1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 470 Shocking Results! The Third Force of Nature! First Signs Appear!

1921 October.

The influence of the quantum theory seminar eventually gradually diminished.

Because a more exciting event is about to begin.

There are only a little over two months left until the third Bruce Conference begins!

The physics community is in turmoil.

Everyone is looking forward to it and making final efforts for this meeting.

The rise of the younger generation, such as Wu Youxun, Pauli, and Uhlenbeck, has once again proved to the world that:

The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead!
The world of physics is more dazzling than you might imagine.

The genius rises and stands at the forefront!
Because the time span between the third and second sessions is very large.

In the meantime, they went through a war that affected the whole world.

This means that this meeting is destined to be of extraordinary significance.

Everyone was silently waiting for the shocking moment to come.

However, as time approached, everyone suddenly discovered a problem.

"Why hasn't the list of the third Bruce Conference been announced yet?"

“The first two sessions came out before this.”

"Will there be any changes this time?"

For a moment, many people were talking about it.

Everyone gave various guesses.

But at the center of the storm, inside the Quantum Research Institute, everything was calm.

Researchers at the institute have noticed that Professor Bruce has been staying at the institute longer and longer recently.

I guess the other party must be preparing for the third Bruce Conference.

Everyone felt proud of it.

In the laboratory on the first floor, Irena was conducting the last batch of experiments.

Her face was filled with excitement.

"The project that Professor Bruce assigned to me is finally going to be completed."

Previously, after proposing the proton-neutron model of the atomic nucleus, Li Qiwei asked Irena a question.

"Inside the nucleus, protons have a positive charge, while neutrons have no charge."

"So how do the protons hold together?"

"According to the principle that like charges repel each other, protons should repel each other due to the Coulomb force."

"And how can they combine together to form an atomic nucleus?"

At that time, Irena instantly thought of a possibility.

"There is a gravitational attraction between protons, and between protons and neutrons."

"If the gravitational force is stronger than the Coulomb force, then the protons and neutrons can be held together."

Li Qiwei smiled slightly and asked Irena to go back and calculate carefully and explain it through experiments.

Irena gladly accepted the order, but she didn't expect that this small problem would take her more than a year to solve.

At this moment, in the director's office.

Irena was holding a thick stack of research data in her hands, looking excited.

She could finally report her final results to Professor Bruce.

And next to her was sitting Schrödinger.

Irena received a lot of help from Schrödinger during the calculations and experiments.

In her opinion, this Austrian big brother is such a nice person.

Emotionally stable, handsome, smart, gentle, and considerate.

Most importantly, be a gentleman.

Compared to that bastard Pauli, there is a world of difference.

Just as Irena was lost in her thoughts, a voice interrupted her.

"Irena, tell me about your research results."

Irena said "Oh" and quickly came to her senses.

There was an expression of irrepressible joy on her face.

Because what she is going to share next will shock the entire physics community.

She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and said calmly:

"Professor, my research is divided into two parts."

“The first part is theoretical models and calculations, and the second part is experiments.”

"I started by constructing a hypothetical standard model of the nucleus."

"The arrangement of protons and neutrons can be calculated using a coordinate system."

"Based on this model, according to the law of universal gravitation, we can calculate the magnitude of the gravitational force between particles."

"Protons and protons, protons and neutrons, neutrons and neutrons."

"At the same time, based on Coulomb's law, we can also calculate the magnitude of the Coulomb force between protons."

"After comparison, we found that Coulomb force is much greater than gravity."

"This shows that it should be impossible for protons to gather together, which is completely contrary to reality."

"In addition, I constructed a dozen different models of the atomic nucleus."

“The results were the same.”

"No matter how the protons and neutrons are arranged in the nucleus, the Coulomb force between them is much stronger than the gravitational force."

“This is truly an incredible thing.”

Schrödinger was shocked after hearing Irena's result.

This kind of research involving the secrets of the atomic nucleus will almost certainly shock the physics community.

Li Qiwei had a calm expression and listened quietly to Irena's report.

"In addition to theoretical calculations, I also used experiments to verify it."

“My idea is this:”

"First, assume that the protons and neutrons in the nucleus are held together by gravity."

"Then if I bombard the nucleus with alpha rays."

"According to the law of conservation of energy and momentum, as long as the kinetic energy of the alpha ray is sufficient, it can blast apart the atomic nucleus."

"It's like a building made of sand that can be broken into pieces by throwing a rock at it."

"I used various metal elements as targets."

"They have a large number of protons and neutrons in their nuclei, making them suitable as research models."

"I first calculated the magnitude of the gravitational force of each metal nucleus under ideal conditions."

"Then use the formula to calculate how much kinetic energy the alpha ray needs."

"Next, I will use the linear accelerator to accelerate the alpha particles to a specified speed."

"Finally, by observing whether the alpha particle can knock the nucleus apart, we can verify the hypothesis that gravity binds the nucleus."

"The result is that alpha particles that meet the kinetic energy requirements cannot smash the nucleus."

“Even if I speed it up 10 times, the results are still the same.”

"The experimental results are completely consistent with theoretical calculations."

"This proves that it is impossible for an atomic nucleus to maintain its structural integrity by relying solely on gravity."

"It will inevitably fall apart because the Coulomb force is too strong."

Wow!
As soon as Irena finished speaking, Schrödinger's heart was filled with turmoil.

Although he helped Irena a lot, he didn't know the full picture of the experiment.

After listening to the other party's report today, he finally realized what an incredible research he was involved in.

If all of Irena's data is correct.

Can't that be deduced?
Schrödinger suddenly felt his mouth dry.

This is too exaggerated!

It is even countless times more exaggerated than the previous electron spin.

He was waiting for Professor Bruce's response.

Is it really as he thought?

Li Qiwei took Irena's research data and looked at it carefully again.

A relieved smile appeared on his face.

"Irena, it seems my prediction was correct."

"There should be a special force between protons and neutrons."

"It is neither gravity nor electromagnetic force like Coulomb force, but a completely new force."

"This shows that there is a third fundamental force in nature!"

boom!
Schrödinger was shocked!

It was exactly what he thought.

Professor Bruce actually discovered traces of the third force!
"Oh my God! What kind of achievement is this?" "This will completely rewrite the foundation of physics!"

At this moment, even Schrödinger, who was calm, could not remain calm.

This news is really too explosive.

Irena looked at her dear Uncle Bruce as if she were making a pilgrimage.

She was not a physics novice, so of course she understood what this result meant.

Irena said excitedly:

"Yes, Professor Bruce."

“Your instincts never fail.”

"We have truly discovered a third fundamental force."

At this time, Li Qiwei was still very calm.

"Haha, keep a low profile."

"We can only say that we have discovered the possibility of its existence."

"More theories and experiments are needed to verify this."

Li Qiwei knew very well that Irene's experimental data alone was far from enough to perfectly prove the existence of the third force.

And it is the famous [strong interaction].

In real history, the Hungarian-American physicist Wigner first proposed the principle of interaction between protons and neutrons.

He was awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for this.

And his identity is also very interesting.

He once worked as Born's assistant.

In addition, his sister was Dirac's wife.

In addition to this achievement, Wigner also proposed a special crystal concept, namely Wigner crystal.

This crystal is a strange crystal composed entirely of electrons and can only exist at extremely low temperatures and densities.

It was not until April 2024 that physicists finally discovered the existence of this crystal for the first time.

This proved Wigner's conjecture.

Therefore, this is an absolute great god.

Later, based on Wigner's work, Sakura Country physicist Hideki Yukawa formally introduced the concept of "strong interaction".

He proposed the famous [Meson Theory], which explained the nature of strong interactions and predicted the existence of mesons. (Details will be introduced in the following plot)

For this achievement, he won the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Since then, strong interactions have become a hot topic in physics research.

While looking at Irena's data, Li Qiwei thought about the development history of strong interactions.

The reason why the word "strong" is added to the word "strong" is because it is very strong.

How strong is it?

The strong interaction is a billion billion billion times stronger than gravity.

Therefore, it can overcome the Coulomb force between protons and bind protons and neutrons tightly together to form an atomic nucleus.

Of course, because it is so strong, it is very short.

The range of strong interaction is only as large as the nucleus.

So once the particles are beyond this distance, the strong interactions between them can be ignored.

This is also the basis for nuclear fission to occur.

Otherwise, with such a strong binding force, the nucleus would not be able to fission.

However, the data calculated by Irena had a very large error.

However, these are not important.

Ridgway did not need to publish all of his work on strong interactions immediately.

He just needs to throw out a hook.

With strong interaction, Einstein's unified field theory can be declared complete.

Proposing this concept more than ten years in advance will inevitably cause a chain reaction.

Even Li Qiwei can hardly see the road ahead.

However, this is exactly what he wanted.

Otherwise, it would be too boring.

He wants the theory of elementary particles and the grand unified theory to be born earlier.

And then compete with his own theory!
Stirring up an endless echo!
At this time, Irena found that Professor Bruce was lost in thought.

She didn't dare to interrupt.

After a long while, Li Qiwei finally came to his senses.

He smiled and said:

"Irena, I want to thank you this time."

“I plan to present this concept at the third Bruce Conference.”

“And I will tell everyone that you make the data.”

Upon hearing this, Irena's face turned red with excitement.

She said quickly:
"Professor Bruce, I just did what I was supposed to do."

“Without your guidance and advice, I would not have had the opportunity to engage in such research.”

"And Brother Schrodinger also helped me a lot."

Although Irena was very excited, she knew very well that all this was given by Professor Bruce.

The other party predicted the existence of the third force many years ago.

But today, I finally found a trace.

If the other party hadn't been too lazy to do the experiment, it probably wouldn't have been her turn.

And she also understood that her mother probably played a big role.

However, she did not feel guilty.

"Because I am Uncle Bruce's doctoral student."

Schrödinger looked at Irena with envy.

The other party perfectly inherited the appearance and wisdom of her mother, Madame Curie.

At such a young age, he has achieved such important results.

The future achievements are simply unimaginable.

At this time, the two looked at each other and saw the fire in each other's eyes.

What a sensation it would cause if the news of the third force was announced at the third Bruce Conference.

They've already started looking forward to it.

After Irena and Schrödinger left, Li Qiwei was alone and began to think about the next arrangements.

At the third Bruce Conference, he was ready to make a change.

After all, we have experienced major events such as the World War.

All physicists are probably feeling angry.

And the Bruce Conference is what they hope for.

Countless people are looking forward to this meeting.

Li Qiwei will not let anyone down.

Moreover, this meeting also plays a connecting role between the past and the future.

Before it, there was general relativity, and after it, there was quantum mechanics.

Therefore, its significance is very important.

In addition, Li Qiwei has already thought of the topic of the meeting.

That is "Atoms and Quantum".

The two pillars of modern physics, the theory of relativity, have been completed.

Its basis is astronomy.

The rest is quantum mechanics.

And its foundation is atomic science.

In both areas, many important achievements have been made since the Second Bruce Conference.

A concentrated discussion and summary is urgently needed.

Of course, the most important thing is to guide the way forward.

Everyone already has experience.

All the predictions made at the Bruce conference will profoundly change physics.

As Li Qiwei was writing the plan, he suddenly thought:
"By then, I hope even the fourth force will be forced out."

"That would be so interesting."

“Even I’m looking forward to it.”

(End of this chapter)