1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 465: Extreme Counterattack! Reversal and Reversal! Is the Electron Spin Really Wrong?
The concept of electron spin is both amazing and incredible.

The two major questions raised by Pauli made everyone present fall into deep thought.

First, why is the spin quantum number a fraction?

Second, the speed of the electron surface exceeds the speed of light.

If these two problems cannot be explained, the physics community will not be able to recognize the correctness of electron spin.

In other words, the fourth quantum number is not the electron spin.

Pauli made today's meeting confusing and exciting with just one move.

The big guys in the front row suddenly felt that this kid was indeed a bit high-profile, but his physical strength was unquestionable.

No wonder he published the Exclusion Principle at such a young age.

And Pauli was entirely concerned with scientific issues.

Therefore, people do not have any aversion to him, but rather admire him.

Of course, this little fat guy just said some very harsh words to insult others.

At this moment, after thinking about Pauli's doubts, the big guys all frowned slightly.

These are indeed two very fatal problems that hit the core.

But they didn't speak out immediately.

Because this is a question the speaker needs to answer directly.

So even if Bohr and Ehrenfest had some ideas, they would not take the initiative to speak them out.

Even though the respondents were their students.

If you propose a new theory, you must be prepared to face all kinds of doubts.

The most nervous people now are Uhlenbeck and the other two.

Gudsmith and Kronig are already showing signs of decline.

Obviously, neither of them could answer this question.

Uhlenbeck carries all the hope.

The discovery of electron spin gave Uhlenbeck great confidence.

He no longer thinks of himself as inferior to others.

Therefore, Pauli's aggressive and powerful momentum did not affect Uhlenbeck's mentality.

He was thinking calmly and peacefully.

And from time to time he looked at the people present, observing their reactions and looking for some inspiration.

Dirac lowered his head and calculated something quickly, his face expressionless.

Heisenberg looked up at the ceiling and muttered to himself.

Professor Ehrenfest and Professor Bohr were discussing in a low voice with excited expressions.

Pauli acted like the boss of the world and looked down on the whole audience.

Suddenly, Uhlenbeck's eyes fell on Li Qiwei who was in the front.

boom!
A moment!

The void generates electricity!

Lightning shines!

Uhlenbeck was shocked!

It was as if a surge of hot blood rushed up from the soles of my feet and exploded.

At this moment, in his eyes, Professor Bruce was like a god.

There was a faint smile of wisdom on the other person's face, which showed the calmness of looking down on the world.

The other person's eyes were as deep as the starry sky. Everything from electrons to celestial bodies were constantly rotating in them.

The opponent's momentum was so overwhelming that Pauli's sharp questioning was just a tiny breeze in front of him.

There was physics before there was heaven, but Bruce was before physics!

Everything is under control!

Uhlenbeck was obsessed with Ridgway's visions.

Suddenly, it was like being reborn.

His aura suddenly changed!
Countless information created a storm in my mind.

Numbers, physical concepts, inspiration.
He seemed to have been given strength through the air and became extremely confident.

"With Professor Bruce in charge here, what do I have to worry about?"

"Even if the answer is not good, it only means that my ability is limited."

"I firmly believe that electron spin must be right!"

Pauli below frowned, he felt that Uhlenbeck was a little different.

He couldn't tell exactly what was different.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Uhlenbeck.

He finally spoke:

“Thank you very much to Dr. Pauli for the questions.”

"I can try to explain it to you all."

"First question first."

"Dr. Pauli believed that there was no such thing as an object that could be rotated twice before returning to its original position."

“This statement is debatable.”

"Please look at the screen. I designed this structure."

"It consists of three gears and three metal lines."

"In the original state, the three metal lines appear at the same time and are connected into one line."

"When the top gear is rotated one circle, the metal lines on the top gear are hidden on the back of another gear due to the coordination between the gears."

"At this point, we rotate it again, and the hidden metal line reappears and reconnects with the other two to form a straight line."

"In this structure, it takes two turns to return to its original position."

"So, I think it might be a similar situation with electrons."

"Then there's the second question."

"Because of the electron's spin, it generates a magnetic moment."

"And the magnetic moment interacts with the magnetic field, causing the spectral lines to split."

"So based on the splitting of the spectral lines, we can calculate the size of the magnetic moment."

"Then, we can infer the spin speed."

"Finally, based on a simple conversion relationship, we can derive the speed of the electron surface."

"The data calculated by Dr. Pauli is 137 times the speed of light."

"This is clearly a violation of the theory of special relativity."

"But thanks to Dr. Pauli for reminding me."

"Electron spin should be considered in the special theory of relativity."

"According to the special theory of relativity, the greater the speed of an electron, the greater its mass."

"And the increased mass, in turn, constrains the speed of the electrons."

"So, it is impossible for an electron to spin faster than the speed of light."

“It’s a formula like this.”

Swish!
After a series of calculations, Uhlenbeck gave an expression for the electron spin speed.

In this formula, the relativistic effect is taken into account.

Therefore, the speed of electrons is constrained and cannot exceed the speed of light.

This explains the second question.

"That's my answer."

Wow!
As soon as Uhlenbeck finished speaking, everyone was shocked!
Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

"Damn, how can someone be so handsome!"

“So domineering!”

"Although Uhlenbeck ranks lower on the talent list and is not as good as Pauli, his ability is equally remarkable."

"Under such great pressure, he was able to cope with it so calmly."

"."

At this moment, many students were impressed by Uhlenbeck.

If Dirac had given such an answer, they would have been shocked but would not have empathized.

Since Dirac is recognized as the greatest genius in physics, it is natural for him to crush Pauli.

But Uhlenbeck is different, he's not even in the top ten.

Facing the powerful Pauli, he did not show any fear, but tried his best to improve himself and squeeze out his potential.

An almost perfect answer.

Yes, in the eyes of the students, Uhlenbeck's answer was enough to explain Pauli's doubts.

Even Dirac, Heisenberg and others nodded slightly.

Logically speaking, there is nothing wrong with the other party's answer.

But soon, Dirac frowned slightly. He had just calculated it again and found a small problem.

Ehrenfest's face flushed and he smiled with relief.

Uhlenbeck's performance has far exceeded his expectations.

Even he himself couldn't answer it so well.

"It's true that the new generation pushes the old generation forward!" However, Bohr's expression was solemn when he answered Uhlenbeck's question.

He always felt that the other party did not really get to the bottom of the matter.

Electron spin is, after all, a quantum concept.

But Uhlenbeck's answers were all based on classical physics.

If the special theory of relativity is taken into account, will the magnetic moment of the electron change?
Unfortunately, Bohr is no longer the super genius who shocked the world.

His knowledge structure and level are, of course, several levels higher than those of the students present.

But in terms of computing power, it is no exaggeration to say that he could not catch up with Dirac, Pauli and others.

It's a question of proficiency.

Bohr's research was more about thinking about the origin of physics rather than pure calculation.

So, he was not sure whether this answer was correct or not.

"But judging from the look in Pauli's eyes, there might be something wrong."

Then Bohr looked at Professor Bruce again.

He wanted to find some clues from his teacher.

However, at this moment, Li Qiwei was still sitting there calmly, with no fluctuation on his face.

Neither Pauli's question nor Uhlenbeck's answer caused him any special reaction.

Bohr was relieved.

Based on his understanding of the teacher, at this time the other person's mind was undergoing a thinking process that ordinary people could not imagine.

The time has not come yet!

Professor Bruce can't take action yet!

Uhlenbeck glanced around.

He was still very satisfied with his answer.

At least from a logical point of view there is absolutely no problem.

Finally, his eyes fixed on Pauli.

Under the gaze of everyone, Pauli smiled wickedly and then stood up gracefully.

Uhlenbeck's answer left him with no feeling because it was full of loopholes.

"Mr. Uhlenbeck, your answer does not convince me."

Wow!
Pauli spoke and everyone was shocked.

None of this works?

However, Bohr, Dirac and others nodded slightly. They probably understood Pauli's thoughts.

Uhlenbeck took a deep breath and said calmly:

"I'd like to hear more about that, Dr. Pauli."

Pauli said:
"First, the first question."

"That three-gear model you drew is very ingenious."

"Unfortunately, it means nothing."

"Because in your paper, the electron is a real little ball."

"The diameter of an electron is currently known to be 2.8×10(-16) meters."

[Note: This was the classical diameter recognized at the time, but electrons do not actually have a diameter. In modern physics, they are considered point particles.]

"Are you trying to say that there is such a sophisticated and complex structure inside it?"

"That's bullshit."

"So, even if there is a structure like what you said, which rotates twice and returns to its original position."

"But it certainly won't be a small ball like an electron."

“So, this question still has no answer.”

"second question."

"If we take special relativity into account, then the surface equatorial velocity of electrons will certainly not exceed the speed of light."

[Note that what is being discussed here is the speed of the electron's surface spin, not the speed at which the electron moves around the nucleus. ]

"But according to calculations, in this case, the magnetic moment generated by the electron motion is many times lower."

"A magnetic moment of this magnitude is not enough to cause the electrons to split their spectrum due to different energy levels."

"In other words, if special relativity is taken into account, then the anomalous Zeeman effect cannot be explained."

“So, this answer is also wrong.”

Wow!
Pauli's answer simply left everyone stunned with shock.

The most important thing is that I can't find any reason to refute him.

Because his answer was well-founded.

It even almost made many people think that electron spin might really be a mistake.

"Oh my God! Can anyone tell me for sure what electron spin is all about?"

"Why do I feel that Pauli's analysis is correct?"

"According to his calculation method, it is indeed unlikely that the electron is spinning."

"And all of these calculations are based on classical physics."

"With a method, even I can deduce it."

"."

The noise of the crowd's discussion made Uhlenbeck tremble slightly.

Until this moment, he finally felt Pauli's power.

The other party's angle is too sharp and too tricky.

He hadn't thought of this at all.

He looked at Kronig and Gudsmit, as if to say:
What kind of monster have you two provoked?
Uhlenbeck really has no other options.

Pauli's counter-question hit him directly in the sore spot.

Even he himself began to doubt the correctness of electron spin.

"Am I really just wishful thinking?"

"That's the fourth quantum number!"

"How could I be discovered so easily?"

“I’m not Dirac”

Pessimism spread throughout Uhlenbeck.

Even Gu Ke and the other two forgot their grudge with Pauli.

They cannot accept this reality.

Happiness comes suddenly and leaves suddenly.

"Oh God, don't do this to me."

"I also want to win the Nobel Prize in Physics for my work on electron spin."

At this moment, not to mention the three of them, even geniuses like Dirac and Heisenberg were thinking hard.

Pauli's counterattack is impeccable!
Dirac calculated it again according to Pauli's method and found it to be completely correct.

The spin loophole cannot simply be filled in using special relativity.

He murmured:

"If the electron is really spinning, then it can only be consistent with Pauli's calculation results."

“But the deduction process of Uhlenbeck and his colleagues was also based on experimental phenomena.”

"They derived this value based on the anomalous Zeeman effect."

"Both sides are correct, so why do they come to contradictory results?"

"Strange, what went wrong?"

Even a genius like Dirac was helpless.

Bigwigs like Bohr, Ehrenfest, and Einstein also shook their heads slightly.

Pauli did convince them.

Because of his derivation process, everyone present can reproduce it.

But something feels wrong.

“The mysterious electron spin, is it really wrong?”

As for experimentalists such as Rutherford, they were completely confused.

At this moment, the only way to maintain the mystery of the boss is to keep silent.

The room suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

Everyone was silent.

Only Pauli was full of vigor and showed off his power.

He glanced at Gu Ke and the other man with pride, and the meaning he conveyed was self-evident.

"You little brat, I told you your paper is rubbish, but you didn't believe me."

"Are you still stubborn now?"

At this time, Uhlenbeck looked at Li Qiwei first.

He has infinite expectations in his heart.

"Professor Bruce, are you still not going to take action?"

(End of this chapter)