1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 397 Anomalous Zeeman Effect! Latest Discovery in Spectroscopy! Quantum Theory Faces Another Challenge!
Borneo, Institute of Atomic Research.

As the first formal research institute established by Ridgway, it is not under the jurisdiction of the City of Science and is not within the city's boundaries.

This reflects the special nature of its status.

The Atomic Research Institute is located in the suburbs of Kuching, surrounded by large areas of uncultivated natural scenery.

This will be the core of future atomic research and will be responsible for the research and development tasks of the Pangu Project.

The core group was composed of Qian Wushi, Qian Huzhou, Deng Huaining and Yu Yin, with physics professors from Huangpu University of Technology as assistants.

This formed the backbone framework of the Institute of Atomic Research.

The institute specializes in research on cutting-edge topics in physics.

Although the name is the Atomic Research Institute, it does not mean that the research is only related to atoms.

For example, Master Qian Wu even opened up the field of aerodynamics.

The reason was that Shanhe Group's aircraft research and development required theoretical calculations, so they found Master Qian Wu.

Teacher Qian Wu was very interested, so he took two students to do research under his guidance.

Qian Huzhou, Deng Huaining and Yu Yin also found their own research fields.

And try to supervise graduate students.

To some extent, they are now, like Bohr, gradually starting to establish their own schools.

And this is what Li Qiwei wants to see.

It was impossible for him to stay in Borneo for a long time, so he could not train graduate students.

The level of the four people in Qian's fifth division is more than enough for China today.

The Graduate School of Huangpu University of Technology and the Institute of Atomic Research, two institutions that recruit graduate students, are the leaders in domestic graduate education.

The experience accumulated here will eventually be copied to China.

In a few years, the training of graduate students in China should be able to start.

The current graduate school of Guangdong University is a pilot project.

The issues concerning the degree system and professor ratings involved here will be left to Xu Shoushang and others to worry about.

Once successful, it can be replicated nationwide.

In this way, Li Qiwei could leave again with peace of mind.

At this moment, in a conference room of the research institute.

Yu Yin stood in the front, preparing to demonstrate his latest experimental results.

Li Qiwei, along with Master Qian Wu and other people from the research institute, were listening to the other party's report.

Several graduate students and undergraduate students who came for internship sat in the outer circle.

They were all very excited to see their mentor's mentor, the legendary principal, coming.

Sun Guofeng, Li Shuhua, Rao Mintai and Hu Gangfu were discussing in a low voice.

The four of them graduated from the same class of Whampoa Institute of Technology, so they have a very good relationship.

A small group was quietly formed within the institute.

Rao Mintai was a graduate student of Yu Yin, and the other three were graduate students of Qian Wushi's three classmates.

Rao Mintai said excitedly: "The principal looks very happy today."

"It seems that the instructor's experiment has indeed made a major breakthrough."

Hu Gangfu smiled and said, "Lao Rao, aren't you Professor Yu's student? Don't you know?"

Rao Mintai had a sad face and said worriedly, "Oh, don't mention it."

"Professor Yu completely left me alone. After he gave me the topic, I often couldn't find him."

"I even suspect that if I don't take the initiative to find him, he will probably forget that I am his student."

"I really don't know what the professor is researching recently."

“I only know that it is related to atomic spectra.”

Although Rao Mintai complained verbally, he had no complaints in his heart.

Because every time he found a mentor, he gained a lot.

Professor Yu taught me everything he knew, and each time of guidance greatly improved my academic ability.

That's the style of the mentor.

When talking about this topic, the four brothers immediately felt the same way.

Hu Gangfu complained: "Professor Qian likes to say: Gangfu, don't think too much, just do the math first."

The four of them were talking to each other in the corner, whispering about the mentors.

Soon, they returned to the conversation about today's meeting.

Li Shuhua said, “I think you all know about the recent interview with Shinji Komura of Sakura National University.”

"Many newspapers are now saying that it is impossible for China to have original research."

"I think Professor Yu will be able to give those people a good slap in the face this time."

When they heard this topic, they all became serious.

Sun Guofeng said indignantly: "Humph, we watched the establishment of the Atomic Research Institute."

“All the instruments and equipment here are assembled and manufactured by the professors themselves.”

"As for the instruments purchased from abroad, they are all standard equipment for scientific research, and every research institute has the same ones."

"Professor Yu's achievements were all completed within the institute."

"Because of the war in Europe, he didn't even have academic exchanges with Western professors."

Rao Mintai was full of confidence and said with a smile: "Don't worry, those who fanned the flames are just clowns."

"Professor Yu will let them know how ridiculous they are."

Soon, the meeting began and the four of them stopped communicating and focused on listening.

In front, Yu Yin was in high spirits with a smile on his face.

"Principal, and all the teachers and students."

"The topic I am reporting on today is about the Zeeman effect."

"As we all know, the Bohr-Lee model is the core of quantum theory."

"And the three major quantum numbers are the core of the Bohr-Lee model."

Yu Yin's opening remarks gave the students present a feeling of unreality.

In the past, when they studied traditional physics during their undergraduate studies, all the names that appeared were foreigners.

Newton's mechanics, Coulomb's law, Ampere's law, etc.

It seems that the names of Chinese people will never appear in physics books.

And now, they hear the president's name at the forefront of cutting-edge physics research.

The rise and strength of Chinese science was realized at this moment.

Everyone present here knows that such situations will occur more and more frequently in the future.

Perhaps one hundred years later, half of the theorems in physics textbooks will be named after the principal.
Yu Yin continued:

“The three major quantum numbers explain various physical phenomena that occur in spectroscopy.”

"The quantum number [n] of the orbital number explains why the spectrum of the hydrogen atom is discrete."

"The orbital shape quantum number [l] explains the fine structure in the hydrogen atom spectrum, namely that each spectral line is close to two adjacent ones."

"The orbital quantum number [m] explains the more precise line splitting of the hydrogen atom spectrum."

"That is, under a strong magnetic field, the Zeeman effect occurs, and the spectrum line changes from one to three."

"And the GKY effect, where the spectrum line changes from one to three under a strong electric field."

"The above three quantum numbers are said to solve all the problems in spectroscopy."

"Because there is nothing more complicated than a split into three spectrum lines."

"The problems left over from quantum theory are not related to spectroscopy."

"This is the current consensus in the physics community on quantum theory."

Yu Yin's knowledge of the whole process of quantum theory was impressive, showing his strong ability.

The students present were so excited that their blood boiled.

I wish I could have a flash of inspiration right away and solve the problem of quantum theory.

Because it is one of the two pillars of modern physics, a great theory that can be compared with the theory of relativity.

Whoever can break through quantum theory will have the opportunity to be on par with Professor Li Qiwei in the future. Yu Yin looked at everyone and said:
"And my current research topic is about the Zeeman effect."

"Students who are interested may have discovered that both the Zeeman effect and the GKY effect are studies of the changing behavior of the spectrum of hydrogen atoms in a strong field."

"So what if it's a weak field? Will it be any different?"

“This topic was given to me by the principal.”

“But I never had the time to do it.”

“After returning to Borneo and establishing the Institute of Atomic Research, I began to study the spectral changes in weak fields.”

"I started with weak magnetic fields first."

"After many experiments, I found that the spectrum of hydrogen atoms will also undergo spectral line splitting in a weak magnetic field."

"But this splitting is different from the Zeeman effect."

"The spectrum did not split into three, but into four or even five."

"Please look at the picture. This is the result of my experiment."

Wow!
In the beautiful picture, the spectrum of the hydrogen atom is split into five lines.

This is another brand new spectroscopy discovery!
Master Qian Wu couldn't help but exclaim.

“This result is so shocking!”

"Five spectral lines cannot be explained by three quantum numbers."

"This shows that the Bohr-Lee model still has room for improvement."

Master Qian Wu’s explanation shocked everyone!
No wonder Professor Yu has rarely been seen recently, it turns out he is working on such amazing research.

Rao Mintai's eyes were shining and he was extremely excited.

At this moment, he truly felt the terrifying strength of his mentor.

Although her mentor was not a Nobel Prize winner, Rao Mintai never felt disappointed.

In his opinion, his supervisor is no less capable than a Nobel Prize winner.

Now, following the GKY effect, my supervisor has independently discovered such an important result.

Rao Mintai felt honored.

At this time, Yu Yin smiled and said, "That's right, the existing quantum theory cannot explain this phenomenon."

"I plan to name this effect the [Anomalous Zeeman Effect]."

Master Qian Wu nodded, saying that the name was very appropriate.

Yu Yin added: "However, this experiment still needs a lot of repeated verification."

"In addition, it is necessary to systematically study the specific range of weak magnetic fields that can produce the anomalous Zeeman effect."

At this point, Yu Yin suddenly said to the back row of the room:

"Mintai, starting tomorrow, you will also join my research."

"We will do a repeat verification for now."

Wow!
Rao Mintai felt that everyone's eyes were on him and he was under tremendous pressure.

The three good brothers were so envious that their saliva was flowing.

He should be the first graduate student among all students to be able to participate in such high-end cutting-edge research.

He took a deep breath, stood up and said:
"Okay, mentor."

Yu Yin looked at Rao Mintai with satisfaction.

He still likes this student very much.

Not only is he smart, but he also never comes to me for nothing and is always proactive in doing academic work seriously.

"The above are the results of my research. Please feel free to ask any questions you have."

clap clap clap!
Li Qiwei was the first to applaud.

Then, thunderous applause broke out in the room.

Everyone was shocked by Yu Yin's original research.

This was not accomplished in a foreign laboratory or with the participation and help of foreigners.

Instead, Yu Yin relied on his own strength and adopted a rigorous and patient attitude, and finally achieved a gratifying breakthrough.

Although this effect may not be worthy of a Nobel Prize.

After all, the underlying principle is not original, but is based on the Zeeman effect.

But the significance of this achievement is extraordinary.

Because it is related to quantum theory, it illustrates phenomena in spectroscopy that cannot be explained by quantum theory.

The cover of Nature is set in stone!
Many people's eyes turned red with envy.

Because now Huangpu University of Technology and Huaxia have issued new regulations:
Anyone who publishes an original paper in the journal Nature as the first author can be promoted to professor on an exceptional basis.

Countless people went crazy about it.

But the Nature of today is no longer the Nature of the past.

As physics exploded, so did the quality of papers.

All the results that can be published in official journals are heavyweight, such as Yu Yin's results.

It is enough for an ordinary scholar to be proud of himself if he can publish in a journal.

The official publications don’t even dare to think about it.

When everyone was thinking about publishing in Nature, Li Qiwei spoke.

Then the whole place was silent, everyone waited with bated breath.

"Yu Yin, what do you think is the possible cause of the anomalous Zeeman effect?"

After hearing this, Yu Yin thought for a while and said:

"Principal, I personally think we should add another quantum number."

"Because of the abnormal splitting of the spectral lines, it shows that electrons still have different orbital energy levels."

"But what this quantum number is, I can't think of it for now."

“This is also the focus of my next research.”

Li Qiwei smiled, then turned to ask everyone:
"What about you? You can all speak freely."

“No one knows the answer anyway.”

When Li Qiwei's eyes swept over them, everyone was frightened, as if they were being randomly called by the teacher in class.

Master Qian Wu stared at the score and said:
"I agree with Yu Yin's guess. There should be an undiscovered quantum number."

"But this quantum number should not be related to the electron orbital."

"The number, shape, and direction fully describe the nature of the orbit."

"But what is it?"

Even the most powerful Master Qian Wu couldn't figure it out, and everyone present couldn't come up with a solution even after brainstorming.

Li Qiwei smiled.

In real history, the idea of ​​this fourth quantum number was first proposed by Pauli, known as the "Scourge of God".

However, it was not he who discovered it, but three other young people who discovered and named it.

Among them, due to Pauli's daily quarrels with others, a ridiculous incident occurred.

Finally, the unparalleled genius Dirac directly deduced from theory that there must be a fourth quantum number.

With these in mind, Li Qiwei said:

"It doesn't matter. Let's think about it carefully after we go back."

"The next Nobel Prize is yours."

Everyone laughed.

Although Yu Yin didn't know what the fourth quantum number was, this did not prevent the publication of the paper.

In his words:
"Anyway, I have already done the experiment. Finding the fourth quantum number is the job of you theoretical physicists."

Yu Yin's paper will surely shock the physics community once again.

At the same time, it also effectively countered the smearing remarks that "there is no originality in China."

The country and the country are once again in an uproar!

(End of this chapter)