1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 446: Endless shock! The ruler of the universe! "Only it can accurately measure the size of the universe!"

This century-long debate in astronomy has been full of twists and turns.

Shapley and Curtis are equally matched, making the outcome of this match full of suspense.

In the end, the debate ended in a surprising draw.

This made the thousands of spectators present scream with excitement.

This kind of battle that is not one-sided is undoubtedly the most exciting.

However, what no one expected was that Professor Bruce's summary brought the debate to a climax again.

"Because they were both completely wrong."

It turns out that Shapley and Curtis's distance measurement method had problems.

This shocked countless people.

The question of whether the Milky Way is the entire universe has become even more confusing.

At this moment, everyone in the hall was extremely curious about the answer.

They can't wait to find out.

Even if it is a feasible method.

So the first person shouted:
"Professor Bruce, can you give me a correct measurement method?"

boom!
This sentence was like a spark falling into an oil pan, and it boiled instantly!
More and more people started to make a noise.

No matter who is present, he may not know much about astronomy, but he must know the famous Professor Bruce.

The man who is known as the number one scientist in the world.

He is a living scientific legend.

Under this kind of communication effect, ordinary people have only one imagination of Li Qiwei.

omniscient!

omnipotent!

It is difficult for the general public to distinguish between physicists and scientists.

In their eyes, Professor Bruce is a great scientist who has a thorough understanding of everything.

Astronomy is of course no problem.

Soon, the atmosphere in the hall reached its peak.

Yu Qingsong felt this shocking influence.

An involuntary blush appeared on his face.

That was an expression of extreme excitement.

"He is Professor Li from Huaxia."

"But he is also the god of science in the world!"

At this moment, even the astronomy giants in the front row were moved.

Because this issue is so critical.

As long as the problem of the Milky Way is solved, astronomy will be able to enter the next stage.

Galaxy astronomy!
It would be a huge leap from stars to galaxies.

Unlike the blind and foolish beliefs of ordinary people, astronomers all admire Professor Bruce.

But the indisputable results of their worship.

It is a fact almost universally acknowledged in the scientific community that Professor Bruce hates doing experiments.

And measurement in astronomy is probably the most tedious and torturous experiment.

Does the other party really have research in this area?
Everyone was a little bit unbelieving.

Eddington and Hubble's eyes sparkled.

Hubble in particular has recently been studying issues concerning the Milky Way himself.

And he had some ideas.

But I'm not completely sure.

"It would be great if Professor Bruce could give some advice!"

Big names like Haier and Dyson also looked ahead with burning eyes.

Is that man really okay?

Li Qiwei looked at the fanatical eyes of thousands of people in the hall, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Suddenly, a powerful pressure swept across the whole place!
Everyone felt their hearts tremble.

Yu Qingsong said excitedly:

"Professor Li can do it!"

"He's about to start!"

Sure enough, the next moment, Li Qiwei spoke:

"I just said that Herschel's method is very meaningful for reference."

"Because in principle, this approach is completely correct."

"As long as the brightness we observe is the true brightness of the star, then the measured distance is accurate."

"But unfortunately, the environment in the universe is too complicated."

“Measurement errors are unavoidable.”

"So we have only one option, which is to minimize the error."

“So, I have a preliminary idea.”

"Choose a very stable stellar light source to serve as a standard candle."

"And this candlelight is a Cepheid variable star."

Wow!
As soon as Li Qiwei finished speaking, only some people in the hall exclaimed.

They were all astronomers.

Ordinary people were completely confused and didn't understand anything.

How can the problem be solved by changing a star as a standard?

The expressions on the faces of Hale, Dyson, Hubble, Eddington and others were extremely wonderful.

They knew about Cepheid variables, of course.

There's even an expert on Cepheid variables here: Ms. Leavitt.

She is even often mistakenly called, or honored as, the discoverer of Cepheid variables.

This is preferential treatment for female scientists.

But why can Cepheid variables reduce the error?

These astronomy giants were also confused.

Li Qiwei did not allow the crowd to continue discussing, he continued:

“Regarding this approach, I would first like to thank Ms. Levitt.”

After saying that, Li Qiwei nodded towards the other party.

The crowd was attracted by his words and discovered that there was a woman in the position of the astronomy boss.

This is amazing.

In this era, even in the United States, the status of women is not as high as imagined.

In most industries, women are not seen at all.

Not to mention the field of science.

However, today, there was a female astronomer present.

It's just that Levitt is a little older, otherwise there would probably be countless whistles.

"In 1784, Dutch astronomer Gudlick discovered a very special kind of star."

"What's special about this star is that its brightness changes periodically."

"In our normal understanding, the brightness of a star should be fixed."

"But the universe is so vast that there is nothing strange."

"This star was named [Delta Cephei]."

"It is a star, and it is also commonly known as Cepheid 1." (Chinese name, there is a language bug here, please don't mind it.)
"Later, astronomers discovered several more similar stars."

"So these variable stars whose brightness changes over the periodic table are collectively called Cepheid variables."

"In more than a hundred years, astronomers have discovered only a dozen Cepheid variables."

"So, in the early days, the discovery of this type of star did not have any substantial impact on astronomy."

"At most, it is just the discovery of a special celestial body."

"And this kind of thing is very common in the field of astronomy."

“Maybe everyone here, or your children, will discover a strange celestial body tonight.”

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

They really like this sense of humor.

"However, what makes scientists scientists is that they can discover the most unusual laws from the most common phenomena."

"We know that each Cepheid variable star has its own [period of light variation]."

"It refers to the time it takes for a Cepheid variable star to complete a cycle from its brightest to its dimmest and then back to its brightest."

"According to astronomers' observations, the shortest period of light variation for some Cepheid variables is only a few hours."

"Some can even last for several years."

"Therefore, the period of light variation of each Cepheid variable star is unique and very stable."

"Ms. Leavitt of Harvard University became interested in the [period-luminosity relationship] of Cepheid variables."

“She wanted to study the relationship between the period and brightness of Cepheid variables.”

"After taking thousands of photos, she discovered a surprising pattern."

"This law seems so important to me, but it is not taken seriously enough in the astronomical community."

"Ms. Leavitt discovered that the longer the period of a Cepheid variable star's brightness changes, the greater its average brightness."

"The brightness here refers to [apparent brightness]."

"The brightness that Shapley and Curtis mentioned just now actually refers to the apparent brightness."

"That is, how bright it looks."

"For example, we look at the light of the same candle from one meter away and from ten meters away."

"Then the brightness we see must be different."

"This brightness is the apparent brightness of the candle, and it changes with the distance from which it is viewed."

"Sometimes the apparent brightness changes due to obstruction by factors such as gas and dust."

"The true brightness of a candle is its intrinsic brightness."

“It can be understood figuratively as the brightness observed when the distance between the naked eye and the candle is zero.”

"So suppose now, we already know the intrinsic brightness of a certain star in advance."

"Then, we looked through the telescope and saw the apparent brightness of the star."

"According to the decay relationship between brightness and distance, it is easy to derive the distance between the star and the observer."

"That's the math behind the standard candle method."

"The more precise the intrinsic brightness, the more accurate the distance measurement."

"The problem for Shapley and Curtis was that they could not find stars of known intrinsic brightness."

"So using the standard candle method, the data measured will have a large error."

"Now, Cepheid variables fill this gap."

“I thought of a way to do this.”

"There are now more than a dozen known species of Cepheid variables."

"The parallax method can be used to measure the distances to these known Cepheid variables."

"With the distance and apparent brightness, we can reverse-calculate the intrinsic brightness of these Cepheid variables."

"Then, based on the law discovered by Ms. Leavitt, we can summarize the relationship between the light variation period and the intrinsic brightness of Cepheid variables."

"We'll get a constant coefficient."

"You can simply understand it as measuring the gravitational constant G."

"In this way, if we discover a new Cepheid variable star, we can know its intrinsic brightness based on its light variation period."

"Then by measuring its apparent brightness, we can finally calculate the distance of the Cepheid variable star from us."

"The benefit of this method is that we know the intrinsic brightness of the star with great precision."

"Therefore, the measured results are more reliable than the traditional candlelight method."

"With this method, we can measure the distance of the nebula from the Earth more accurately."

"As long as we can find a Cepheid variable star in a spiral nebula, we can directly calculate its distance."

"This proves that the Milky Way is not the only galaxy."

"Similarly, using this method, we can find Cepheid variables in the Milky Way and accurately measure the diameter of the Milky Way."

“That’s my take on the issue.”

"In my opinion, the value of Cepheid variables is greatly underestimated."

"It is the real measuring stick!"

"It is the only thing that can accurately measure the size of the universe!"

quiet!
The terrible silence!

You could hear a pin drop in the entire hall.

Everyone was in endless shock.

Everyone opened their mouths and eyes wide. The astronomers in the front row were just like ordinary people at this moment.

In addition to being shocked, it is still shocking.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

boom!
It was like an 18-magnitude earthquake, and the entire hall went completely crazy.

"Oh! God! This is incredible!"

"The Measuring Ruler! What a domineering name!"

"Only Professor Bruce could come up with such a bold name."

“It turns out there are such strange stars in the universe.”

"Cepheid variable star? This name is really unique!"

Most ordinary viewers were attracted by Li Qiwei's naming.

Just by looking at the name, Professor Bruce's method can't be wrong.

Of course, it couldn't be wrong.

Because Li Qiwei's method is actually a variation of the standard candlelight method.

The real core is the special case of Cepheid variables.

In fact, many people present did not really understand what Li Qiwei said.

If they can understand it, they are unlikely to be ordinary people.

However, none of these affect people's crazy worship.

Because they knew that since Professor Bruce dared to say it so domineeringly.

That shows that he has absolute confidence.

Can the belief of ordinary people compare to Professor Bruce’s confidence?
So, everyone cheered.

At the same time, Li Qiwei's method also made the value of this debate even higher.

From exciting to shocking!

And according to this method, the secrets of the Milky Way will be cracked in the near future.

Island Universe Theory vs. Galactic Cosmology!
It will soon become clear who is right and who is wrong.

How could people not be excited to witness such an astronomical spectacle?

If the ordinary people's carnival is simply due to their excitement about this debate.

Then, for astronomers, it is like a pilgrimage!
Because of Professor Bruce, he created a new method of astronomical distance measurement out of thin air.

And it's better than all the previous methods.

This is something that makes all astronomers ecstatic.

Cepheid variable star!

Measuring ruler!
It will start a new revolution in astronomy!

"Oh my God! This is unbelievable!"

"Professor Bruce was able to come up with such a method just by analyzing Ms. Levitt's paper."

"He never actually measured the distance to a celestial object even once."

“Is this the kind of dimensionality reduction attack described in “Bugs”?”

"To us, Professor Bruce is no different from an alien, and an alien from an advanced civilization."

In the crowd, Levitt's face still showed shock.

But soon, her heart was filled with emotion.

Today, she came with pain.

In real history, Levitt will die of cancer at the end of next year.

She had been suffering from illness before her death.

However, these still did not prevent her from going to the observatory to work every day.

It is this spirit that has enabled her to achieve her previous success.

However, today, with Li Qiwei's blessing, her fame will instantly reach its peak.

It will not only resound throughout the astronomical community, but will also be remembered by ordinary people.

Because her results inspired Professor Bruce to invent a new distance measurement method.

This achievement is enough to make her famous in history.

Therefore, there were already tears in Levitt's eyes at this moment.

What she cares about is not leaving her name in history, but being respected for her achievements.

Although she was already famous before.

But it has more to do with her gender and health issues.

But now, she relies on pure astronomical results.

Levitt murmured, "Thank you, Professor Bruce."

If Levitt was moved.

Then Hubble was excited.

No one could understand how he felt at this moment.

Because his original plan was to use Cepheid variable stars as candlelight.

For this purpose, he has even found more than a dozen.

This is the advantage of a great telescope.

Hubble can find the stars that others can find.

Hubble can find stars that others cannot.

It's just that he has never conducted systematic research.

Because he doesn't understand the principle behind it.

Li Qiwei's analysis made Hubble suddenly enlightened, as if his Ren and Du meridians were opened.

"Next, I just need to find more Cepheid variables to prove whether the M31 nebula and other nebulae are galaxies."

"I must measure these data before the first plenary meeting of the Astronomical Union."

Hubble suddenly became ambitious.

That grand event in the field of astronomy will be held in Rome, Italy in 1922.

It’s only 2 years away from now.

Hubble's time is still very tight.

If it weren't for Li Qiwei's sharing today, he would never have been able to complete it.

But now, everything is different.

Hubble has decided that after today's activities are over, he will visit Professor Bruce as soon as possible.

Let’s discuss together the details of Cepheid variable star distance measurement.

Perhaps no one in the audience had more complicated feelings than Shapley and Curtis.

After Li Qiwei finished explaining his method, the two remained in shock.

No one can describe that feeling.

It's like the result of years of hard work, something you consider to be something you are proud of.

But in the end, I was defeated by someone else's doodles on the manuscript paper.

No matter how strong a person is, he probably can't withstand such a blow.

Even a proud person like Shapley could only smile bitterly at this moment.

His previous thought was correct.

"It's a good thing Professor Bruce didn't participate in the debate."

"Otherwise you can just admit defeat."

But now, it seems to be no different from admitting defeat.

It just turned out that both sides of the debate admitted defeat at the same time.

The two of them argued for more than an hour, but it was not as shocking as Professor Bruce's speech of more than ten minutes.

This is the terrifying thing about being the world's number one scientist.

Even big names like Haier and Dyson could not hide their shock.

They could never have imagined that Professor Bruce would find crucial evidence from the clues.

The horror of theoretical physicists was fully demonstrated at this moment.

The two lost interest in bickering and were immersed in this shock.

"Old Dai, do you think it's possible? This is the paper that Professor Bruce was going to publish."

Dyson said slowly, "That's definitely impossible."

"Don't you realize that this is Professor Bruce's improvisation?"

"It's just that he didn't say it because it would be too depressing."

“I believe the paper he is going to publish will be even more shocking than this!”

Hai Er was shocked when he heard this.

"Oh my God! How can a person be so talented?"

"He solved a problem that had been in the astronomy field for hundreds of years?"

Dyson shook his head.

"It's not so much that Professor Bruce is strong, but rather that he has extremely sharp insight."

“The core of his approach remains the same.”

"If you say it's difficult, then that's a bit too much."

"With so many astronomers here, who wouldn't know it?"

"But people can see the potential of Cepheid variables at a glance."

“We can dig out important information from it.”

"How do you describe this ability?"

“It’s a bit mysterious indeed.”

"Maybe this is talent."

"Considering his achievements in the field of physics, this little trick is actually not worth mentioning."

“It’s just important for astronomy.”

Although Dyson said this, the shock in his heart was no less than that of Haier.

There are many simple things in this world.

But why aren't you the one who discovered or created it?
As the masters of astronomy, everyone knows that the simpler things are, the easier they are to be overlooked.

Because people naturally like to pursue high-end things.

At this moment, many bigwigs recalled the glass problem a few days ago.

"Professor Bruce's greatness is not without reason."

At this moment, on the high platform, Li Qiwei was like a god or a devil.

He calmly watched the crowd cheering and admiring.

Today's unexpected events were completely beyond his expectations.

But that’s fine too.

His method will completely open up the research boom in galactic astronomy.

Then the publication of a stellar paper will trigger another wave of stellar research.

In addition to his own growing influence in the field of astronomy.

He can also bring incredible changes to Chinese Tianxia literature.

Over the past few days, after his training, Yu Qingsong can be said to have been reborn.

After he returns, he will definitely take over the banner from Gao Lu.

Bringing Chinese Tianxia literature into a new journey.

Finally, the debate of the century is over.

But it will always exist in everyone's mind.

Soon, the results of this debate will spread throughout the scientific community.

Everyone was once again impressed by Professor Bruce's talent.

Now, the other party is a well-deserved astronomer.

Next, the astronomical community will launch a carnival in the search for Cepheid variables.

Maybe some lucky person will be able to use this to explain the size of the universe and soar into the sky.

And at this moment, astronomers suddenly thought of it.

Professor Bruce is also going to publish a paper on stellar energy.

This will be another theory that shocks the academic world.

"Astronomy will be changed because of Professor Bruce."

However, what no one expected was.

This paper is not just about astronomy, it has even more far-reaching implications for physics.

It was not until several years later when people looked back on the history of world science that they discovered this.

Professor Bruce's paper, to some extent, changed the direction of the world.

(End of this chapter)