1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 619 Mysterious celestial body! Spins 100 times per second! Cosmic lighthouse! Pulsar! Shocked everyone!
After everyone calmed down from the shock of discovering the black hole, the meeting continued.

Although the results of the next few reporters were not as dazzling as those of black holes, they were also major discoveries.

For example, an astronomical team from Denmark measured that the age of the universe is at least over 100 billion years.

It immediately caused a cry of surprise!
"My God!"

“How is this measured?”

The reporter explained:

“The method comes from Professor Bruce’s theory of stellar evolution.”

"According to this theory, it is possible to measure how long a star burns."

“The specific process is shown in the picture.”

"Main sequence stars, brightness and color."

"By looking at the oldest stars in the universe, we can roughly estimate the age of the universe."

Everyone was stunned!

This method is indeed very clever, but it is time-consuming and requires comparing a large amount of star data.

If only one person were to do the observation, it would probably take until death before the required data could be collected.

The Danish team's results also utilized astronomical data from nearly twenty countries.

Everyone was filled with emotion:

"The IAU has greatly accelerated the development of astronomy!"

The atmosphere in the venue became increasingly heated.

Soon, it was Yu Qingsong's turn.

Haier encouraged:

"Go ahead, Yu!"

"Make your own voice!"

"This is the first time, but you'll get used to it."

Hale vowed that the Mount Wilson Observatory was not kidding this time.

If the black hole had not been discovered earlier, they would definitely be the center of attention today.

Yu Qingsong took a deep breath and walked onto the stage.

Don't be fooled by the fact that he was chatting and laughing with Professor Schwarzschild just now.

Really standing here and looking down at everyone, the excitement and pride bursting from his blood made him tremble uncontrollably.

Suddenly, a gaze with a vast will descended!

Suppress everything!
Yu Qingsong was shocked and all his tension disappeared immediately.

"With Professor Li here, I have nothing to fear!"

He exhaled lightly and said:
"I have two parts to report today."

"One is about the theory of stellar evolution, and the other is about the Big Bang theory."

Wow!
There was an exclamation from the audience!
“Are all young people nowadays so wild?”

"I started by choosing the two most popular research areas in astronomy."

"It seems that Yu Qingsong hasn't graduated with a Ph.D. yet?"

Everyone was talking about it.

Almost everyone here is a former doctoral student and naturally knows how difficult it is to study for a doctorate.

Therefore, students generally focus on one direction and are able to conduct research to a certain depth to meet graduation standards.

One more topic means more distraction.

It is rare to find someone like Yu Qingsong who studies two topics at the same time.

However, Hai Er just snorted lightly and said proudly in his heart:
"Fuss."

Yu Qingsong's expression was calm as he continued:

"There was a collaboration between Mount Wilson Observatory and Alpha Labs to work together on a new telescope."

"As you know, the optical telescopes used in astronomy today image visible light."

"The advantage of this optical telescope is that it is very intuitive and convenient. The human eye can directly observe celestial bodies through the lens."

“But the disadvantages are also obvious.”

"There are many celestial bodies in the universe that do not emit electromagnetic waves in the visible light range, but other invisible long or short waves."

"For example, X-rays, gamma rays, and so on."

"Currently, researchers use spectroscopy to study, which is a very cumbersome process."

"I just wanted to know if I could invent a telescope that could directly focus and form images of various electromagnetic waves."

"So, in collaboration with scientists at Alpha Lab, we successfully developed this new telescope."

“And named it [Radio Telescope].”

Wow!
The people in the audience were extremely shocked!

This is definitely a major achievement in the field of astronomy!

And it is the kind of basic research results that can benefit everyone.

The birth of radio telescopes will greatly improve the work efficiency of astronomers.

Li Qiwei smiled slightly.

It turned out to be a good decision to hand over Alpha Laboratory to Wu Youxun.

Someone couldn't help but ask:
"Dr. Yu, has the radio telescope been put into mass production?"

Yu Qingsong said:
"The one I have now is a prototype, for research purposes only."

“However, Alpha Labs is refining the process and expects to put it into production in the next few years.”

Everyone cheers!

Astronomy is about to usher in another leap forward!
In real history, there were so-called “four major discoveries” in astronomy in the 20s.

They are: pulsars, quasars, cosmic microwave background radiation, and interstellar organic molecules.

All of these four discoveries were made using radio telescopes.

This shows how great its influence on astronomy is.

Of course, the most important thing is always the person’s own thinking, and the equipment only amplifies the result of thinking.

At this moment, Yu Qingsong continued:

"I received a very strange signal using the radio telescope I developed."

"Everyone, please look!"

"This is the electromagnetic signal I got after data processing."

Snapped!
A picture appears.

Everyone was suddenly surprised.

The signal Yu Qingsong received was indeed strange.

“Why isn’t it continuous?”

"It looks like a pulse?"

Yu Qingsong said:
"After a detailed discussion with Professor Hale and Professor Hubble, we all agreed that this signal was an electromagnetic pulse signal that had never been seen before."

"In other words, the celestial body that sends out this signal is emitting a periodic electromagnetic radiation!"

"I have consulted various documents in recent decades and have never found any description of this signal in public data."

"So, what kind of celestial body would emit periodic electromagnetic waves?"

"There's only one possibility."

"That means this celestial body is rotating around its axis at high speed!"

"And based on calculations of the intervals between electromagnetic pulses, the object's rotation speed is an astonishing 100 times per second."

boom!
The whole audience was shocked!

The rotation of celestial bodies is not a rare thing and can be seen everywhere in the universe.

The earth itself is rotating.

But what about the Earth's rotation speed?
It only rotates once every 24 hours.

The mysterious celestial body discovered by Yu Qingsong can rotate 100 times in one second!
This is simply like a fairy tale!
Can you imagine what it would be like if the earth rotated 100 times per second?

"My God!"

"With such a high speed, it will fall apart immediately!"

"What kind of celestial body can withstand such high centrifugal forces?"

"Black holes can, but they themselves don't emit pulsed electromagnetic waves."

“.”Everyone had never heard of it before.

This is definitely another amazing discovery in the field of astronomy!

Yu Qingsong looked at everyone's shocked expressions and felt a little excited.

He continued:
"Using electromagnetic data and the gravitational conditions surrounding this mysterious object, I calculated its density."

"What's incredible is that its properties are perfectly consistent with the neutron stars predicted by Professor Bruce in his stellar evolution theory."

"Therefore, I think this mysterious celestial body that can produce electromagnetic pulses is a neutron star!"

hiss!
Everyone gasped!
It’s actually a neutron star?

This is impossible!

Absolutely impossible!
"The pulsar predicted by Professor Bruce doesn't rotate, and it rotates so fast!"

However, Yu Qingsong's judgment was not a random guess.

Through theoretical calculations, he proved that with the high density of this neutron star, it can withstand a rotation speed of 100 revolutions per second.

Calculating the mass, density, equations of motion, etc. of celestial bodies is too easy for the big guys.

In other words, the probability of Yu Qingsong making a mistake is almost zero.

The whole audience was stunned.

At this time, someone suddenly asked:
"Professor Bruce, do you think the celestial body discovered by Dr. Yu Qingsong is a neutron star?"

Li Qiwei heard this, smiled and said:
"I am sure that the celestial body discovered by Dr. Yu Qingsong is a neutron star."

"And it's a rapidly rotating neutron star."

"The final moment of collapse of the star's core releases a huge force."

"This force is enough to cause the planet to rotate rapidly."

"So, theoretically, it is entirely possible for a rapidly rotating neutron star to exist."

Wow!
This time, everyone was shocked!
Even Professor Bruce admitted it himself.

Both theory and experiment have proven that such special neutron stars can exist.

There was no reason for people to question.

At this time, Haier said proudly:

"I have discussed this with Yu Qingsong. Although the essence of this celestial body is a neutron star, its properties are very special and it can be classified into a category of its own."

"Therefore, Yu Qingsong named this high-speed rotating celestial body a pulsar!"

"The electromagnetic pulse signal of a pulsar is extremely strong, just like a lighthouse in the universe, and can be used for positioning."

"Using it to measure distance is even more accurate than using a celestial ruler!"

Everyone was completely shocked!

The discovery of pulsars not only proves the correctness of the theory of stellar evolution, but also has great research value for astronomy itself.

In particular, the pulsed electromagnetic waves radiated by its high-speed rotation are an incredible astronomical phenomenon.

In real history, astronomers did not discover the first pulsar until 1967, which indirectly proved the existence of neutron stars.

However, the pulsar's rotation speed is only 0.75 revolutions per second. (Compared with ordinary celestial bodies, it is still very fast.)

The pulsar discovered by Yu Qingsong was obviously a different one.

This is normal. The radio telescope he used is certainly not comparable to that of later generations, so the pulse signal needs to be particularly strong, otherwise it cannot be detected.

In later generations, astronomers discovered the fastest rotating pulsar, which even rotated at a speed of 1000 times per second!
It's just horrifying.

The pulse signals it emits span several galaxies, like an interstellar signal tower.

That's the scary thing about pulsars.

At this moment, everyone's eyes changed when they looked at Yu Qingsong.

In the field of astronomy, it is almost an unwritten rule that whoever discovers an object gets to name it.

Yu Qingsong is so young, but he has already named a celestial body, and it is such a rare and important pulsar!
"A supernova in the field of astronomy has risen!"

"After today, Yu Qingsong's name will be heard throughout the academic world!"

Everyone suddenly thought that the other party seemed to have another achievement that he had not shared.

Yu Qingsong's expression remained calm.

The discovery of pulsars was a big deal, but it was far from what he expected of himself.

With the achievements of Hubble, Schwarzschild and others in mind, he was very clear that he was still a little distance away from the top level.

He still has a long way to go.

So he continued:

"My second research result is about the inflation model."

"According to general relativity, matter can affect the curvature of space."

"Where there is matter, space will bend, and the curvature is not zero."

“But that’s on a small scale.”

"If we consider the universe as a whole, what is its curvature?"

"There are three cases: positive, zero, and negative."

"If the curvature of the universe is positive, it means that the spatial shape of the universe is a sphere."

"If the curvature of the universe is negative, it means that the spatial shape of the universe is a saddle."

"If the curvature of the universe is zero, then it means that the universe is a flat surface."

"I believe everyone should agree that the curvature of the universe is either positive or negative, and it can never be zero."

"Because the curvature of the universe is zero, it is a metaequilibrium state, and such a universe is very fragile."

"One more atom or one less atom could upset the balance."

"However, after a large number of observations, I found that the curvature of the universe is very close to zero."

"This suggests that the shape of our universe is likely to be flat!"

"At least within the observable universe!"

"Inflation theory can explain this problem very well."

"Whether the curvature of the universe was positive or negative at the beginning, after inflation ended, space was stretched and expanded by a factor of 10^50."

"So, after the space is stretched dramatically, it naturally becomes flat."

"It's like a towel that's suddenly spread out."

hiss!
There was a slight exclamation in the meeting hall.

The reason why it is so minor is that many people do not understand the content of Yu Qingsong's research.

This is no longer a purely astronomical observation, but involves calculations related to general relativity.

Most astronomers have only an undergraduate level of mathematics knowledge and do not even use calculus on a regular basis.

Yu Qingsong's second achievement obviously exceeded everyone's expectations.

"My God!"

"Did he prove the inflation theory?"

If the discovery of pulsars was a matter of luck, it is not enough to prove Yu Qingsong's strength.

After all, anyone who sees such a strange electromagnetic signal will take it seriously.

Then, by studying the flatness of the universe, we can indirectly prove the correctness of the inflation theory, which is definitely the best manifestation of hard power.

Then, with the confirmation of bigwigs such as Li Qiwei and Haier, Yu Qingsong's calculation results were recognized!
He found another piece of evidence to prove the surge!

Everyone was shocked again!

Yu Qingsong's two major achievements are definitely heavyweights.

It is hard to imagine that this could be accomplished by a PhD in astronomy who has not yet graduated.

Especially since this doctor is Chinese.

At this moment, everyone's impression of China has completely changed.

Professor Bruce was definitely not an accident.

China's heritage is beyond imagination!
Yu Qingsong's heart was filled with emotion, and he looked into Professor Li's eyes.

As if telling him:

"Only strength can earn respect!"

"All you have to do is become the strongest!"

Yu Qingsong shouted in his heart:

"Professor, I will!"

(End of this chapter)