1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 491: The mass-luminosity formula! Schwarzschild’s ambition! The three great men of Guangxiang! Today I know who I am!

Inside the National Museum of Rome.

The first plenary meeting of the International Astronomical Union is being held in full swing.

Li Qiwei's opening speech gave all the astronomers present a strong sense of mission.

The wooden sticks that primitive people threw into the sky tens of thousands of years ago have now become airplanes.

The telescopes that astronomers use to observe the starry sky today may become "eyes in the sky" orbiting the earth in the future.

Augusto quickly recovered from his shock.

He was very excited to feel the charm of Professor Bruce's speech at such a close distance.

However, he kept his duties as host in mind.

"Next, we will move on to the sharing and reporting session of the conference."

"The first person to share was Professor Eddington from Cambridge University."

"Let us welcome him to give his report."

Wow!
The audience burst into warm applause.

Eddington's name is a household name in the astronomical community.

The bending of starlight that verified the general theory of relativity instantly made him a star in the scientific community from an unknown professor.

If he were not still relatively young, he would probably have already become a senior leader like Haier, Dyson and others.

However, in recent years, the other party has not published any significant results.

Many people are curious about what amazing results the other party will bring this time.

Eddington took a deep breath, stood up from his seat, and walked to the stage with confident steps.

Dyson looked at his figure, his eyes full of relief.

For a person to have research results like Eddington's in his lifetime is enough to be proud of.

Not everyone can be like Professor Bruce, whose inspiration comes out freely and for free.

But Dyson knew that Eddington would not rest on his laurels.

This is his pride and his passion.

A smile appeared on Hubble's lips.

He, Eddington and Schwarzschild were once so ambitious and vigorous.

Time passes, but their hearts remain the same!
However, what Hubble found unfortunate was that Schwarzschild did not attend the conference.

The war made the other side indifferent to all honors and forms, and they only wanted to be accompanied by the starry sky above their heads.

In his last letter, Schwarzschild said he had moved to Göttingen and was working at a local observatory.

It's almost in a semi-hidden state.

Otherwise, with his status and contributions in the war, he would definitely be a guest of honor at any university in Germany.

Hubble was not at all worried about Big Brother's mental state.

Because the other party once said in the letter domineeringly:
“I want to find the real black hole!”

“It is not a special celestial body predicted by general relativity, but a mysterious celestial body that actually exists in the universe.”

"I'm willing to sacrifice the rest of my life for this!"

The medals of war will only bring back painful memories, but the traces of truth will make him famous in history.

Hubble was very impressed by such ambition.

If Schwarzschild really found it, they would become immortal legends in the field of astronomy.

The three people each verified a prediction of general relativity!

They can be called the three heroes of Guangxiang!

But Hubble felt that Schwarzschild's wish was probably the most difficult to achieve.

Because black holes are merely a consequence of general predictions.

It has no formation process at all.

Even stars have a birth process called nuclear fusion.

So how are black holes formed?

It's impossible to jump out of the void directly.

Currently, astronomy lacks such a theory.

Once we understand how black holes are formed, it will certainly be easier to find them.

"Brother Shi, I wish you good luck."

"I believe you can wait until that day."

Just as Hubble was sweetly recalling the past of the three of them.

Eddington has arrived at the podium.

At this moment, his aura changed.

Eddington, who was once famous in the astronomical world, is back!
"Hello, everyone."

"The topic of my report today is the study of stellar mass."

"Ever since Professor Bruce proposed the theory of nuclear fusion in the origin of stars, the mass of stars has become a key parameter."

"It has everything to do with the star formation process."

"In addition, the mass of stars also plays a crucial role in the study of large-scale star systems and star cluster systems."

"Currently in astronomy, there are two most mainstream methods for measuring the mass of stars."

"The first is to calculate the mass of the star based on the orbital parameters of the planets or satellites around the star and reversely infer the mass through gravity."

"The second method is to estimate the mass of a star based on the shape or frequency changes of the spectral lines emitted by the star."

"But both methods have their own shortcomings."

"The first method requires a lot of time and accurate recording of the orbital path of a planet or satellite."

"For some special stars, this time may be a year or even longer."

"Obviously, this method is very cumbersome and a waste of observation resources."

"In addition, due to the complex environment in the universe, there are often other gravitational sources that are invisible to the naked eye, which can lead to deviations in the results."

“The second method takes a short time, as it only requires measuring the emission spectrum of the star.”

“But this method also has a large margin of error.”

"Because the elements contained in stars are almost the same."

"Their spectral changes are difficult to use as valid data for estimating mass."

"In existing spectral catalogs, the measured differences in stars are usually more than a factor of 10."

"Although astronomical measurements do not require precision, this level of error is obviously unbearable for stellar masses."

"Therefore, astronomy urgently needs a more practical measurement method with smaller errors."

Many astronomers in the audience nodded slightly.

The measurement of stellar mass has always been a headache for astronomy.

Although the gravity method is accurate, it takes too long.

Although the spectroscopy method takes a short time, the error is too large.

You can't have the best of both worlds.

At this time, Eddington raised his voice and said excitedly:

"And now, I've created a whole new way to measure it."

“I named it: mass spectrometry.”

"This method makes up for the shortcomings of existing methods in that it is both simple and precise."

Wow!
There was a shock in the venue!
This is a remarkable achievement!

If such a good method really exists, it would instantly become the first choice of astronomers.

Many people opened their eyes wide, with great anticipation in their hearts.

"Professor Eddington is indeed worthy of being the first genius to verify the universal aspect."

"He succeeded in breaking through himself and achieving greater success."

"Although this achievement may not be as good as verifying the bending of starlight, its role far exceeds the latter."

"It will be a great tool for astronomical research."

Dyson, Hubble and others were all happy for Eddington.

This step is too difficult for ordinary people like them with ordinary qualifications.

At this time, Eddington began to introduce his method.

"Based on Professor Bruce's theory of nuclear fusion."

"When a star is stabilizing, heat energy is transferred from the interior to the exterior."

"This process is not achieved by convection as originally thought."

“It’s achieved through radiation.”

"When stars radiate heat energy, they generate radiation pressure."

"This pressure can have a significant impact on the balance of the star."

"From this balance, we can find the relationship between the mass of a star and the amount of heat it radiates."

"The luminosity of a star refers to the total energy radiated by the star in one second."

“So we can draw a conclusion.”

"There is a certain relationship between the mass of a star and its luminosity." "To this end, I analyzed the data of thousands of existing stars and finally summarized the relationship between mass and luminosity."

"The more massive a star is, the more luminous it is."

“The formula is as follows.”

"Using this formula, as long as we measure the luminosity of a star, we can directly calculate its mass."

"The method of measuring light intensity is now very mature and has a very high accuracy."

“Here are some data from my experiment.”

"It is clear that using my mass spectrometry method can improve the measurement accuracy by 85%."

"So I think this approach could be expanded."

Wow!
There was a sudden sound of surprise in the conference hall.

Everyone was shocked by Eddington's theory and results.

This new method of measuring stellar mass is clearly far better than existing methods.

Moreover, measuring the luminosity of a star is much simpler than measuring its spectrum.

This method conquered everyone instantly.

"Professor Eddington's method is so ingenious!"

"I even think that if the theory of stellar evolution is perfected, this formula can be derived theoretically."

“Moreover, this method was developed based on Professor Bruce’s nuclear fusion theory.”

“It’s hard to be wrong!”

"Today's meeting is indeed worth looking forward to. It has just begun, but I didn't expect such shocking results to appear."

"I can't wait to see what's next."

At this moment, everyone envied Eddington very much.

Because he can often visit Professor Bruce at the Quantum Institute.

This is an opportunity that countless people dream of.

Just when everyone thought Eddington was about to end his speech.

He went on to say:

"Using this method, I have measured the masses of hundreds more unknown stars."

"After comparing a large amount of stellar mass data, I discovered a very interesting phenomenon."

"That is, there seems to be a limit to the size of a star."

"Stars with masses greater than 10 times that of the sun are very, very rare."

"I think there may be some unknown truth to this phenomenon."

"Logically, there shouldn't be much of a limit to the mass of a star."

"Although the greater the mass, the greater its own gravity."

"But at the same time, the radiation pressure generated by the star due to nuclear fusion will also increase."

"The stars can still maintain their balance."

"So, I think this issue needs further research."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

This question is very interesting.

In the field of science, any issue involving thresholds inevitably means new discoveries.

Because the physical universe does not allow the concept of infinity to exist.

For example, infinite mass, infinitely small matter, etc.

There has to be a limit to it.

Such as the speed of light, absolute zero, various cosmological constants, etc.

For physicists, scales below the Planck limit have no physical meaning.

So, when Eddington discovered that there was a limit to the mass of a star.

Everyone's first reaction was that this question was extraordinary.

"Professor Eddington is really amazing."

“Not only did we create a measurement method, but we also asked such an important question.”

Soon, Eddington's report ended.

According to the meeting rules, each speaker can only answer three questions.

At this time, many people raised their hands enthusiastically.

Eddington began to randomly select people.

There was a lively discussion in the meeting hall.

When it came to the third question, Li Qiwei suddenly raised his hand.

Wow!
The venue suddenly became noisy.

Professor Bruce never acts rashly.

If he asked a question, it would be a fatal blow.

Very few people can withstand his attack.

Eddington was shocked when he saw this.

I was extremely excited.

He was finally able to fight Professor Bruce openly.

This was his dream when he was young.

He has made full preparations for today's highly anticipated occasion.

"Professor Bruce, please!"

However, Li Qiwei's next words were beyond everyone's expectations.

"Hehe, I'm fine."

"I just want to say that I should be able to explain the problem of the stellar mass limit you raised."

"I'll show you my theory next."

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!

Everyone's eyes turned to Li Qiwei.

Eddington was incredulous when he heard this.

He didn't expect that his problem could be solved by Professor Bruce on the spot.

This is too incredible.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Li Qiwei continued to laugh:
"After listening to your question, I found that my theory can explain it."

"So it was just a coincidence."

"I don't have that strong ability to adapt to changing circumstances."

He was clearly being modest, but to everyone's ears, it always sounded a bit bland.

Eddington smiled bitterly:

"Professor Bruce, you really gave me a surprise."

Such a dramatic scene brought the atmosphere in the venue to a climax.

Everyone can't wait to know the answer.

The excitement of this conference exceeded everyone's imagination.

“Auspicious astronomical era!”

Soon, the speech continued.

Although the results of others were not as shocking as the one just now, they still received applause.

At this time, Augusto said:
"Now, please welcome Dr. Hubble, a researcher at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the United States, to give a report."

Everyone was cheered up when they heard this!
Will Hubble, once hailed as a super genius in astronomy, bring shock today?
Many people are not optimistic about Hubble.

Even though he once studied with Professor Bruce.

But the geniuses of his generation have already become the backbone of the industry.

Hubble, however, remained relatively unknown.

Even a genius will become dull and dim under the erosion of time.

At this moment, Hubble walked onto the stage under the gaze of everyone.

All the ups and downs of the past came to my mind.

But his face was calm and composed.

A sense of domineering aura instantly rose into the sky!

Today I know who I am!
He said confidently:
"Professor Eddington's new theory is very impressive."

"Professor Bruce's report is something everyone is looking forward to."

"but."

"I, Hubble, may not be that bad!"

boom!
Everyone in the house was shocked!

(End of this chapter)