1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 495 The most terrifying fact! The universe is a prison for human beings! The concept of observable universe!

Inside the lecture hall of the National Museum of Rome.

When Sir Dyson skillfully raised the question that "the recession speed of galaxies exceeds the speed of light", the whole audience was shocked.

Hubble had wanted to use the law of expansion to prove the fifth prediction of the general phase, but now it violates the inference that the speed of light in the narrow phase cannot be exceeded.

Such contradictory logic left Hubble helpless.

However, at this moment, a majestic and vast voice sounded.

“Hubble was not wrong.”

"The law of expansion does not contradict the special theory of relativity."

Everyone quickly looked towards the source of the sound.

call!
The person who spoke was Professor Bruce!

He wanted to get back at Hubble, his half-disciple!
Everyone was excited!
"Oh, I really envy Hubble."

“Bohr was the same before. Whenever he encountered a problem he couldn’t solve, there would always be that tall figure standing behind him.”

"Even if Professor Bruce doesn't speak, just standing there, he will give people a strong sense of security."

"This is the terrifying power of the world's number one scientist."

Everyone was talking about it.

This meeting was truly amazing.

Worthy of the title of the Supreme Council of Astronomy.

After today, the content of the conference will shock the academic community and even spread more widely.

Dyson heard this and a smile appeared on his old face.

He didn't expect that his question would force Professor Bruce to take action.

In his view, the special theory of relativity must be correct.

So, Hubble must be wrong.

Now, Professor Bruce wants to save his disciple's face by force, and that will be interesting to watch.

Haier's mood is like a roller coaster, from the peak to the trough, and now back to the peak again.

"With Professor Bruce here, Hubble will definitely be safe this time."

Eddington, Shapley, Yu Qingsong and others all looked excited.

They were eager to know the answer.

If the conclusion of the law of expansion is correct, astronomy will inevitably enter a completely new stage after today.

At this moment, the most excited person in the audience was undoubtedly Hubble.

When he saw Professor Bruce walking up to the podium step by step, he felt a warm current flowing through his heart, warming his whole body.

Li Qiwei walked up to Hubble, smiled slightly, patted him on the shoulder, and said:
"Hubble, you're doing an excellent job."

"It seems that you have not lowered your standards for yourself over the years."

"I'm very happy."

Wow!
The touching words of praise completely broke down Hubble's defenses.

He felt that all the pressure he had endured before and the pain of the long night were worth it.

He gained recognition from Professor Bruce with his achievements.

This is more important than the recognition of the whole world.

"Bruce taught me."

Li Qiwei waved his hand gently.

Hubble held back his emotions, he knew that Professor Bruce was telling him not to think too much and to relax.

Li Qiwei's inner thoughts: You're really overthinking it. I just want to say, you do the hard work, and I'll do the pretentious things.

Under the gaze of everyone, he said:
"Just now Sir Dyson said that according to the law of expansion, the recession speed of a celestial body more than 100 billion light years away from the Earth exceeds the speed of light."

"I think that's right, it will indeed exceed the speed of light."

"However, it is not that the movement speed of the celestial bodies themselves exceeds the speed of light, but that the expansion speed of the universe exceeds the speed of light."

“Those are two completely different speeds.”

"Although for us, the measured speed can be regarded as the movement speed of celestial bodies, the essence is different."

"Because according to the special theory of relativity, the speed of any object with mass and the propagation of information cannot exceed the speed of light."

"But the expansion of space has neither mass nor information, so it does not violate the special theory of relativity."

"Let me give you a vivid example."

"Our human thinking is beyond any control."

"With just a thought, I can let my mind imagine any distant place."

"Doesn't the speed of thought also exceed the speed of light?"

“If you imagine the universe as a balloon, then an ant on the balloon is a galaxy.”

"When the ant remained still forever, I started blowing up the balloon."

"As the balloon continued to expand, the ant became further away from me."

"But the ant itself is not moving, so it still meets the limit that the speed of light cannot be exceeded."

"This is the explanation for the law of expansion being faster than the speed of light."

Wow!
As soon as he finished speaking, a discussion broke out from the audience.

Dyson and others suddenly realized!

It turns out that the law of expansion and the special theory of relativity are indeed correct.

"This is amazing!"

"It turns out that my previous understanding of the theory of special relativity was wrong."

"Sure enough, I can't become a physicist."

In fact, it is no wonder that Dyson and others would have doubts.

If today's meeting were a meeting of physicists, no one would have raised this question at all.

Even if there are, they are only a very small number of people who do not have a thorough understanding of the narrow aspects.

Although the expansion of the universe faster than the speed of light may seem simple to future generations, it is cutting-edge knowledge in this era.

It is difficult for non-physics professionals to understand the principle at once.

All those present today are astronomers, but it is hard to say how many of them have carefully studied the theory of special relativity.

Therefore, most people, like Dyson, do not understand the profound meaning of the speed of light being unsurpassed.

Any object with mass cannot move faster than the speed of light.

For example, microscopic particles such as electrons and protons cannot be accelerated no matter what.

And any act of transmitting information cannot exceed the speed of light.

Therefore, quantum entanglement can achieve superluminal speed.

Two microscopic particles that can undergo quantum entanglement can become entangled instantly even if they are placed at opposite ends of the universe.

Because the process of quantum entanglement does not transmit information.

The same is true of the expansion of the universe.

Everyone present understood Li Qiwei's explanation.

Because this is not difficult to understand, it just needs some guidance.

Hubble's face seemed to bloom with spring.

He could finally put his mind at ease.

Professor Bruce's answer made his theory impeccable.

Soon, after Li Qiwei finished his explanation, he stepped down from the stage and returned to his seat, with Hubble's farewell.

The incident just now brought the atmosphere of the meeting to a climax.

The crowd continued to ask questions enthusiastically.

However, with Li Qiwei's bold move, everything was crushed.

The offensive power of everyone's questions has obviously become weaker.

More focus is placed on the derivation of the law of expansion and its connection with various astronomical phenomena.

Hubble's expression was visibly more relaxed, and he seemed to be in full control.

Because he knew that his theory must be correct.

"Come on together again, I, Hubble, have nothing to fear!"

At this moment, to the shock of Gao Lu and others, Yu Qingsong suddenly raised his hand.

Hubble saw the other person at a glance. Although there were many Asian faces in this venue, Yu Qingsong was a unique one.

Because the other person was someone that Professor Bruce had brought with him, Hubble certainly knew him.

So he smiled and said:

"Hello, Yu, please ask your question."

After one or two years of experience and training, Yu Qingsong is no longer the shy boy who went to study in the United States.

He grew up quickly.

At today's high-level international conference, he will make his own voice on behalf of China!
As for Professor Li Qiwei, he was directly excluded by him.

Because the professor represents the entire human civilization above the sky.

Yu Qingsong said:
"Dr. Hubble, after listening to your theory, I suddenly thought of a somewhat incredible fact."

"If you combine the law of expansion, the inference that the speed of light cannot be exceeded, and the Big Bang hypothesis together."

"Then, we will be able to draw a conclusion: the universe is a prison for human beings!"

boom!
No one expected that this seemingly ordinary young Chinese man would say something earth-shattering the moment he opened his mouth.

This tone is even louder than Professor Bruce.

It's really shocking!
But many people don’t understand how putting these three theories together can lead to the concept of a cage.

Hubble's eyes sparkled when he heard this.

He seemed to have thought of something.

He stared at Yu Qingsong closely, shocked.

"As expected, he is someone that Professor Bruce values. His insight is terrifying."

You know, the other party is just an undergraduate student now.

All the undergraduate students who are able to attend today's meeting are absolutely top talents.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for the tutor to bring it here.

However, only Yu Qingsong proposed this concept.

Hubble couldn't wait to know the other party's analysis.

Li Qiwei just smiled.

He already knew what Yu Qingsong wanted to say.

Proud in my heart: Who says that China has no one!

Amid the doubts and confusion of the crowd, Yu Qingsong continued:
"If the Big Bang theory is correct, then the moment the Big Bang started is actually the beginning of the life of the universe."

"We assume that at some point after the Big Bang, the Earth formed."

"At this time, with the Earth as the center, all celestial bodies in all directions are moving away from the Earth due to the expansion of space."

"If there were observers at the time, the light from these celestial bodies could still be received on Earth."

"But, when the celestial body's recession speed exceeds the speed of light."

"The light they emit will never reach the earth."

"This means that we will never be able to observe those celestial bodies again."

"Because all distance observations of celestial bodies in astronomy use electromagnetic waves as tools."

"If even that fails, there's nothing we can do."

"So, in fact, the universe that we humans can actually observe is only a small part of the entire universe."

"If we know the age of the universe now, then combined with the law of expansion, we should be able to calculate an observable range."

"The universe within this range is the universe that humans can theoretically observe."

"As for the area beyond the observable universe, it is an area that will forever remain unknown to humans."

“That’s why I say that the universe is a prison for human beings.”

“We’ll never get out.”

boom!
After Yu Qingsong finished speaking, the venue suddenly became eerily quiet!
Everyone was shocked by his analysis results.

That is a kind of depression on the spiritual level!

The coldness and ruthlessness of the universe are fully demonstrated at this moment!

No one doubted the authenticity of the results.

Because the logic of this deduction is very simple.

But it is a little troublesome to calculate it accurately.

No one present could give an immediate result.

Everyone looked at Yu Qingsong.

This young Chinese man is really amazing.

Although the concept of the observable universe is not very difficult, the first person who can come up with it is definitely a genius.

In addition to Professor Bruce, China has produced another rising star in astronomy.

After listening to Yu Qingsong's analysis, Gao Lu and others opened their mouths in shock.

Decades ago, the Chinese people still viewed astronomy as "a general falling in the northwest and the light scattering in all directions."

But now, the same Chinese people are talking about the "observable universe".

This strong sense of tearing and generation gap made Gao Lu and his companions feel dazed.

The times are developing too fast!

Li Qiwei was very satisfied with Yu Qingsong.

The young man has already started to make inroads.

In later generations, astronomers calculated the age of the universe to be 138 billion years by observing the light emitted by the oldest stars in the universe.

If there were no cosmic expansion, the range of the observable universe for humans should be a sphere with a radius of 138 billion light years.

However, due to the effect of expansion, the recession velocity of celestial bodies will exceed the speed of light at a certain distance.

This means that the light it emits will never reach Earth again.

Then it is unknowable to the earth.

According to calculations based on the law of expansion, first-grade students know that the diameter of the observable universe is 930 billion light-years.

(The calculation process is quite complicated, so there is no need for you to understand it)

We have no idea what the universe is like beyond this range.

Some astronomers believe that the entire diameter of the universe is 2 trillion light years.

Some people also believe that the universe is infinite.

This is the vastness of the universe.

Even if humans move at the speed of light, on the scale of the universe, they are still pitifully slow, just like an ant crawling.

When Yu Qingsong was halfway through his speech, Hubble already knew what he was going to say.

He couldn't help but sigh:
"Yu, you really poured a bucket of cold water on us."

“This is truly the most horrible fact!”

Yu Qingsong smiled and said nothing.

He just mustered up a lot of courage.

This derivation process is enough to write a good paper, or even a doctoral thesis.

Of course, it is far from enough to shock the astronomical world with just this.

After all, this is just a certain inference, not an original theoretical study.

But Gao Lu and others were already very satisfied.

This is most likely the first original academic paper on astronomy in China other than Professor Bruce.

Significant!

It is almost certain that Yu Qingsong will be in charge of the field of Chinese literature in the future.

By this time, Hubble had regained his composure.

These things are established facts, so there is no point in thinking too much about them.

He smiled and said:

"It seems that it is impossible for us humans to break free from the constraints of the universe."

"Unless we can invent a way to exceed the speed of light."

"But Professor Bruce has just said that it is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, carrying mass and galaxies."

Everyone nodded and didn't think any more about it.

Yu Qingsong's episode ends here and does not affect Hubble's theory.

However, at this time, a voice sounded again:
"Maybe I have a way."

(End of this chapter)