

"The second part talks about the future of modern physics."

Wow!
These two simple sentences startled all the bigwigs present.

The general theory of relativity is not so bad, as everyone knows that Bruce will definitely explain it in detail today.

That’s the future of physics, what does that mean?
Wasn’t the future predicted at the first Bruce Conference?

Is there any difference?
The big guys couldn't help but imagine.

Li Qiwei continued, "I believe that after three months, you should have a deep understanding of my general theory of relativity."

As soon as the words fell, whispers broke out in the conference hall.

Marie Curie said gracefully: "Bruce, you think too highly of me."

"I consulted several math professors, but none of them understood your mathematical derivation."

“It’s too hard.”

“I probably won’t be able to fully understand it in my lifetime.”

Everyone laughed at Madame Curie's honesty.

Those present are all big names in the field of physics, and they will not care about the other side's bullshit public opinion.

In their eyes, Madame Curie is a very admirable woman.

Madame Curie was an excellent experimental physicist, but her mathematics was probably not even as good as that of an undergraduate.

So it is normal that she cannot understand the mathematical part of general relativity.

At this time, Rutherford smiled and said: "Madame Curie, you must have confidence. You will never be alone."

"Like you, I studied it several times, but gave up because I couldn't understand it."

"Anyway, I've already assumed that Bruce is right."

The bigwigs present could only smile bitterly and shake their heads.

They really can't say that they fully understand it.

However, the deduction of the two basic principles and the logic of the five major predictions are still understandable.

This does not require deep mathematical knowledge.

However, not everyone is confused.

Einstein, Laue, Born, Bohr, and Master Qian were all in high spirits and looked eager to try.

But the seniors present said they didn’t understand, and they were embarrassed to be too ostentatious.

Li Qiwei felt that these people should be fine.

Especially Teacher Qian Wu, he has a very solid foundation in mathematics.

Li Qiwei felt that his math skills should be the second best among those present.

The first is of course himself.

In real history, when the general theory of relativity was first published, no one could understand it.

But after a period of time, the top bosses could still understand it.

Li Qiwei smiled and continued: "Of course, the Riemannian geometry I used is, after all, just a tool to describe the curvature of space."

"The real core of general relativity is actually its two basic principles."

"Same as the two basic principles of special relativity."

“The fundamental principle of general phasm is the soul of the whole theory.”

“Anyone who wants to refute the general principle must refute my basic principles.”

"As for Riemannian geometry and the five great predictions, they are nothing more than derivations of principles."

"Just like Euclidean geometry, the source of so many laws is the five postulates."

"Similarly, if you recognize the two basic principles of Guang Xiang, then it means that you understand Guang Xiang."

“Of course, the basic principles of Guang Xiang are not something I came up with out of thin air, but are derived from facts and thought experiments.”

"I believe everyone here can understand this part."

"Otherwise, there would have been a lot of papers opposing Guang Xiang."

"It's not my turn to give a report here."

The bosses smiled knowingly.

They did carefully study the two principles proposed by Ridgway: the equivalence principle and the principle of general relativity.

Trying to find its fatal flaw like the special theory of relativity.

But unfortunately, everyone got nothing.

General relativity is so perfect, so perfect that it is impeccable.

Even Laue and Born, who were the most fond of finding faults and had the sharpest eyes, had to admit it.

Theoretically, general relativity is logically self-consistent.

It is a great theory, just like Newtonian mechanics and Maxwellian electromagnetism.

Well, although Newtonian mechanics has been overturned by general relativity.

This is also why the general theory of relativity has not yet been verified by a large number of experiments since its advent.

But top physicists have almost universally accepted it.

Because perfection.

Physics is a subject that pursues perfection extremely.

Because all physicists believe that when the truth of the universe is expressed in mathematical form, it must be symmetrical and perfect.

Of course, physicists at this moment do not know what kind of changes the word "symmetry" will bring to physics.

The general theory of relativity describes the relationship between space-time and matter in the universe with just one formula.

This is simply wonderful for all physicists.

It shouldn't and can't be wrong.

But don't think that physicists are superstitious.

This idea actually contains profound philosophical principles.

Therefore, in real history, after the publication of the general theory of relativity, it received little questioning from top physicists.

Because everyone recognizes it.

On the contrary, in later generations, various amateur scientists questioned Guang Xiang from various angles.

Li Qiwei found it very funny when he thought about it.

"Also, I need to clarify one thing here."

"Although general relativity theoretically overturned Newton's classical mechanics."

"But I have great respect for Sir Newton."

"And his theory of mechanics is still a great physical theory and is not outdated at all."

"Because relativity is far less simple than Newtonian mechanics when dealing with low-speed problems."

"And relativity is not suitable for low-speed applications."

"Therefore, Newton's classical mechanics is still worthy of respect."

Wow!
Li Qiwei's words shocked everyone present.

He had clearly overthrown Newton, which is something many people wanted to do but did not dare to and could not do.

However, the man in front of him not only did it, he did not even take pride in it.

Instead, Newtonian mechanics is still placed in the highest and greatest position.

This breadth of mind and courage impressed everyone.

"Bruce deserves to be the first person in physics."

"Whether it's strength or character, he has achieved the ultimate."

The bigwigs were generous with their praise.

The reason why Li Qiwei clarified this issue is that later generations have deep misunderstandings about Newtonian mechanics.

After learning the theory of relativity, many students think that Newtonian mechanics is wrong.

It is just an approximation of relativity.

In fact, this statement is wrong.

There is nothing "wrong" about Newtonian mechanics. It and the theory of relativity are two different systems.

In fact, they are two completely independent theories.

Newtonian mechanics explains the world at low speeds from another perspective.

In Newton's system, Newtonian mechanics is very perfect and has its own completeness.

And it is also convenient and clear to use.

This is also why, even though the theory of relativity was invented, later generations still used Newton's system to study mechanics.

Because it is good!

Very friendly for analyzing slow speed problems.

Unlike the theory of relativity, it is too cumbersome to use.

Therefore, Newton is ranked first in the history of physics.

The mechanical system he created was definitely not overturned by Einstein.

The two are complementary.

Li Qiwei's analysis made everyone think that they truly understood the theory of general relativity.

However, he then said domineeringly: "However, what I want to say is that you don't really understand the general theory of relativity."

boom!
Everyone was shocked.

Especially Einstein, Qian Wushi, Bohr and others, their eyes were wide open.

"how is this possible?"

"I consulted several mathematicians and figured out Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis. How could I not understand it?"

"I even worked it out myself."

They suddenly lost confidence.

Because Professor Bruce never brags.

Li Qiwei looked at their expressions and said with a smile:

"Perhaps you can understand the general theory of relativity itself."

"But I believe no one has ever seriously thought about its interpretation of the nature of force."

“At the first Bruce Conference, I mentioned the problems with classical physics.”

"There is a small problem, I don't know if you still remember it."

“That’s the concept of field.”

"I used the concept of gravitational field in my general theory of relativity."

“This is probably something that many people don’t understand.”

"I have already denied the existence of gravity. Gravity is just a manifestation of the curvature of space-time."

"Why should I bother introducing the concept of the exit?"

"Actually, I didn't mean to do it, but I had to do it."

"Because, I think, field may be a concept that is inseparable from space and time."

"Our understanding of the field is still too superficial."

boom!
Everyone present was shocked and felt it was incredible.

In 1837, Faraday first proposed the concepts of electric and magnetic fields.

Since then, fields have become a phenomenon that physicists take for granted.

All physicists have a consensus: that is, field is a kind of substance, it is invisible and colorless, but it really exists.

Note that the concept of matter here is different from the concept of matter in our daily life.

Stones, flowers, and air are all matter, which is easy for everyone to understand.

But the field is invisible and intangible, and it has no weight, so how can it be matter?

In fact, there is some philosophical knowledge implied here.

That is, the field is an objective existence, and this existence is also matter in the physical sense.

Matter does not necessarily have to have substance.

Without paying attention to everyone's shock, Li Qiwei continued:

"Maxwell's equations describe the electromagnetic field, which excites electromagnetic waves."

"And the gravitational field excites gravitational waves."

“From a symmetry point of view, I had to come up with the concept of field.”

"Because the nature of a field is to exert a force on the matter placed within it."

"From a certain perspective, the effects of space-time curvature still fall into the realm of force."

“That’s gravity.”

“This is a very critical and complex point, and I hope everyone can consider it carefully.”

"Because since Newton, we have not correctly defined the concept of [force]."

“Newton’s three laws of mechanics do not have a strict definition, but rather assume the existence of force.”

"Its strength is purely an intuition of us humans."

"For example, the nature of electromagnetic force, no one can explain it clearly."

"We only know that charged particles are affected by forces when they are in an electromagnetic field, and then they move."

"But we don't know the deep principles behind this."

"Is it possible that the so-called electromagnetic field, like the gravitational field, is also the result of something more fundamental bending?"

hiss!
Li Qiwei's words shocked everyone present.

They never thought about this problem.

force.

The birth of this concept is no longer traceable.

But it has a history of at least one or two thousand years.

No one has ever thought so deeply about the nature of force as Li Qiwei.

Even the bigwigs present were trapped.

"It's incredible. After listening to Bruce's analysis, I realized that I didn't understand the general theory of relativity."

"Bruce is simply too terrifying. His physical intuition is unmatched. He can even dig deep into the ground and squeeze out juice from the concept of force."

"It's terrifying to think about it. The concept of force may be like a crisis in mathematics. This is a crisis in the edifice of physics."

"Force is the foundation of all branches of physics. If there is a problem with it, it means that other theories are also problematic."

At this moment, everyone's admiration for Li Qiwei reached a new level.

Everyone suddenly felt that he should not sit on the same throne as them.

We should create a unique one just for him.

In the family tree of the history of physics, Li Qiwei needs to open a separate page.

"Of course, with our current knowledge of physics, we are still unable to gain a deep understanding of the nature of force."

"But at least this gives us a direction to continue exploring."

"And general relativity is a theory about the nature of gravity."

"This may have implications for our understanding of other types of forces."

“That, I think, is what theoretical physicists need to focus on.”

"As for the five major prophecies, to be honest, I don't think they matter that much."

"They are just natural phenomena caused by the laws of the universe."

“It does not represent the truth itself.”

Wow!
Such pretentious words made Bohr and others laugh and cry.

People outside are already arguing over the five major predictions.

Prove one and you’ll go down in the history of physics.

But in Professor Bruce's mouth, it was just an ordinary achievement.

It’s true that comparing yourself with others will make you angry.

Immediately afterwards, Li Qiwei demonstrated the derivation process of Guangxiang to everyone again.

Analyze and explain the difficulties to everyone.

All the big guys present are influential figures outside.

As a result, here, I can only listen to Li Qiwei's class quietly like a primary school student.

Rutherford simply bent down to pick up something.

As soon as I looked up, I saw a black question mark face.

"What's going on? There were only three lines of formulas just now, how come there are thirty lines now?"

Soon, Li Qiwei demonstrated the derivation process from beginning to end to everyone.

At this point, everyone present had no more questions.

From a theoretical point of view, the correctness of Guang Xiang is beyond doubt.

The rest depends on experimental verification.

(End of this chapter)