I am devoted to scientific research, but you want to trick me into having a love relationship?

Chapter 600 The wheels of history always move forward.

The auditorium of Clarendon Laboratory.

Professor Ma Xuan led Xu Qingzhou toward several professors from Xia Guo who were chatting and laughing. One of them was a professor from Peking University, whom Xu Qingzhou recognized, while the other three were somewhat unfamiliar.

The middle-aged man on the right was the first to spot Xu Qingzhou and Ma Xuan, and extended his hand with a smile: "Professor Xu, I've long admired your name. It's great to finally meet you in person. You're much more handsome than on TV. You truly deserve to be a pillar of the nation."

"You flatter me."

Xu Qingzhou humbly extended his hand, thinking to himself that this professor had a very accurate eye for people.

"This is Professor Jiang Daiyun from Jinling University, an internationally renowned expert in condensed matter physics."

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"This is Professor Liu Fanyang from Southwest Jiaotong University, a nuclear physics expert and the head of the stellarator project at Southwest Jiaotong University."

Professor Ma Xuan introduced several physicists from Xia Country to Xu Qingzhou one by one.

"Hello, Professor Liu." Xu Qingzhou shook hands with the other party.

There are not many institutions in China that research stellarators. Southwest Jiaotong University, Nanhua University, and finally the Hefei Research Institute under the Xiamen Academy of Sciences.

Southwest Jiaotong University represents the highest level of independent design of stellarators in China.

Furthermore, the technological approaches of domestic stellarators differ significantly from those abroad.

The CFQS developed by Southwest Jiaotong University adopts a quasi-axisymmetric (QI) magnetic field configuration, combining the high confinement performance of a tokamak with the steady-state operation characteristics of a stellarator. It can be considered a latecomer advantage, as it can draw on the strengths of many.

Unfortunately, these are all still in the theoretical stage, and it's unclear when they will be able to be put into experimental use like stellarators from other countries.

The German "W7-X" is a prime example. It adopts a traditional asymmetric magnetic field configuration and relies on a complex three-dimensional coil structure, but it has already achieved long-term steady-state operation with superconducting magnets.

At present, there are no operational stellarators in China. Nanhua University will import the H-1 stellarator from Australia in two years.

Controlled nuclear fusion energy was also a key research focus at this conference.

Representatives from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the International Organization for Nuclear Fusion Cooperation were present. To a certain extent, this could be considered a grand event showcasing technological competition.

"Professor Xu is less than half our age, yet his technical skills far surpass those of us old men."

"You're too kind. I still have a lot to learn from you seniors."

"Professor Xu, please come and visit Nanhua University sometime. We will definitely welcome you with open arms."

Several professors from Xia Kingdom greeted Xu Qingzhou with smiles, showing no slackening in their attitudes despite his youthful appearance.

Older scholars often have great admiration for promising and humble younger generations.

Professor Jiang Daiyun invited: "Professor Xu, your name is very well-known. If you have time, you are welcome to give lectures at our school. You are now an idol of college students in Sichuan."

"If I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely visit you to learn from you."

Xu Qingzhou said with a smile.

Jiang Daiyun shook his head and said with some emotion, "I wouldn't call it a visit, but in some ways, you're already our teacher."

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, everyone returned to their seats.

The opening ceremony began at 9:00 a.m. sharp.

Professor Ian Wormsley, Head of the Department of Physics at Oxford University, delivered a welcoming address, expressing his appreciation for the many scholars present.

Following this, Professor Louis Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and an expert in international relations, took the stage to review the century-long achievements of Oxford Physics and announce the various themes of the conference.

The whole process is very simple.

Thirty minutes later, Professor James Peebles, a leading figure in Princeton University cosmology and the 2019 Nobel laureate, took the stage.

"Dear colleagues from Oxford University, distinguished scholars present, good afternoon!"

“Fifty-five years ago, when I first proposed the anisotropic model of the cosmic microwave background radiation at Princeton, I never imagined that this discipline would unfold in such a magnificent way. Today, I will share with you not only observational evidence of dark matter and the large-scale structure of the universe.”

Professor Peebles raised his hand to indicate the title of the PPT: "Moreover, it is a scientific question that has spanned half a century - how do we decipher the code of the 138 billion-year epic of the universe from microscopic quantum fluctuations?"

The main conference session lasted one hour, followed by group discussions.

Nowadays, these kinds of conferences are divided into very detailed research directions, so they also set up many breakout sessions.

Some breakout sessions may only have two or three people, who drink tea and speak freely.

For example, in the morning, Xu Qingzhou sneaked into the dark matter theory sub-venue.

Well, the conversation turned into a science fiction movie.

Things like injecting dark matter energy into the human body, and the extraordinary world.

Lunch was a simple meal.

Today's topics were mostly in areas that Xu Qingzhou was not good at, so he mainly listened and increased his knowledge base without participating in the conversation.

After finishing his meal, Xu Qingzhou went back to his suite, called Song Yao to ask her to make some soup, and then lay down on the bed for a half-hour nap.

The afternoon session will focus on exoplanet detection technology.

The speaker was Didier Queloz, another Nobel laureate in physics this year.

As Xu Qingzhou entered the academic hall, his gaze swept around, wondering if he recognized anyone, when a middle-aged man in a plaid shirt walked over.

The other person greeted him, "Professor Xu."

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Professor Harvey.”

Xu Qingzhou smiled and shook hands with the middle-aged man.

The man before you is Professor Booz Harvey of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, head of the lithium dendrite research group.

The other person was slightly surprised: "Professor Xu knows me?"

Xu Qingzhou nodded: "Of course, you are an expert in the field of batteries. To be honest, I have read several of your papers and benefited a lot from them."

"I'm glad the paper was helpful to you."

Professor Harvey paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "Professor Xu seems to be quite interested in cosmology as well?"

Xu Qingzhou nodded again, smiling gently: "To be precise, I'm very interested in the unknown. After all, the unknown is more exciting than the known, isn't it?"

Professor Harvey paused, lost in thought, then laughed. "The unknown is a fatal attraction for researchers. Now, I think I understand why you chose lithium-sulfur batteries and targeted lithium dendrites and the shuttle effect as your goals."

"The wheels of history always move forward," Xu Qingzhou said with a calm smile.

Professor Harvey nodded in agreement and said in a deep voice, "We share the same view, Professor Xu. We have a battery-related discussion here tomorrow afternoon. You are welcome to attend if you would like."

"I'll be there on time."

Xu Qingzhou nodded. If he wasn't mistaken, Harvey's research group should have achieved even better results by now.

He thought to himself, "I estimate that, like my own superconducting thin films back then, the performance will far surpass that of my peers, but there will still be no fundamental progress."

(End of this chapter)