1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 411 They all don’t think highly of you, but you are the most competitive!

After returning to the Quantum Institute, Ridgway changed his previous laziness and began to concentrate on studying the seven formulas left by Ramanujan.

He was prepared to spend at least twenty years on this.

The theory of everything is several orders of magnitude more difficult than the general theory of relativity.

If it weren't for his wild imagination during his doctoral studies, he would have found the right framework.

It may take longer.

Of course, the above are just possibilities, and perhaps they still cannot be conquered in the end.

The ultimate of physics, the edge of truth, is not so easy to touch.

Just as Ridgway set new goals and worked hard to achieve them, the verification of the wave-particle duality of light also reached an important stage.

In real history, Compton actually discovered the Compton effect by accident.

When he published the paper, he did not think the experiment was important.

Because he did not think of it being able to be explained by wave-particle duality.

Later, after reading the paper, Sommerfeld's student Debye immediately realized its importance.

He used the wave-particle duality of light to perfectly explain the principle of the Compton effect.

It immediately caused a sensation in the physics community.

But Debye's main job was chemistry, and his side job was physics.

The most important achievement of this great man was the theoretical analysis of the properties of dipole moment.

He did not argue with Compton about the ownership and seemed to be unconcerned.

That's why Compton won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927.

Because the Nobel Prize is never awarded for controversial results.

This dispute not only refers to the right or wrong of the results themselves, but also to the issue of ownership of the results.

But Debye also won the 1936 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The boss is so willful.

Although Debye is a big shot in the field of chemistry, his classmate, another student of Professor Sommerfeld, is even more of a super big shot in the field of chemistry.

That is the famous Pauling.

If Lavoisier, who discovered the law of conservation of mass, is called the "father of modern chemistry" and is considered the Newton of the chemistry world.

So who is the Einstein of chemistry?
Yes, it's Pauling.

Because he ended modern chemistry.

In addition to Debye, Pauling also studied under Bohr and Schrödinger.

So he was the first person to introduce quantum mechanics into chemistry.

He used quantum mechanics to explain the nature of chemical bonds and proposed concepts such as hybrid orbital theory, resonance theory, and electronegativity.

He was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery.

From then on, the depth of chemistry was raised to a higher level and it was no longer a vassal of physics.

But in the later period, there was actually no clear boundary between studying chemistry and studying physics.

They have all reached the quantum level, they are just choosing different angles.

So, if there could be another person as famous as Pauling in the field of chemistry.

Then he must not be a chemist, but directly a physicist.

In addition to his groundbreaking achievements in chemistry, Pauling also studied mineralogy, anesthesiology, evolution, medicine, etc.

He even came close to discovering the double helix structure of DNA.

Of course, Pauling was just a freshman at Oregon State University in the United States.

His 35-year-old senior brother Debye was already a professor at the University of Göttingen in Germany.

This is roughly how the Compton effect works.

However, in this life, because of Li Qiwei's existence, the wave-particle duality of light has already spread throughout the physics community.

Although there are still many people who don’t believe it, there are many people who are willing to verify it.

There would be no such careless neglect as in Compton.

Many people want to become famous overnight, just like Millikan did when he verified the photoelectric effect.

In a villa in France.

De Broglie's elder brother, Maurice de Broglie, the sixth Duke of the de Broglie family, was doing experiments in his private laboratory.

After Morris graduated with a Ph.D. from Lang Zhiwan, he did not go to work, but set up his own laboratory to study X-rays.

There's no way around it. The Duke is only interested in science, and power and women are all put aside.

When de Broglie did not go to school, he would come to his brother's laboratory to help out.

Like Ridgway, de Broglie was also a fan of theoretical physics and had no interest in experiments.

The reason why he came to the laboratory was because he was forced by his elder brother.

After all, he was able to enter the field of physics thanks to the content of the first Bruce Conference brought to him by his elder brother.

Therefore, the relationship between the two brothers is very good.

At this time, de Broglie smiled and joked:
"Dear Duke, you have been studying X-rays for several years, but you still have no results."

"So far, there have been four Nobel Prizes in Physics for achievements related to X-rays."

“Even if you don’t win the Nobel Prize, you should have no problem publishing an article in Nature.”

Morris was assembling equipment. Facing his brother's ridicule, he did not even raise his head and said confidently:

"Please call me Dr. de Broglie, thank you."

In the Duke's opinion, the title of doctor is much more important than the title of duke.

"Humph, what's the Nobel Prize?"

“I am now verifying the wave-particle duality of light.”

"After my last discussion with Professor Lang Zhiwan, I already have some ideas."

"Once the verification is successful, I will be the one who ends the century-long debate over light, an honor that is even more worthy than the Nobel Prize."

Maurice's confidence made de Broglie laugh in awe.

He knew his elder brother very well, and his talent in science was really not to be praised.

Sometimes he felt that such a good instrument was being wasted in the hands of his elder brother.

"Doctor, I believe you can succeed."

"I hope you can bring my name when the time comes."

"After all, I helped you a lot."

Morris was very happy and waved his hands.

"Okay, I'll give you the status of a second-rate creator then."

University of Göttingen, Germany.

A Sakura countryman is concentrating on doing an experiment.

He is Yoshio Nishina.

After the war, he went to Europe for further studies under the arrangement of Nagaoka Hantaro.

In real history, Yoshio Nishina studied at the University of Cambridge in the UK, the University of Göttingen in Germany, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

While at the University of Copenhagen, he worked at the Bohr Institute.

There he met the Swedish physicist, Oskar Klein.

This Klein is not the same Klein who proposed the "Klein bottle".

"Klein bottle" was proposed by German mathematician Felix Klein and is a mathematical concept.

Yoshio Nishina and Klein collaborated to publish the "Klein-Nishina" formula for the Compton effect.

It explains the problem of scattering angle after photons collide with electrons.

This is also Yoshio Nishina's greatest achievement in the academic field.

Compton himself, according to Ridgway's classification, is just a T4 level - ordinary physicist.

Yoshio Nishina became a physics giant in the Land of Sakura simply by solving a key problem of the Compton effect.

It is particularly evident how huge the gap between the East and the West was in the field of science at that time.

And now, the first stop chosen by Yoshio Nishina is Germany.

After arriving in Europe, he finally understood why this was the center of science. Because there were so many bigwigs here.

The University of Göttingen, where he works, often invites some of the biggest names in science to give speeches.

Yoshio Nishina was truly an eye-opener.

At the same time, he often heard the words "Professor Bruce" from these bigwigs.

At this moment, he realized that the man who was like a god in Asia was still the absolute top in Europe.

A paper of only two pages immediately turned the physics world upside down.

Yoshio Nishina knew that there were two physics groups at the University of Göttingen that were simultaneously studying the experimental verification of the wave-particle duality of light.

However, due to his insufficient accumulation, he currently has no ideas and can only follow and learn slowly.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Nishina, please don't daydream while doing the experiment."

Yoshio Nishina came to his senses and apologized quickly:
"I'm sorry, Professor Debye, I was distracted."

Debye shook his head slightly.

At the beginning, he was very optimistic about this boy from Sakura National University, who was quick-witted and eager to learn.

But after getting to know them, I found that their scientific attitude was too aggressive and gloomy, as if they were always thinking about obtaining and surpassing something.

Of course there is nothing wrong with this, it’s just that Debye personally doesn’t like it.

Like Morris and the research team at the University of Göttingen, physicists from all over the world are eager to prove the wave-particle duality of light.

Of course, for top bosses like Rutherford, they didn't do it personally.

Because the theory has been proven by Professor Bruce, all that remains is the verification experiment.

What the big guys pursue is original experiments, and it is the experiments that force out theories, rather than theories guiding experiments.

At the same time, a piece of gossip suddenly spread from Cavendish.

"Shock! Professor Bruce has released another prophecy."

"Compton and Wu Youxun of the University of Chicago are likely to verify the wave-particle duality of light."

As soon as the news came out, it caused a sensation in the physics community.

Rutherford scolded everyone in the laboratory one by one.

"Which little bastard spread it? Come out now."

"You don't admit it, right?"

"Well, starting tomorrow, everyone must leave the lab an hour later."

The students all looked miserable, but Rutherford smiled triumphantly.

Poor Director Lu, this is the most cruel way he can think of to exploit graduate students.

Most people are treating this news with caution.

After all, given Professor Bruce's status and position, there is no need for him to say such things.

For him, it doesn't matter who makes the contribution, it just adds icing on the cake to his theory.

But no matter what, Compton and Wu Youxun became famous.

Wu Youxun is fine, after all, he is the individual gold medalist of the first Physics Olympiad.

But his fame is mainly among students.

Basically, all the gifted students in all universities regard him as someone to surpass.

But in the eyes of real physicists, young people still have a long way to go.

As for Compton, he is a complete nobody.

Even his elder brother, Professor Carl, was not well-known in the academic circle, let alone his younger brother Compton.

Therefore, when everyone knew that Professor Bruce actually had high hopes for these two people, it seemed incredible.

Not many people think highly of them.

"I'm afraid Professor Bruce will be disappointed this time."

"Bohr and Qian Wushi are amazing because they chose Professor Bruce as their mentor."

"A good teacher produces good students. It's only natural that they are awesome."

“But Compton and Wu Youxun seem to be doing their own independent research.”

"Professor Millikan did not become their mentor for various reasons."

"Alas, these days, it's really hard to achieve results without a good mentor."

"I don't think it's possible for the two of them to succeed."

There are even people with ulterior motives who want to take this opportunity to discredit Wu Youxun and Huaxia.

"Haha, no matter how good Wu Youxun is, he's only good at taking exams."

"The experiments he did in the Olympiad were just repetitions of previous achievements."

"And now what is needed to verify the wave-particle duality of light is originality."

"Just because a person is good at studying and taking exams doesn't mean they are also good at research."

"Moreover, with China's current foundation, it is impossible to cultivate such talents."

But many people also refuted it.

"What about Yu Yin from China? Isn't his work original?"

"Haha, isn't Yu Yin also Professor Bruce's doctorate?"

Both sides argued endlessly.

German physicist, winner of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physics, Leonard even published the article publicly.

He said that the appearance of Professor Bruce in China was just a coincidence, and it was impossible for a local genius to be born there.

Leonard promoted so-called "German physics" and promoted racism in the field of science.

For a time, Leonard's remarks gained many supporters, such as German physicist Stark.

In real history, Leonard criticized Einstein fiercely, while Stark criticized Heisenberg.

At this moment, Wu Youxun and Compton, who were at the center of the storm, turned a deaf ear to the outside world's comments.

Both of them were still completely immersed in the experiment.

Department of Physics, University of Chicago, USA.

The big news in the laboratory recently is undoubtedly the new Chinese student.

The other party has persisted for more than two months, working until 2 o'clock every night, and even staying up all night for several nights.

Such a level of hard work was enough to scare other students in the lab.

There are no labor laws in the United States at this time, otherwise someone would probably report it.

"Are all Chinese people so scary?"

"If everyone was like Wu, how could China be so backward in science?"

"I feel like it was Professor Bruce who brought out their blood."

"Have you not noticed that all the Chinese students who come to the United States to study treat Professor Bruce as a god?"

“Almost all students have benefited from Professor Bruce’s kindness.”

"Amazing, really amazing."

"Even if Wu can't do the experiment, I still admire him."

"With this spirit, you can do anything well."

Compton listened to the discussion and smiled.

He had long been impressed by Wu Youxun's diligence.

Genius is not scary, but being both a genius and hardworking is a bit scary.

It creates a feeling of despair.

"Wu, I'm really looking forward to the day when our results are published."

"They don't think highly of you, but you are the most competitive."

Wu Youxun raised his head and showed his white teeth.

"hey-hey."

(End of this chapter)