1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 449: Artificial Elements! Turning Stone into Gold! This is the Creator's Authority! Bruce, the "Lord of Elements"!

Li Qiwei's nuclear fusion paper swept the entire scientific community with an extremely violent attitude, causing endless turmoil.

In particular, the three major disciplines of astronomy, chemistry and physics were the most shocking.

The concept of nuclear fusion astounds scientists from three major disciplines.

For astronomers, it explains the energy source of stars.

This means that stars no longer have any secrets from humans.

By calculating the energy of nuclear fusion reactions, it combines thermodynamics such as convection and radiation.

Astronomers can then construct the internal structure of stars and derive models of their evolution.

This will become one of the hottest areas in astronomy.

Although it is just a conjecture, the significance of this conjecture is too great.

Even though everyone had doubts in their hearts, it did not stop them from marveling at this fantastic theory.

Physics and astronomy, perfectly integrated.

Most importantly, nuclear fusion was proposed by Professor Bruce.

That man is synonymous with miracles and the human embodiment of truth and science.

His name is the best proof!

Because of him, a wave of interest in nuclear fusion began.

From astronomy to chemistry, and ultimately to physics.

American Astronomical Society Headquarters, Washington, DC.

After the great astronomy debate ended, Dyson took Eddington, Jeans and others with him.

Under the name of the British Astronomical Society delegation, we conducted academic exchanges with the American Astronomical Society to strengthen mutual ties.

The ties between the "father and son countries" of Britain and the United States are too deep.

The two sides have in-depth exchanges in many areas.

So, Eddington and others came directly from New York to Washington.

They also made an appointment with Li Qiwei to return to the UK together on May 5.

Because they were close to the Science headquarters, Eddington and others were the first astronomers to see the formal nuclear fusion paper.

At this moment, in a meeting room at the headquarters of the American Astronomical Society.

The sound of people gasping for air echoed in the empty hall.

Everyone was just discussing the problem when the assistant brought them this urgent paper.

As a result, no one was in the mood to attend the meeting.

Everyone was immersed in the shock of the paper.

Eddington was the most excited among them.

His eyes were fixed on the paper, not wanting to miss a single word, and he carefully pondered the contents of the paper.

When I saw the nuclear reaction equation of hydrogen fusing into helium, my heart was filled with shock.

Eddington felt as if his soul was in a vast starry sky.

suddenly!

A heat that could burn time and space came, and his soul trembled wildly.

It seemed like the most terrible thing had happened.

As he looked horrified, a big sun slowly appeared and occupied all his sight.

The entire universe is burning and boiling!

The extremely violent heat was transmitted to the edge of the universe in an instant, even obliterating the avenue.

The sea of ​​​​world is rolling, and the heaven is shaking!
boom!
Eddington felt like he was going to explode.

He woke up suddenly, his back soaked with cold sweat.

"call!"

"This paper by Professor Bruce is horrible!"

"Nuclear fusion is the ultimate secret of stars."

"I have a feeling this is definitely the correct theory."

“It’s so important to me.”

Because through this paper, he suddenly figured out a problem that had troubled him for a long time.

Eddington became famous after proving the general theory of relativity's prediction of the bending of starlight.

But he was not satisfied with this.

In his opinion, although this achievement is worth being proud of for a lifetime, it only proves the conclusions of others.

Eddington wanted to publish his original theory.

So he set his sights on the stars.

While at Greenwich Observatory and then Cambridge University Observatory, his main research area was the motion of stars.

However, it is difficult to achieve breakthrough results in this field at present.

Basically ended by gravity and general relativity.

Therefore, Eddington chose to study the internal structure of stars from a theoretical perspective.

He believed that the structure of stars was like this:

The gravity from the outside in and the light radiation pressure from the inside out maintain a balance.

The interior is a high-temperature plasma, which is equivalent to an ideal gas.

If this stellar model is correct, then he discovered through mathematical calculations that it can actually explain the variable light period of Cepheid variable stars.

This is a remarkable achievement.

Especially now, Cepheid variables have instantly become popular stars in the field of astronomy.

The reputation of the cosmic ruler has made all astronomers fascinated by studying it.

If Eddington could explain its nature, it would be a remarkable achievement.

It will definitely shine at the astronomy conference in two years.

No need to rehash the old story of bending the starlight.

Over the years, with Professor Bruce, a super great scholar, as an example, I have continued to write.

The number of people in the scientific community who rely on their seniority and experience to bully others has decreased significantly.

The one-trick pony approach will no longer work.

This is very beneficial to the development of science.

But Eddington's theory of the internal structure of stars currently has a fatal flaw.

That is, we don't know what the radiation pressure of light is.

Because he didn't know where the light in the stars came from.

Not only him, but everyone didn't know the source of stars' energy, so naturally they couldn't explain the problem of light radiation.

This is a bit embarrassing.

Gravity is easy to calculate, and Eddington is now stuck on light radiation.

However, today, the paper on nuclear fusion gave him an epiphany.

According to quantum theory, photons of various frequencies will be produced during the fusion process.

These photons are the source of the star's light.

Therefore, based on Professor Bruce's theory of nuclear fusion, Eddington was able to establish a model of light radiation.

This will solve the key difficulties of my theory at one stroke.

This is equivalent to pushing the stellar problem one step further based on Ridgway's work.

How could this not make Eddington extremely excited?

For him, this paper was like a long-awaited rain.

Kings, who was standing next to him, saw Eddington smiling as if he had won the Nobel Prize, so he joked:
"Professor Eddington, why are you smiling so happily?"

"Did you find any errors in this paper?"

Eddington was stunned when he heard this, and he couldn't laugh anymore.

Hoshnima!

Brother Jin, please don't scare me.

I am counting on this paper to achieve a breakthrough for myself.

"Professor Kings, forgive my stupidity, but I don't see any problem with the theory of nuclear fusion."

Kings laughed:

“I have also studied the formation and evolution of stars.”

"Professor Bruce said in his paper that the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium requires a temperature of tens of millions of degrees."

"This allows the electrons to separate from the nuclei, and the nuclei have a chance to fuse together."

"But how is it possible to generate such high temperatures when a star is just beginning to form?"

"In other words, how did the first two P nuclei fuse?"

Kings's problem is a bit like the chicken-and-egg logic puzzle.

Some people even suggested in later generations that all stars, which are unable to initiate nuclear fusion on their own, are actually ignited by intelligent life.

This falls into the category of folk science and science fiction.

Of course, humans have not figured out all the details about stars.

Eddington frowned slightly when he heard this.

He had to admit that the other party's point of view was interesting.

However, this did not pose a problem for him.

"Professor Kings, look here in the paper, Professor Bruce also thought of this."

"He believed that nuclear fusion required not only high temperatures but also high pressures."

"Even in some cases, high pressure can replace high temperature to start the reaction."

"During the formation of stars, the gravitational pull of the material that makes up the star is sufficient to produce such high pressures."

“Thus initiating nuclear fusion.”

"Besides, I have some ideas of my own on this issue."

"The universe is a high-energy experimental field."

"Perhaps those first hydrogen atoms themselves were at extremely high temperatures."

"When they come together, nuclear fusion naturally occurs."

“That’s how stars are formed.”

Eddington was full of confidence and spoke eloquently.

He wasn't bothered by Kings's questioning.

When a new hypothesis is put forward, it must withstand various tests.

But he firmly believes that nuclear fusion is absolutely correct.

The two explanations just given can answer Kings' question very well.

In fact, the high temperature and high pressure problem mentioned by Li Qiwei in his paper is the difficult problem of artificial controlled nuclear fusion in the future.

With the current human technology, it is very easy to create high temperature, but it is very difficult to create high pressure.

Therefore, controlled nuclear fusion uses high temperature instead of high pressure.

It only takes tens of millions of degrees for nuclear fusion to occur in the sun, because the pressure generated inside it is very high, which makes up for part of the pressure.

Controlled nuclear fusion requires temperatures of hundreds of millions.

How does such a terrifying temperature come about?
So scientists thought of heating the plasma in a spiral magnetic field.

But at such high temperatures, no material can serve as a container for plasma.

Therefore, it can only be bound by the magnetic field itself.

The strength of the magnetic field determines the upper limit of the temperature that these plasmas can reach.

However, magnetic field devices are limited by the materials themselves and have their own limitations.

Moreover, it is extremely difficult to accurately control the reaction of plasma at such a high temperature through magnetic fields and achieve a controllable state.

The above is one of the core difficulties of controlled nuclear fusion.

In comparison, uncontrolled nuclear fusion is much simpler.

Note that the sun itself is also an uncontrolled nuclear fusion because it cannot be stopped at any time.

Eddington and Jeans' discussion did not last long.

Because both sides understand that this issue cannot be explained in a few words.

In the future, there will inevitably be a wave of nuclear fusion research in the astronomical community.

Countless astronomers will join the research team to improve the theory proposed by Professor Bruce.

Following the general theory of relativity, astronomy has ushered in another epic theoretical revolution.

Countless shocking results are about to be born!

At this moment, all the astronomers present suddenly felt a strong sense of anticipation.

"Oh my God! What a wonderful event the 1922 World Astronomy Congress will be!"

"Cepheid variables, spiral galaxies, cosmic expansion, stellar nuclear fusion"

However, they could never have imagined it.

Professor Bruce will come up with an even more amazing theory. (Can you guess it?)
If nuclear fusion is a shocking theoretical conjecture for astronomers.

With it, astronomers can unlock the mysteries of stars.

The hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way will be conquered by human wisdom.

So for chemists, nuclear fusion is a miracle that defies nature.

Because it represents the revival of an ancient profession.

That is: Alchemist!

The chemists never expected that Professor Bruce had just stripped the title of alchemist from the chemists.

The title was immediately given to the physicist.

Man-made elements!
Midas touch!

This is the first reaction of all chemists after seeing the paper.

They were immediately shocked!
With nuclear fusion, humans have the possibility to become true alchemists.

As of Li Qiwei's previous life, there are currently 118 elements in the periodic table.

It is said that element 119 is being produced.

Among them, from element 1 [hydrogen] to element 94 [plutonium], they are elements that exist in the universe. (Some of them do not exist on Earth)
These elements are also called natural elements.

Starting from element 95 [americium], all the other elements do not exist in the universe.

They are created by humans and exist independently of the cosmic system. They are also called [artificial elements].

Thinking hard!
Human beings, as creatures created by the universe, actually created elements that do not exist in the universe.

Is there anything more incredible and shocking than this?

This is simply the authority of the Creator.

By 1920, chemists had a deep understanding of the periodic table.

Especially after Li Qiwei proposed the arrangement rules of electrons outside the nucleus, he directly got to the essence of the periodic table.

This makes chemistry a logically rigorous subject.

However, the existing periodic table still has great limitations.

Not only is it short, from element 1 [hydrogen], it only goes to element 92 [uranium], and there is nothing after that.

And there are 4 missing elements in the middle that have not been discovered.

they are, respectively:
Element 43 [technetium];
Element 61 [promethium];
Element 85 [Astatine];
Element 87 [Francium].

Chemists have used various methods to find these four elements, but have not been able to find any trace of their existence.

Of course, we already know this now.

[Technetium] is because its content on Earth is extremely low and can be ignored.

[Promethium] is also because of its low content.

[Astatine] is too unstable and can easily transform into other elements.

Francium is extremely unstable (the most unstable natural element in the world) and has a very short half-life.

But with the means of nuclear fusion, scientists have found a feasible way.

If we can’t find it, we’ll make it ourselves.

In real history, the first artificial element created by humans was element 43 [technetium].

(It makes sense, right? Although elements before 94 exist naturally, they can also be artificially created.)
In 1937, physicists used D nuclei to "bombard" element 42 [molybdenum], and through fusion, they obtained [technetium].

Because Technetium is the first element produced artificially.

Therefore, it was named Technetium according to the Greek word Technetos, which means man-made.

This was also the first application of nuclear fusion in the discovery of elements.

It was not until later, when the performance of instruments and equipment was improved, that scientists discovered the natural existence of technetium.

The second artificial element is promethium.

However, it is found in the products of nuclear fission of uranium.

So to be precise, promethium is produced through nuclear fission.

But theoretically, as long as the technical conditions are sufficient.

Humans can synthesize all elements except hydrogen through nuclear fusion.

As for why physicists did not consider nuclear fission for a long time after the advent of nuclear fusion.

And why nuclear fission was first discovered in element 92 [uranium].

That’s another ups and downs story.

At the same time, it will also be the beginning of Li Qiwei's journey to the top.

And now, because of nuclear fusion, he has become an invincible figure in the hearts of chemists.

Massachusetts, America.

The later famous Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are located in this state.

At this moment, there was a great American chemist in the Department of Chemistry at Harvard University.

He is the 1914 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and the first American Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Richards.

The reason for his winning the award was: accurately determining the atomic weights of a large number of chemical elements.

Richards, 52, is not only a professor of chemistry at Harvard University, but also the director of the Gibbs Institute.

In addition, he was twice elected president of the American Chemical Society.

Richards is currently an authority in the American chemical community.

Don't underestimate his achievements.

Accurate determination of atomic weight plays a very important role in both physics and chemistry.

Richards' greatest contribution was that he questioned the previous measurement method and proposed a completely new testing method.

He used his own method to reconfirm the atomic weights of more than 60 elements, which withstood the long test of the chemical community.

More importantly, he not only measured the atomic weights of elements on Earth, he also measured the atomic weights of elements such as iron, cobalt, and nickel in meteorites.

By comparison, we found that there is no difference between the two.

This means that the elements that make up our bodies and the Earth are the same elements that make up the stars in the universe.

Thus revealing the unity of cosmic matter.

It can be said that human beings come from the starry sky!
Therefore, he is also known as the "expert in measuring atomic weights."

At this moment, even this big shot in the field of chemistry was deeply shocked and moved.

The paper on nuclear fusion gave Richards a soul-stirring feeling.

Even in front of his doctoral students, he couldn't remain calm.

"Oh my God! Professor Bruce's paper makes it possible to turn stone into gold."

"With it, we can artificially create various elements."

“Although this is very difficult, there is hope.”

"In the future we may even be able to create elements that don't exist in the universe."

“That is truly the means of the Creator!”

“No words can overstate its importance.”

"It's incredible! It's incredible!"

As a chemistry expert, Richards thought of these potential applications the moment he saw the paper.

This was the first time Baxter saw his mentor look like this.

As an authority in the field of precision analytical chemistry, Professor Richards is always, in his eyes, a meticulous, calm and composed person.

Only in this way can you keep yourself in the calmest state, which is an essential quality in surveying.

But today, facing this paper on nuclear fusion, the other party was very excited.

You can see how shocking it is!
Baxter himself was shocked by his mentor's words.

"Artificial elements", "Turning stone into gold".

He couldn't find any words to describe what a heaven-defying act this was.

How could such a terrible man exist in the world?

Relying solely on pure theory, one can come up with such a shocking method.

"Professor Richards is right. This is indeed the authority of the Creator."

"Is Professor Bruce going to create the world?"

Even if it is just a guess, it is enough to make everyone strive for a lifetime.

However, Baxter had his own questions:

"Professor, how did Professor Bruce know that there would be a change in mass before and after a nuclear fusion reaction?"

“Is this also a hypothesis?”

Richards was very pleased to hear this.

As a student, I know how to think independently.

The questions raised are very meaningful.

He calmed down and said with a smile:

"This is what I admire most about Professor Bruce."

“Although his theories are wild and brilliant, they are almost all based on solid phenomena.”

“It’s just that most people don’t know about it.”

"Just last year, the chemistry community discovered that the mass of helium-4 is about 4% smaller than the sum of the masses of the four hydrogen atoms that make up helium."

"Because there was no concept of protons and neutrons at that time."

"So, no one can explain this phenomenon clearly."

"However, Professor Bruce's theory perfectly explains this phenomenon."

"That's because of nuclear fusion!"

"Combined with the theory of relativity, we can explore the mystery of fusion."

"Throughout the entire process, precise measurements are the key to the generation of theory."

“The measurement method used in that helium-4 paper is the method I proposed.”

"Now, do you still think your work is meaningless?"

Baxter's face turned red and he scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

He has always felt that surveying does not require much technical skills and can be done by any worker.

Why does he, a PhD student in chemistry, need to do this?

However, today, Professor Li Qiwei's paper taught him a good lesson.

Without the most solid foundation, it is impossible to create the greatest theory.

Richards said with emotion:

"Professor Bruce has reached a level that we cannot even imagine."

"What he is pursuing now is not simply a breakthrough in physics."

“It’s a breakthrough in the entire scientific system.”

“I think this is what he’s trying to do.”

"I think this is why he got involved in astronomy and tried chemistry and biology."

"Integrate all knowledge and explain all phenomena in the world!"

boom!
Baxter only felt a surge of heat rising into the sky.

He couldn't believe what kind of state that was.

It took him a long time to calm down.

But the nature of youth made him shout out involuntarily:

"Because of nuclear fusion, Professor Bruce is the sun king in the astronomy world."

"And in the world of chemistry, he is the master of the elements that created the world!"

boom!
The shock is far from over!

(End of this chapter)