1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 514: Stone Island’s epiphany! Mysterious inequality! Major breakthrough! Breaking through the mystery of quantum theory!
The 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics shocked the world.

This marked the official recognition of the theory of relativity by the academic community.

It can be included in the official textbooks of universities and even middle schools.

And Li Qiwei's five Nobel Prizes are even more impressive than others.

Three Nobel Prizes in Physics, one Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and one Nobel Prize in Peace.

It far surpasses Madame Curie's two Nobel Prizes and is far ahead of everyone.

These awards not only reflect his brilliant wisdom, but also his broad mind in striving for world peace.

Respectable and admirable!

A big shot lamented:
"I'm afraid only Sir Newton could fight Professor Bruce if he were alive again."

Cavendish Laboratory, UK.

This year's Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Aston, complained to his elder brother Rutherford:

"Ah, it's too bad that I won the award at the same time as Professor Bruce."

“No one is paying attention to other awards anymore.”

"It's really too much for one person to win five Nobel Prizes!"

The mass spectrometer invented by Aston laid the foundation for the discovery of a large number of isotopes, so he won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Unfortunately, his limelight was completely ignored by everyone in front of Professor Bruce.

I have so much pain that I can’t express it.

Rutherford smiled and comforted:
"Haha, if you just want to compare the number of Nobel Prizes, I think there is still a chance."

"Bruce only focuses on theoretical physics, which is a field that is very difficult to produce results in."

"The reason why he wins awards so frequently is because he is strong enough."

"But atomic physics is different. There are still too many unknown phenomena waiting to be discovered."

“And it doesn’t require a profound mathematical foundation.”

“I believe that there will be a burst of new results in the field of atomic science in the future.”

Rutherford is indeed a leader of the experimental school.

His analysis was both to the point and extremely prescient.

In real history, after quantum mechanics, there was an explosive period of atomic research.

Many Nobel Prize-level results have been produced.

Moreover, these results are inextricably linked to quantum mechanics.

Its importance is evident.

However, the birth and improvement of quantum mechanics were not smooth sailing, but were full of doubts and controversies.
-
1922 11 Month 20 Day.

Heisenberg returned to Germany from the Quantum Institute.

Perhaps due to the unfamiliar climate and water, he has not been in good health since coming to the UK and often suffers from headaches and fevers.

But this time it was more serious, he couldn't even think and work normally.

When Li Qiwei saw this, he was shocked.

Even at this point in time, when medical technology has greatly improved, severe colds and fevers are still difficult diseases.

Many people die every year from this, so we must never be careless.

Therefore, Ridgway approved Heisenberg to go home to recuperate for a while and come back after the Chinese New Year.

Anyway, Heisenberg's research topic was theoretical, so he could still conduct research normally even if he was not in the laboratory, but no one discussed it.

Heisenberg tried to say that it was okay, but under Ridgway's stern insistence, he had no choice but to obey.

He also knew that this was Professor Bruce caring about him.

“The body is the capital of scientific research.”

On the train from Belgium to Germany, Heisenberg sat alone in his seat, looking out the window quietly.

November in Belgium is the most brilliant time for violets.

As far as the eye can see, it seems like a purple sea with slight ripples, romantic and beautiful.

But the beautiful scenery before him did not attract Heisenberg.

His thoughts had already flown away to who knows where.

The news that Ridgwell had won the Nobel Prize again made Heisenberg's mood fluctuate.

He is a sensitive person with a strong sense of self-esteem.

He stubbornly believed that since he had become Professor Bruce's postdoctoral fellow, he must not embarrass himself.

If he fails to produce innovative results, others will laugh at him.

So, one can imagine the pressure Heisenberg was under.

In fact, all these pressures were forced upon himself by him.

If he could have Wilson's mentality, he probably wouldn't get sick.

Moreover, the topic he chose is the currently hottest quantum theory.

Those simple directions have already been studied.

The most groundbreaking thing at present is the reconstruction of quantum theory predicted by Professor Bruce.

Heisenberg aimed at this goal!
It's just, it's too difficult.

He sighed deeply.

Even though Professor Bruce has given a hint, he still has no clue.

He was unable to link the frequencies and probabilities of the atomic emission spectra.

At this time, a young and beautiful girl sitting opposite Heisenberg blinked her big eyes, full of curiosity.

The man in front of her gave her an indescribable mysterious feeling.

Despite such a beautiful scenery, the other party seemed very depressed.

It's like a piece of Beethoven music.

Extreme, deep, paranoid, but full of upward force
Exciting.

So, she couldn't help but greet him and asked:
"Hello, my name is Schumacher."

"Don't you like violets?"

Heisenberg was instantly awakened from his fantasies when he heard this.

He was a little surprised.

"What a beautiful girl!"

Is this girl talking to herself?
He looked around and it seemed to be true.

So he said quickly:

"Sorry, I was just distracted."

"Hello, my name is Heisenberg."

Schumacher smiled sweetly and asked again:
"I don't think you're very happy."

"Don't you like violets?"

“Every time I go back to Germany from Belgium, this is my favorite part of the journey.”

“The flowers here are so beautiful.”

Heisenberg was a little shy when he saw the beauty and said:

"Oh, no, I was just thinking about something at work."

"No, that's not right. I don't think I've ever had much contact with flowers."

"It's not like that."

"Oh! No no, that's not what I meant."

“These flowers are beautiful, but”

Heisenberg explained incoherently that he was afraid of saying something wrong and making the other person unhappy.

But the more I talked, the more things seemed wrong.

After saying that, he secretly glanced at Schumacher again, his heart pounding.

Sure enough, there is no difference in IQ among lickers.

Schumacher chuckled and found it very interesting.

She had traveled extensively with her father and had never met such a special young man.

He is handsome, gentlemanly, and most importantly, has an air of wisdom.

She wanted to know everything about the other person.

"It's ok."

"What is your job? Is it difficult?"

Heisenberg appeared modest on the surface, but was a little excited inside.

“I study physics.”

Wow!
Schumacher screamed and then quickly covered his mouth, which was so cute.

"My God!"

“You’re actually a physicist!”

"cool!"

After hearing this, Heisenberg's face turned red with shame, his mouth became dry, and his mind felt confused.

At the same time, he was a little ashamed.

With his current level, he is not qualified to be called a physicist.

However, in front of Schumacher, he couldn't open his mouth to explain.

At this time, Schumacher was like a curious baby and asked quickly:
"So do you know Professor Bruce?"

“My father and I are both fans of his.”

"Oh, I really wish I had a chance to meet him."

"I want to see what the smartest brain in the world looks like."

Heisenberg became even more excited.

He said in a way that was not pretentious but more like pretentious:

"Um, well, I'm currently a postdoctoral fellow under Professor Bruce."

Wow!
Schumacher's eyes widened in complete disbelief.

What a coincidence!

At this moment, her favorability towards Heisenberg has reached its peak.

He is both melancholy and knowledgeable, and is also a student of Professor Bruce.

"Oh my god! It's perfect!"

So the two of them quickly became familiar with each other.

Schumacher is also German, and her father is a professor of economics at the University of Berlin.

So, she had the opportunity to often accompany her father to meetings around the world.

For example, she went to the Belgium conference this time with her father.

These experiences broadened Schumacher's thinking and vision.

She is not as ignorant of the world as other girls.

She also understood more clearly how outstanding young people like Heisenberg were.

"Heisenberg, do you like music?"

Heisenberg said modestly:

"I know a little about piano."

He is indeed being modest.

Due to his wealthy family conditions, Heisenberg received elite education since childhood.

He has not only learned scientific knowledge, but also played the piano, climbed mountains, skied and camped.

At the age of thirteen, he could play classic music by masters such as Beethoven and Liszt with ease.

It is not new in this era for physicists to play musical instruments.

For example, Einstein played the violin very well, and Planck was a master of the organ.

Sure enough, physicists who understand music can easily pick up girls.

Schumacher was completely captivated by Heisenberg's talent.

The two have a common hobby and topic, which is music.

Heisenberg was no longer depressed at this moment, and he had long forgotten about reconstructing quantum theory.

At this moment, he suddenly found that Schumacher was holding a notebook in his hand.

So he asked curiously:
"Do you like keeping a diary?"

Schumacher said "Hi" helplessly and said with a bitter face:
"My father, in order to train me, asked me to record every trip in the form of an account book."

“For example, how far you walked on a particular day, how much time you spent discussing academic content, and so on.”

"Arrange them in a table according to the one-to-one correspondence."

"He said this method could help him find some patterns in discrete data."

Heisenberg nodded. He felt as if something flashed through his mind, but it disappeared in an instant.

He smiled and said:

"Your father is indeed an economist."

“This idea is quite interesting.”

Then he asked curiously:

"Then why do you need to remember it?"

Schumacher imitated her father and said sternly:

"You don't do any work, why should I keep you around?"

After saying that, the two of them burst into laughter.

A cheerful atmosphere filled the carriage.

This journey is no longer lonely.
-
After Heisenberg returned to his hometown of Würzburg, his condition indeed improved.

He and Schumacher left each other contact information.

So, after he recovered, he plucked up the courage and invited Schumacher to go appreciate the flowers together.

As a result, something even more tragic happened.

He is actually allergic to pollen!

The career of picking up girls collapsed halfway.

Schumacher was not disappointed, but laughed:
"It's okay, luckily you're not allergic to music."

The beauty smiled sweetly, and Heisenberg was completely fascinated by her.

But his face was swollen like a pig's head, so he could only go home and rest.

Even when he was resting, Heisenberg did not give up his physics research. However, this time, he chose to completely shut himself off.

In early November.

Heisenberg came to the coastal area in northern Germany and found a rocky island with no flowers or plants, isolated from the world.

The boundless ocean and the slightly biting cold wind gradually calmed his restless mood.

He was focused and immersed in thinking about quantum theory.

Heisenberg was well aware that Professor Bruce had proposed the direction of reconstructing quantum theory.

But this direction is too vague.

Even his strong senior brother Pauli gave up after trying for a while.

Pauli even said directly to Professor Bruce:

"Professor, I think you are going in the wrong direction."

"I think there must be some underlying factors that have not been found."

Everyone admired Pauli's courage.

It’s really awesome.

But Professor Bruce's words made Pauli give up.

"Oh?"

"So what factors do you think are left?"

Pauli was speechless.

“Uh, uh.”

"Forget it. I don't want to study reconstructing quantum theory anyway."

"I'm very interested in the phenomenon that Chadwick discovered."

"Beta decay may not be such a simple process."

"Maybe I can figure out the weak force."

Everyone laughed.

Pauli didn't care.

I thought with disdain in my heart: What a joke, what a bunch of scum.

Heisenberg would smile knowingly when he thought of those scenes.

However, the harder it is, the more challenging it is.

Otherwise, how could he be so famous in the physics community?
Heisenberg was almost obsessed with reconstructing quantum theory.

There are no years on the Stone Island.

The days passed like this.

suddenly!

One day, a sweet memory emerged in Heisenberg's mind.

Schumacher's voice, appearance and smile seemed to appear before my eyes.

"Are you writing in a diary?"

"Hey, I'm keeping accounts."

“My father said that keeping accounts helped him discover patterns.”

law?

Keep accounts!

Wow!
Heisenberg's thoughts burst out and he finally caught that hint of inspiration.

He suddenly became excited and quickly found paper and pen.

“I want to integrate all the data together through bookkeeping!”

Heisenberg took a deep breath and let his mind relax.

He muttered to himself, repeated the analysis in his mind, and wrote down the results on paper.

Take the simplest hydrogen atom as an example.

The first is the frequency of atomic absorption and emission spectra.

Assume that the electrons in a hydrogen atom have a total of 4 different energy levels.

That is, the energy levels are 1, 2, 3, and 4.

So how many different frequencies of electromagnetic waves can it emit?

Heisenberg began to write it down in order, using the bookkeeping method:

【Electromagnetic waves that transition from low energy levels to high energy levels belong to the absorption spectrum.】

v12, v13, v14;

v23, v24;

v34;

【Electromagnetic waves that transition from high energy levels to low energy levels belong to the emission spectrum.】

v21, v31, v41;

v32, v42;

v43;

If the hydrogen atom has a total of n orbitals, then all its frequencies can be written as an array: vmn.

Similarly, based on the spectral intensity, the probability of occurrence of electromagnetic waves of all frequencies can also be written as an array.

If g is used to represent probability, the array is gmn.

Moreover, vmn and gmn are in one-to-one correspondence.

At this moment, Heisenberg's brain was extremely light.

The only two observable quantities proposed by Professor Bruce were organized by him into two corresponding arrays.

This looks very neat.

The next step is to study the relationship between the two arrays.

At this time, he thought of the most important process when Professor Bruce discovered the concept of quantum:
Simple harmonic oscillator!
This is a perfect model in physics, a bit like the later concept of "point particle".

A simple harmonic oscillator is a physical model in which a particle is hung on a spring and performs reciprocating motion along a sine or cosine curve.

At that time, Li Qiwei used this concept to explain the radiation and absorption of thermal energy and proposed the quantum.

In the field of physics, many phenomena can be described as a combination of a large number of simple harmonic oscillators.

For example, the vibration of particles that make up a crystal.

Figuratively speaking, it can be compared to the Fourier transform in mathematics.

It can transform any complex function into a combination of simple functions such as sin and cos.

The simple harmonic oscillator transforms complex physical processes into the movement of a simple harmonic oscillator.

This makes it very simple to handle.

The more Heisenberg thought about it, the more excited he became, and his mind worked faster and faster.

He first assumed that electromagnetic waves of different frequencies are emitted by simple harmonic oscillators of different frequencies.

A simple harmonic oscillator has two important physical quantities: momentum [p] and displacement from the origin [d].

Since simple harmonic oscillators are electromagnetic waves, their physical quantities become in the form of arrays.

That is, p is an array and d is also an array.

Soon, Heisenberg wrote something strange.

In a large frame, the data of vmn and gmn are neatly arranged.

He began to try various operations to study the relationship between p and d.

Suddenly, he discovered an extremely bizarre phenomenon:

[p times d] is not equal to [d times p]!
Expressed in mathematical language, it means: p×d≠d×p!

Wow!
Heisenberg was completely stunned!

How can this be?

Multiplication should satisfy the commutative law!
1×2=2×1, this is a formula that even elementary school students know.

But he actually derived the commutative law of inequality.

"Oh my god!"

"I guess I didn't calculate it wrong!"

Heisenberg didn't believe it and calculated it again carefully.

The result shocked him!
He didn't calculate wrong, they are just not equal!
At this moment, Heisenberg's heart was beating rapidly.

He felt that he had discovered something extraordinary.

He even couldn't help shouting:

"Brother Pauli, can you help me see what this formula means?"

I waited for a long time but no one answered.

Only then did Heisenberg realize that he was now in seclusion from the world.

He was the only one on the entire island.

I still don’t know where my dear senior brother Pauli is.

However, although he had no one to share it with, he knew that he must have made a huge breakthrough in reconstructing quantum theory.

This comes from his strong physical intuition!

The cold wind on the Stone Island was blowing even more fiercely, but his heart was burning with passion.

At this moment, Heisenberg suddenly had the urge to roar to the sky.

He wanted to vent the depression and darkness that had been suppressed in his heart for some time.

"I want to break through the sky of quantum theory!"

"I want to crush this quantum theory!"

"Now, say my name!"

Such immature ambitions can even stop the suppressed sea from rolling up waves.

Heisenberg's thin figure stood on the boulder.

At this moment, his confidence seemed to be able to shake the entire world!

If Schumacher were here, he would probably be conquered on the spot.

After pretending for three minutes, Heisenberg hid in the house because it was too cold.

After making such a significant discovery, he began to cherish his health.

If the paper failed before it was published, he would definitely die with regret.

Next, Heisenberg spent two days writing up his ideas in a detailed paper.

He had originally planned to return to England to seek guidance from Professor Bruce.

What exactly is that mysterious thing that doesn't obey the commutative law of multiplication?

Heisenberg felt that with Professor Bruce's erudition, he must know this thing.

After all, even something as difficult as Riemannian geometry can be easily mastered and applied by the other party.

But then he thought again, it was almost New Year.

It's probably too late to go to London now.

Professor Bruce is so busy, perhaps he has been invited by some bigwigs to give a speech.

So, he finally decided to go back to Munich and let Professor Sommerfeld take a look first.

Although the other party is not as good as Professor Bruce, he is knowledgeable after all and may be able to answer his questions.

More importantly, Sommerfeld was his doctoral supervisor.

He was eager to prove himself to his mentor.

"Professor Wayne's rating of me is one-sided!"

Heisenberg took one last look at Stone Island, with tenderness in his eyes.

Although this place is bare, in his eyes, it has the most beautiful scenery in the world.

He didn't stay here for long, but he left with unforgettable memories.

Stone Island witnessed his rise!
"Bye now!"
-
1922 12 Month 26 Day.

Heisenberg traveled non-stop and finally arrived at the University of Munich.

People are happy when they are happy.

He didn't feel tired at all, and his whole body was filled with strength due to excitement.

He came to the Department of Physics with ease.

Even many students from lower grades greeted him.

"Brother Heisenberg!"

"Dr. Heisenberg!"

After all, he is Professor Bruce's postdoctoral fellow and a very impressive person who can work in the Quantum Institute.

Soon he arrived in front of Sommerfeld's office.

Boom boom boom!
"Please come in!"

Heisenberg heard the familiar voice and took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

He opened the door, but was surprised.

In addition to Professor Sommerfeld, there were three other people in the room.

Pauli, Born, Wien.

For a moment, he even forgot how to say hello.

Pauli was very familiar with the place. He exclaimed in surprise:

"Hey, Heisenberg, why are you here?"

"You are allergic to pollen, so have you gone to the island to recuperate?"

Heisenberg was a little embarrassed.

"Haha, it's fine now."

Sommerfeld asked, smiling:

"Heisenberg, what brings you here today?"

Heisenberg greeted Pauli and the others with his eyes, then walked up to Sommerfeld and said:
"Professor, I was bored on the island, so I researched something."

"I'd like you to help me take a look."

Wow!
Sommerfeld and others were all shocked.

What required Heisenberg to come all the way here?

Several people became interested.

Note: In real history, Schumacher was a dozen years younger than Heisenberg. I slightly modified it for the sake of storytelling.

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(End of this chapter)