1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 464 Two major questions about electron spin! Surface velocity exceeds the speed of light! Why is the spin quantum number a fraction?

Inside the Quantum Research Institute.

When Uhlenbeck first proposed the concept of electron spin.

The whole audience was shocked.

It was like a flash of inspiration that passed through everyone's brain.

In the endless darkness, the image of truth flashes.

Electron spin is not only the last piece of the puzzle of quantum theory, but also gives people a new understanding of the properties of microscopic particles.

The big guys in the front row have already started thinking and examining, while many students are discussing with each other.

At their level, they are currently unable to determine the accuracy of electron spin.

But it doesn’t affect my bragging.

In the crowd, Kronig couldn't help but slap his thigh, feeling extremely regretful.

It felt like there were ten thousand ants crawling in his heart.

"What a fool I am!"

"Why are you so unconfident? Have you been fooled by Pauli?"

"Looking at the expressions of Professor Bruce, Professor Bohr and others, they didn't question it immediately."

“It shows that this conjecture has merit.”

"Oh, if only I were bolder!"

All I can say is that character determines destiny.

In real history, in 1924, Pauli was invited by Bohr to study at the Bohr Institute.

There he met Koronig.

At that time, the discovery of the anomalous Zeeman effect made physicists realize that there should be an undiscovered quantum number.

Many people are studying it.

Koronig was the first to think of electron spin and even wrote a paper on it.

He originally planned to publish it directly, but he heard that the genius Pauli was coming to the Bohr Institute.

So he changed his mind and thought about asking Pauli to take a look at his paper first to see if he could give some suggestions.

Because at that time Pauli had just published the exclusion principle and was a hot new star in the physics world.

Koronig felt that if he could get Pauli's guidance, it would definitely be helpful for the publication of the paper.

So he showed the paper to Pauli first.

Unexpectedly, after reading it, the latter mocked and criticized it and directly gave Kronig an emo treatment.

"What a piece of rubbish you are!"

Koronig was heartbroken and had completely lost confidence in himself.

I went home that night and tore up the paper.

Unexpectedly, the following year, in 1925, Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit published the same paper.

Even the derivation process of the spin quantum number is the same as Koronig's.

As soon as the paper was published, it shocked the physics community.

Einstein, Bohr and other great men all agreed with this view.

A few years later, electron spin was theoretically proved by Dirac.

Since then, it has become an important basic concept in quantum mechanics with far-reaching influence.

However, even with such a significant discovery, none of the three people, Kougu, won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Because one of the rules for awarding the Nobel Prize is that no award will be given for any controversial achievement.

This shows that Koronig, Pauli and Ugu must have had a dispute over this matter at that time.

That’s why even electron spin didn’t win the Nobel Prize.

There is no way around it. There were no electronic records at the time, and it is impossible to figure out if there was any trickery in the publication of the paper.

The Whip of God is indeed worthy of its reputation.

A whip shatters the Nobel Prize spirit.

Pauli later regretted this incident and felt very guilty.

He felt sorry for Kronig, Uhlenbeck and Gudsmit.

However, he used his connections to find Koronig a very high-paying job as compensation.

At the 1976 annual meeting of the American Physical Society.

When the host introduced Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit as Nobel Prize winners.

Goudsmit said wittily:

"We didn't win the award because people thought we both had won it."

This shows the importance of electron spin in the field of physics.

At this moment, Kronig suddenly felt a little lucky.

If there had not been the quantum theory seminar hosted by Professor Bruce today.

He might have met Pauli earlier.

Because Professor Bohr told him that Pauli was originally planning to visit the Bohr Institute.

Later, it was cancelled because of the quantum theory seminar.

Kronig was terrified that he might have torn up the paper in advance.

Then there will be no way to defend myself.

Now, although he has lost the honor of being the starter, he discovered the fourth quantum number independently of Ugu and the other two.

In terms of contribution, the three are the same.

This situation has existed in history.

For example, Newton and Leibniz independently invented calculus.

At this moment, Koronig made up his mind.

While the bosses were in deep thought, he took the initiative to stand up and walked to the front of the crowd.

He wanted to ignore Pauli's influence and show off his own achievements.

"Professor Bruce, Professor Bohr, and all the professors and gentlemen."

"Please forgive my rudeness."

“I want to share my content in advance.”

“Because my research results are closely related to what Mr. Uhlenbeck just shared.”

Snapped!
The slides showed the contents of Koronig's paper.

“Electron spin.”

"Spin quantum number."

Wow!
The people who had just been shocked were shocked again.

"Oh my God, what is going on?"

"Kronig also discovered the fourth quantum number at the same time?"

"Oh my god! Even something like this can happen. What day is today?"

"Such a low probability is simply unreasonable."

To everyone's astonishment, Koronig briefly and skillfully presented his research results.

Many people can be sure that he definitely did not plagiarize.

Because there is not enough time.

In fact, he discovered it earlier than Ugu and the others!

And among what Koronig presented, there were some of his own unique ideas.

However, a few people thought this was too strange.

How could such a coincidence happen in the world?

And it also happens at the fourth quantum number, which is the most difficult to find.

However, everyone quickly calmed down.

“Although the deduction process of both sides is the same, there are so many big guys present.”

"Their sharp eyes are enough to detect any trace of plagiarism."

No one has the guts to lie openly in front of the big boss.

At this time, Li Qiwei's words directly put the final conclusion.

"Kronig's research was done independently by him."

"I ran into him yesterday and caught a glimpse of his paper topic."

boom!
The whole place was shocked!

No one questioned it anymore.

In the world of physics, no one has greater authority than Professor Bruce.

Since he dared to say such words, it meant that he was guaranteeing it in his own name.

This favor is so huge.

Everyone was extremely envious.

"Kronig is considered the disciple of Professor Bruce."

"With such a big boss backing me, what's there to be afraid of?"

Koronig gave Li Qiwei a grateful look.

Then he looked back at Bohr.

The latter's face was full of pride and relief.

Bohr was well aware of the character of his student.

He also believed that he would not make the mistake in judging people.

Although Professor Bohr did not speak, Koronig still felt the warmth.

Finally, he and Ugu looked at each other, and the three of them smiled and nodded, with a heroic feeling of heroes meeting each other too late.

At the same time, Ugu and the other man felt a sense of fear in their hearts.

Fortunately, Kronig did not publish it in advance, otherwise they would both have wanted to die.

Because once someone's paper is published in a journal in advance.

That means something completely different.

Even if Ugu and the other man discovered it independently, it would be difficult to explain.

You can’t wash it off even if you jump into the Yellow River.

At this moment, all three of them thanked Professor Bruce in unison.

If it weren't for the meeting the other party formed today, one of the three of them would definitely regret it for the rest of their lives.

And now, there are so many witnesses, including Professor Bruce and many other bigwigs.

The three of them are the joint discoverers of the fourth quantum number.

The originator of the concept of electron spin.

No more objections!

At this time, Kronig and Gudschmidt looked at Pauli at the same time.

The former is a determined look.

"This time, I'd rather be proudly wrong than compromised and right!"

The latter is the pure pleasure of being proud.

"I, Gu, am not a bad student!"

"That day you humiliated me like an ant, today even an ant is defying the heaven!"

"I am a genius physicist just like you, Pauli!"

The dramatic changes on the field brought the atmosphere of the meeting to a climax again.

The students were talking about it in a flurry, while the experts were still reviewing the derivation process of electron spin.

Pauli's expression was extremely strange.

It seems like a smile but not a smile, and it seems like a joke but not a joke.

He just let out a light hum.

After criticizing Koronig's paper yesterday, he redid the calculations when he went back home in the evening.

He discovered a fatal problem with electron spin.

Originally, he had not planned to tell Kronig.

Because he thought the other party would just give up and stop sharing the original content.

But unexpectedly, the other party not only did not give up, but was confident instead.

More importantly, that poor student Goudsmit also proposed the electron spin at the same time.

This is fun.

"I'll take care of both of you together."

After Koronig's sharing, Li Qiwei, as the host, said:
"I really didn't expect that today's meeting would be so exciting."

"You young people are all more capable than each other."

“Perhaps it won’t be long before all the mentors here have to retire.”

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Professor Bruce is so funny.

"Okay, now comes the question and answer session."

“I hope everyone can think carefully and come up with some questions.”

“It’s a really great opportunity.”

"I think the concept of electron spin is very important and may have a profound impact on quantum theory."

"So, every thought and every question you have is crucial."

Wow!
Li Qiwei's big pie made many students look excited.

Electron spin has become a hot commodity in their eyes.

Perhaps we can make other discoveries based on this.

However, Li Qiwei had just finished speaking before everyone had time to think about it.

Pauli spoke up.

His brain had been thirsty for a long time.

"Mr. Uhlenbeck, Mr. Goudsmit, Mr. Kronig."

"I have to admit that your speech was very good."

"But your mistakes are just as wonderful."

Wow!
As soon as the God of Spray opened his mouth, he immediately became the focus of the whole audience.

Sommerfeld covered his head helplessly, praying that no one would look at him.

The students instantly turned into spectators.

They had already witnessed Pauli's sharp style yesterday.

It’s not scary if a person is arrogant, what’s scary is if he is extremely strong.

You can't refute it even if I criticize you.

Pauli didn't give anyone any time to think and just kept on talking.

"I have two questions."

"First, you said that the electron is a small ball and it is spinning."

"Then may I ask why the spin quantum number is a fraction?"

"A small ball has to rotate twice before it can return to its original position."

"I can't imagine what form it would take."

"If I, Pauli, turn around once, I will no longer be Pauli, but become Heisenberg next to me?"

Everyone laughed.

Heisenberg lowered his head shyly, looking very innocent.

"Also, even if the electron is really spinning, there is a fatal problem."

"I just did the math down there."

"If the conditions in your equation are met."

"Then when the electron spins, its surface speed will exceed the speed of light!"

"And that is clearly impossible."

"No object can move faster than the speed of light."

"These are my two main doubts about electron spin."

"How would you three explain these two questions?"

boom!
As soon as Pauli finished speaking, there was a sound of people sucking in air in shock in the room.

Everyone was shocked by his question.

On the one hand, he was able to think of so much in such a short time.

On the other hand, everyone was impressed after seeing the derivation of the superluminal motion of electrons.

"Oh my god! I'm still sorting out the derivation process, and Pauli has found such a deep hidden problem."

“His foundation in classical physics is so solid.”

"Although Pauli is high-profile, his ability is really amazing. I admire him."

“This is really exciting!”

"Perhaps today we will see a fight between dragons and tigers."

At this moment, Pauli stood upright with his aura fully open, he could be described as a weak version of Tyrant.

Of course, only he himself knew that the calculation process actually took him two hours to complete last night.

But since Kronig didn't mention what happened yesterday, he didn't mention it either.

Just keep it as a secret between the two of you.

What Pauli didn't know was that behind him, in the corner, Dirac was looking at the calculation formula in his hand and smiling slightly.

Then he crumpled up the manuscript and put it in his pocket.

No one present knew that Dirac had calculated the problem of electrons traveling faster than the speed of light on the spot.

This strength is unmatched among his peers!
He said with emotion:

"You are all so strong!"

Koronig can only leave it to fate now.

He thought about it all night last night, but still couldn't solve Pauli's problem.

I didn’t expect that another difficult problem would be added today!
The speed of light issue made him even more confused.

At this moment, he realized that Pauli was not targeting him personally, but really believed that electron spin was wrong.

Before Gudsmith could feel proud for long, he suddenly experienced the feeling of being called a poor student by Pauli again.

Although he really wanted to hang Pauli up and give him a beating, he had to admit that Pauli's questions were very sharp.

At least he couldn't figure it out for the time being, and he even began to tremble.

Because faster than light is a very naive mistake!

Logically speaking, this shouldn't happen.

Among the three, only Uhlenbeck could remain calm.

He had no grudge against Pauli, so he could think calmly.

but.

“How do you explain these two questions?”

(End of this chapter)