1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 656 No Particles, No Waves, Everything is a Field! Quantum Field Theory Revealed! The entire audience was stunned!
Following the plenary speeches, there will be specialized academic conferences for each discipline.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the big names from various fields, Li Qiwei arrived at the physics sub-venue surrounded by the crowd.

Those sitting here are physicists from various countries.

Looking around, there were at least 100 people, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of attendees at the meeting.

This demonstrates the importance of physics in the field of natural sciences!
Aside from a dozen or so people from China and Borneo, Bohr, Dirac, Raman, Bose, Nagaoka Hantaro, Nishina Yoshio, Compton, and others sat among them.

For a moment, Li Qiwei thought he was attending a conference in Europe again.

However, when he saw many Sakura faces in the back row, he was pulled back to Asia.

The physics session was chaired by Zhang Yihui, who is from China.

He is 40 years old this year and was a classmate of Yan Renguang, Xu Handong and others in the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy.

However, after graduation, Zhang Yihui did not go to Borneo, but chose to stay in China to continue his physics research and teaching.

Zhao Zhongyao had attended his classes before.

His research achievements are not very impressive on a global scale, but they are at a mid-level in Asia.

In addition, his scientific research background is impeccable, and he is now quite well-known in the field.

Li Qiwei was also very pleased to see him.

It felt like reliving that wonderful time.

Unbeknownst to many, those students at Whampoa Polytechnic University have now become the backbone of China's scientific community.

They may not have achieved anything that shocked the academic world, but they planted seeds of hope for the country, and blossomed into talents like Zhao Zhongyao.

At this moment, Zhang Yihui looked at everyone present with composure and smiled as he said:

"I'm sure everyone is looking forward to Professor Li's speech."

"But the order of the speakers was decided long ago."

"Professor Li told me privately that we should save him for last."

"He just discovered a small error in his report yesterday and needs to figure out how to correct it."

Everyone smiled slightly.

Everyone thought this was just Professor Bruce being modest.

He didn't want to steal the spotlight.

However, no one seemed to care; it didn't matter whether they spoke first or later.

Soon, the physics division's report officially began.

Compton was the first to take the stage.

His presentation today is about cosmic rays.

"Today, the physics community can almost confirm that cosmic rays are mostly composed of charged particles."

"But there is one question that has always troubled everyone."

"Where does the kinetic energy of these charged particles come from, and how are they accelerated?"

"Many of the high-energy cosmic rays discovered so far have energies that far exceed those of accelerators."

"I have some guesses about this."

Wow!
Everyone was shocked!
Compton's speaking style is concise and to the point; he starts off with a powerful delivery.

He has actually started researching the acceleration mechanism of cosmic rays.

Zhao Zhongyao listened intently, his expression excited.

He has a clear understanding of himself.

Although he was the first person to discover antimatter, it was not based on pure theoretical deduction, but rather on experiments that involved a degree of luck.

On a purely theoretical level, he believes he still has significant shortcomings and needs to strengthen his learning.

This shows how strict Zhao Zhongyao was with himself.

Compton's research undoubtedly studies cosmic rays from a theoretical perspective.

At this point, the other party continued:

"Professor Bruce once predicted that there is an extremely terrifying astronomical phenomenon in the universe: supernova explosions."

"After a star explodes as a supernova in its later years, it can form a neutron star or a black hole, depending on its mass."

"Based on my research, this kind of burst will generate a powerful magnetic shock wave."

"It is this acceleration of cosmic rays that gives them extremely high energy."

"As shown in the figure."

Compton began to explain his theoretical model.

Once the model is established, the energy of cosmic rays can be determined through theoretical derivation and calculation.

Then, by comparing the model with the actual detected radiation energy, the accuracy of the model can be verified.

Everyone watched with great interest!

According to the hierarchy in the physics community, Compton can only be considered an ordinary physicist; above him are three levels: senior, top, and great.

However, his research is meticulous, rigorous, and innovative, making it well worth studying.

For Asian countries, even ordinary physicists are formidable figures.

After all, most researchers will never be worthy of the title "expert" in their lifetime.

After Compton's report, Zhao Zhongyao raised a question:
“Dr. Compton, I once collected a beam of extremely high energy, far exceeding the existing values.”

"But your theoretical calculations for cosmic ray energies seem to have a threshold."

"Because supernova explosions require very specific conditions."

"Therefore, the changes in the magnetic field it produces also have limits."

"Therefore, this theory cannot explain those ultra-high energy cosmic rays."

Upon hearing this, Compton pondered deeply.

The two then began an in-depth discussion about this issue.

Even Bohr and Dirac nodded slightly.

The content of Compton and Zhao Zhongyao's discussion was absolutely top-notch in the physics community.

The prestige of the Trans-Pacific Science Conference is constantly increasing.

Given time, it may very well become a world-class academic conference.

The meeting is ongoing.

Bose, Yoshio Nishina, and others took to the stage one after another.

Lively discussions occasionally erupted from inside the room.

Clearly, the content of their report was something that most people could understand.

The more people participate, the more engaging the discussion will be at the end.

Before they knew it, it was Li Qiwei's turn to take the stage.

At this moment, instead of feeling tired, everyone was even more energetic.

Everyone is looking forward to it:

What kind of report will Professor Bruce bring?

Li Qiwei looked around, smiled slightly, and said:

"My report today is about quantum mechanics theory."

Wow!
A low gasp of surprise erupted from the audience.

People aren't surprised because they think quantum mechanics is too advanced.

On the contrary, everyone was puzzled:
Hasn't quantum mechanics reached its end?

"There has been no theoretical breakthrough for a long time."

"Experimental physics now reigns supreme."

But now, Professor Bruce is going against the trend and is studying pure theory.

Everyone was shocked!

"Could it be that he has made another breakthrough?"

Bohr looked excited amid the crowd.

"Sure enough, the teacher did not give up on theoretical physics."

"Quantum mechanics can still make breakthroughs!"

"Theoretical physics is about to dominate the physics community again!"

Amidst the varied expressions on everyone's faces, Li Qiwei continued:
“At the Fourth Bruce Conference, I left a question behind.”

"Does that mean that quantum mechanics is truly complete now?"

"Is it possible for it to evolve into quantum mechanics, just like quantum theory did?"

"Could quantum mechanics also evolve to a higher version?" "At the time, I proposed a direction, which was to take the [field] into account."

"And now, I have finally made a breakthrough."

"I have found the next version of quantum mechanics."

"I call it [quantum field theory]!"

"It is a brand-new theory that combines classical field theory, quantum mechanics, and special relativity."

"Within the framework of this theory, I have gained a new understanding of the nature of the world."

That is: there are no particles or waves, and all phenomena in the universe are the excitation of fields.

"Particles and waves are just appearances."

"Everything is a field!"

hiss!
quiet!
Deathly silence!

Everyone stared in disbelief, their eyes wide with shock.

They even wondered if they were dreaming.

Professor Bruce's quantum field theory has exceeded their understanding.

People couldn't imagine what the activation of a field meant, or what a shocking idea it was that everything is a field.

The concept of electromagnetic fields was proposed as early as Faraday's time.

It is a classic physics concept.

Even middle school students often have to solve problems related to electromagnetic fields.

But now, Professor Bruce has combined it with quantum mechanics.

This is really incredible.

Suddenly, a deafening scream erupted in the room.

"My God!"

"That's unbelievable!"

"How could a field possibly be related to quantum mechanics?"

"Quantum mechanics, which is already so perfect, actually has an even more advanced version."

"Is this the power of Professor Bruce?"

Hideki Ogawa and Shinichiro Tomonaga exchanged a horrified look!

Currently, the undergraduate physics textbooks for the Sakura clan only briefly introduce quantum theory.

The main content is the quantum concept and the quantum orbital model of electrons.

However, with the advent of quantum mechanics, the concept of quantized orbits became obsolete.

(Our current high school textbooks still devote a lot of space to Bohr's orbital model, which could all be removed. Otherwise, it might lead students to believe that electrons actually have orbits.)
In high-level physics circles, quantum mechanics is the foundation for communication.

Hideki Ogawa and Shinichiro Tomonaga were introduced to quantum mechanics with the help of their teacher.

However, just as they were learning the basics, they discovered that the version had been updated again.

"Professor Li Qiwei is truly terrifying."

"That's equivalent to him being a whole era ahead of us!"

"Two eras ahead of the average person!"

"We can't even learn knowledge as fast as he can create it!"

"Absolutely appalling!"

At that moment, awesomeness became tangible in their eyes.

The man on the stage was as powerful as a god.

Unmatched, they could only kneel in submission.

They are eager to know just how groundbreaking quantum field theory is!

Yoshio Nishina was deeply shaken.

Only those who truly study theoretical physics can understand how difficult it is for pure physics to achieve a major breakthrough.

He studied in Europe for several years and witnessed countless geniuses, but most of them faded into obscurity.

It's not that they aren't smart enough, but that theoretical physics is just too, too difficult.

"That is the realm of God."

Zhao Zhongyao, Deng Huaining, and others were equally shocked.

They often saw the principal sitting alone in his office all day long.

Unexpectedly, the other party was thinking about how to improve quantum mechanics.

Deng Huaining remarked with emotion:

"The principal was in the same state when he was thinking about general relativity."

"Although quantum field theory requires less thought time than generalized field theory."

"But I have a feeling that this theory will be very terrible."

Zhao Zhongyao muttered to himself:
"Is this Professor Li's true ability?"

Previously, he had only imagined Professor Li's prowess through academic papers or other people's words.

However, as he became a staff member of the Borneo Institute of Physics and was able to see him frequently, he came to a deeper understanding of why Professor Li was so powerful.

"Extreme self-discipline; even though he has reached his current position, he still has not given up on front-line research."

"His talent is extraordinary, and he has a constant stream of inspirations, as if physics was born in his brain."

The combination of these two elements created the extremely powerful Professor Li.

Bohr and Dirac were the only two purely theoretical physicists on the field.

Only the two of them could truly understand what this quantum field theory meant.

They already knew that Professor Bruce had this ambition to bring the field into the picture.

Because there is no good way to describe the nature of a field.

People only know how to use it, but they don't know the underlying principles.

And now.
Amidst everyone's shock, Li Qiwei continued:
"When I first proposed the concept of quantum, my first step was to quantize energy."

"E=hv, one photon represents one unit of quantized energy."

"Later, quantum theory incorporated the motion of electrons, and the motion of any microscopic particle is quantized."

"From then on, the concept of quantum mechanics became widely accepted."

"All matter and energy in the universe are quantized."

"But soon, quantum mechanics encountered a problem."

"Take electronics as an example."

"Since the various properties of electrons are discrete and quantized."

"So what is its motion like in an electromagnetic field?"

"We know that the field is a concept proposed by Faraday to describe the interaction between electric charges."

"The electric field generated by a single charge is continuous and fills the entire universe."

"But the contradiction arises when it interacts with another charged particle."

“When a continuous field interacts with a quantized charged particle, mathematical and computational contradictions arise.”

"It's like there's a real number threshold and an integer threshold, and these two can conflict."

"There is only one solution: either quantize the field or restore the particles to a continuous state."

"Clearly, the former has a greater chance of success."

"Quantum mechanics has achieved remarkable results to date."

There is no reason to tear it down and start over.

"Therefore, I tried to reconstruct the field as an infinite-dimensional harmonic oscillator."

"At this point, the field is no longer a continuously changing entity, but rather, like photons and electrons, it is quantized."

"This is the core idea of ​​quantum field theory."

"Fortunately, I succeeded."

"Next, I will explain my derivation process in detail."

"It's a bit difficult, so I hope everyone will listen carefully and be mentally prepared."

Wow!
The audience was stunned once again!

At that moment, everyone felt like they had become elementary school students again.

(End of this chapter)