Did the world end today?

Chapter 187 The Wandering Ghost

"There is a wall in the path of the development of physics."

Zhang Liming sat on the sofa, looking exceptionally old.

Sitting opposite him were three physicists whom Lin Xu did not recognize, but Zhiyun had thoughtfully labeled their “names” and “identities” on their heads.
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Of course, their identities are actually not important at all.

Lin Xu needed to gather information from Zhang Liming, so he only needed to focus on listening to what Zhang Liming had to say.

Before the three people opposite him could answer, Zhang Liming continued speaking.

"Actually, if you are willing to look back at history, you will find that from 2021 to now, and into 2029, we have had an incredibly smooth journey."

"A large number of theories have been verified, and a large number of studies have made groundbreaking progress."

"What about using topological field theory and noncommutative geometry to optimize compactification schemes? What about using quantum computing to verify covariant entropy bound theory?"

"It seems that everything is going in the direction we expect."

"This is indeed a very satisfying trend."

"But don't you think we've gotten a little too lucky?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the three people opposite him exchanged glances.

Their faces were full of confusion—in fact, even now, they didn't understand what Zhang Liming was trying to say.

The man wearing glasses slightly raised his hand, then asked Zhang Liming:
"Isn't this how it should be?"

"Not only are basic theories developing, but applied technologies are also developing, and even basic education is developing."

“We have better materials, more powerful equipment, and more outstanding young people.”

"From any perspective, shouldn't we be moving faster?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the man in the suit next to him also chimed in.

"Yeah, Lao Zhang."

"What's wrong with you lately? Why do you seem so negative?"

"Things are clearly moving in a positive direction—at our current rate of development, we might even be able to propose a preliminary theoretical solution for a unified system within a limited timeframe."

"While no one can guarantee the plan will be truly effective, for scholars like us, isn't that enough?"

What exactly are you worried about?

Upon hearing his words, Zhang Liming frowned and shook his head.

"I worry about many things."

He straightened up slightly and stood up from the sofa, staggering a little.

Seeing that he could barely stand, Lin Xu instinctively reached out to help him.

But he quickly realized that what he was seeing was just a holographic image.

Zhang Liming on the other side is already dead.

What I see now is the last and most valuable thing he left behind.

You must be fully focused.

Lin Xu stood still again. Zhang Liming, sitting opposite him, took several deep breaths to catch his breath before speaking:
"Whether in my own experiments or in the experimental results I have seen from other fields and other teams, a rather obvious characteristic is evident."

"That is, cleanliness."

"The data is clean, the processes are clean, and the theory is clean."

"Everything is in line with expectations, even the primordial gravitational waves from the most unlikely period of cosmic inflation have yielded alarmingly fast results."

Don't you guys think this is actually quite exaggerated?

"Whether it's the Tianqin Project or LISA, in essence, they are still using the same old approach."

"But in recent years, the observation results have become more and more perfect."

Where does this trend of 'perfection' come from?

After Zhang Liming finished speaking, the bespectacled man opposite him frowned.

"Old Zhang, what you're saying is a bit too much."

"The Tianqin Project represents a significant advancement over LISA, whether in terms of material precision, noise control technology, or noise reduction algorithm optimization; they are products of entirely different eras."

"This is the result of the joint efforts of many people, and it embodies the hard work of many frontline workers."

"You attribute this trend of optimization to something vague and unrealistic. Aren't you just in cahoots with those who attribute the progress of our country and our nation to so-called national destiny or dragon veins?"

"This is incredibly disrespectful to the other comrades."

"Don't."

Zhang Liming raised his hand to interrupt the bespectacled man, and then said:

"Now is not the time to make a big deal out of it."

What I'm saying is completely different from what you're saying.

"I saw a case recently, would you like me to tell you about it?"

".you say."

The bespectacled man softened his tone, and Zhang Liming spoke up:
"Just a few days ago, in the United States, a senior data analyst named Aria, who was responsible for processing gravitational wave data, discovered a small, inexplicable problem."

"She discovered that whenever the detector array is aligned with a specific region of the sky, such as the galactic center, with a specific geometry, the background noise of gravitational wave events exhibits an extremely weak, statistically negligible, but highly consistent correlation shift."

"This offset does not conform to any known instrument error model or astrophysical source; it's like a ghost wandering in the data deluge."

"She saw a ghost and immediately reported her discovery."

"However, her report was criticized for over-interpreting noise and chasing statistical ghosts, and it did not receive enough attention."

"Even her academic reputation was damaged as a result, and she was transferred away from the core project team."

"Don't you find this strange? When did our academic atmosphere become like this?"

"It's as if everyone is caught up in a 'frenzy of progress,' but they are ignoring the hidden dangers lurking within that progress."

This is not good.

“It’s really bad.”

The man with glasses nodded.

But then he changed the subject and said:
"However, the academic atmosphere in the US has declined significantly in recent years, so it's not surprising that they would do something like this."

"The point is not their approach."

Zhang Liming sighed.

"The key point is that we have indeed discovered the problem, and we have indeed seen the existence of the 'ghost'."

"But this ghost did not affect our final conclusion."

"That's the crux of the problem."

Seeing that Zhang Liming was starting to breathe heavily due to his emotional outburst, the bespectacled man quickly stood up, poured him a glass of water, and handed it to him.

Then, while Zhang Liming was drinking water, the bespectacled man spoke up:
"But there are many non-critical perturbation factors in experimental studies. Perhaps this really is just a statistical specter?"

Zhang Liming swallowed a mouthful of water.

Then, he said in a heavy tone:
"Statistically, such a specter can exist."

"But in physics, especially in high-energy physics and quantum physics, is such a specter allowed to exist?"

"Tell me, has such a ghost existed in the past 400 years?"

“Even if it exists, we eventually found a theory to explain it, and even caught the ghost.”

"But tell me, have we caught this ghost?"

silence.

All three, including the man with glasses, fell silent.

幽灵
This concept was once used to describe the Higgs boson.

But the Higgs boson was eventually discovered by humans.

They realized that Zhang Liming's words were likely true.

But the problem is
Where should we begin? The current physics community hasn't even discovered the existence of this specter yet; all the judgments are based on Zhang Liming's "conjecture."

Such conjecture cannot be used as a theoretical basis.

Thinking of this, the bespectacled man spoke up:
"Old Zhang, no matter what, I've taken your words to heart."

"We will take this seriously."

"You don't need to worry too much. Physics is inherently a spiral process. The ghost will be found, and we will continue to move forward."

"Your most important thing right now is to rest and recover as soon as possible and get back to work."

"Otherwise, if you fall, who will catch the ghosts?"

The bespectacled man's words carried a hint of encouragement. Zhang Liming smiled and replied:
"Even without me, there would be countless other scholars."

"They will eventually discover this ghost."

"However, perhaps they are already too slow."

"Our progress has been severely hampered. If we can't capture this ghost and break through this wall at a certain point..."

"I'm afraid we'll never have another chance."

Zhang Liming's voice gradually faded away.

The holographic projection gradually disappeared.

Lin Xu returned to the bridge command room.

At this moment, the expression on his face was so heavy it looked like it could be wrung out.

He discovered the biggest problem.

The factor that "locked down the world's development" was not something Zhou Yue actively created.

It exists naturally! It needs to be addressed!

What Zhou Yue wanted to do was slow down the progress of solving this problem, and even completely end humanity's hope of solving it!
Indeed, given his abilities, his vision, and his level of knowledge, what qualifications does he have to truly "influence the world"?
All he can do is make a fuss about what has already happened!

This is the true operating logic of his "trump card"!

Lin Xu looked up; at this moment, there were only 5 minutes left.

"Old Wang."

"Where has our research on the 'ghost' that Zhang Liming mentioned progressed?"

In the holographic projection, Wang Yifan answered:

"We...we have confirmed the existence of the ghost."

"And we have confirmed that this specter is very likely related to quantum physics."

"However, we haven't determined exactly which aspect it is yet."

"understood."

Lin Xu nodded slowly.

He had previously asked Bai Mo whether the development of this world had been locked down.

And now, the answer is here.

of course not.

nonsense.

Because the fundamental development of physics in this world has not yet reached the point of being "locked down"!

Yes
A large amount of resources were poured into Project Butterfly, and a large amount of resources were used for Project Skyfire, GoHEPA, Zhuque-1, and the construction of the Mars space station.

Resources as a whole are finite.

Therefore, the development of fundamental physics has already been slowed down to some extent.

They could only vaguely see a wall in front of them, but they hadn't crashed into it yet!
This also explains why I entered this world.

Because this world, too, has not reached that "critical juncture".

Just like the main world I live in.

There are two minutes left.

Lin Xu didn't ask any more questions. He simply opened the control panel of the Butterfly Plan and crammed all the latest breakthroughs and developments in the holographic duality theory into his mind.

Countdown five seconds.

The end of the world has come.

The last line of information Lin Xu saw consisted of a few brightly colored words.

"AdS/CFT duality may be reversible."

When Lin Xu opened his eyes in bed, he had a splitting headache.

This time, entering the world of smart bracelets, he gained too much information, and the depth of it was too profound.

His brain was completely overloaded, so exhausted that when he sat down at the table, he didn't even know what he wanted to write.

With great effort, he managed to write only three words.

Zhang Liming.

That's right, Zhang Liming is the key.

He is currently the most likely person to catch that ghost.
After pausing for a moment, Lin Xu picked up his pen again and wrote a few messages in his notebook.

First, factors that are locking down global development already exist. If we follow the natural laws of development, we may fall into a vicious cycle that cannot solve the problem, thus ending the spiraling upward development of physics.

Second, this factor is strongly correlated with holographic duality theory.

Both of these pieces of information are actually very important.

But Lin Xu had no clue how to implement it.

It was nearly 7 p.m. at this point.

The office was dark, and in the deep twilight, Lin Xu felt an unprecedented sense of loneliness.

He walked to the window and looked up at the sky.

The stars are gradually appearing.

Lin Xu subconsciously wanted to look for the comet that Jiang Xingye had named for him.

But it's clear that under the current sky conditions, he has no chance of finding it.
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But he saw another star.

A star that flashes by in an instant.

That star wasn't big, nor was it particularly bright.

It existed for only a fleeting moment.

It seemed to be nothing more than a meaningless flicker within some kind of cosmic space.

But Lin Xu felt something was amiss.

What kind of star is this?
He instinctively reached for his phone to check the information, and just then, his secure phone suddenly rang.

Upon answering the phone, Chen Yixin's hurried voice came from the other end.

"Engineer Lin, I need you to come to the operations command center immediately."

Chen Yixin's voice carried a clear hint of anger.

Lin Xu countered with a question:
"What happened? Is something wrong here?"

"no!"

Chen Yixin said angrily:

"It's not that something happened on our end, it's the Americans!"

"Damn it, these idiots."

"They detonated a nuclear bomb in geosynchronous orbit!"

(End of this chapter)