The clock on the wall was ticking.
Since an hour ago, Frank Wilczek had maintained his current posture, staring motionlessly at the image on the computer screen. He hadn't moved for a long time.
Suddenly, the office door opened.
Professor Wilczek looked at Witten, who walked into the office. He was sitting there like a statue, and he finally raised his head. However, just as he was about to speak, Witten spoke first.
"I know you want to ask me what Professor Lu thinks, but I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. Other than a conjecture about extra dimensions, he didn't reveal anything to me. "
Wilczek frowned when he heard this unexpected term.
"Extra dimensions?"
In fact, extra dimensions weren't a very new concept. All dimensions added by rewriting Einstein's relativity equation could be called extra dimensions.
It was just like how Theodore Kaluza had added a fifth dimension to explain gravity back then. Because of string theory, the value of n had been increased to 13.
However, what confused Wilczek was why Witten, or rather, Lu Zhou, mentioned this concept.
"Yes, he attributed the cause of this mass expansion phenomenon to something that can't be proven or falsified." Witten looked at Wilczek, who was confused. He took out a lighter from his pocket and placed it on the table. He said, "Suppose the universe is composed of n-dimensional matter, just like this lighter.
"And the disturbance that interferes with our experiment comes from the n + 1 dimension, just like my thumb. It presses the lighter. Of course, this metaphor may seem a bit crude, but in fact, it may be something more poetic. For example … there is an omnipotent God living in the n + 1 dimension, looking at us imprisoned in a box, and singing a beautiful song to us. "
Wilczek's eyebrows furrowed tightly. He looked at Witten and muttered to himself.
"This sounds … interesting."
Witten put away the lighter and looked at Wilczek in disbelief.
"Unbelievable … You actually think it's interesting."
"After all, he is the one who put forward this opinion." Wilczek shrugged and muttered, "And from an objective point of view, you can't prove that he is wrong, can you? In fact, we can indeed see that when the collision energy reaches 5.12 TeV, the mass expands at an astonishing rate. According to the calculation method of lattice quantum chromodynamics, we should actually get a smaller total mass. "
After hearing his old friend's explanation, Witten fell silent.
After a while, he finally spoke.
"Let's put this matter aside for now. The reason why I came to you is not to discuss a theory that hasn't been perfected yet."
Wilczek: "Then why?"
Witten: "What do you think about Professor Miro?"
"Milo?" Hearing this name that he had never heard of, Wilczek frowned and hesitated. "Sorry, who is Milo?"
Seeing that Wilczek had never heard of this name, a strange expression appeared on Witten's face.
He didn't explain anything. He reached out and picked up the remote control on the table. He turned on the Internet TV in the office.
"Professor Galette Miro, a 37-year-old physics professor at Stanford University. He serves as a consultant for high-energy physics experiments in CERN and ILHCRC, and has won the Barclay Prize of the American Physical Society, the Dirac Prize of the International Center for Theoretical Physics …
"A promising young man." Professor Wilczek looked at the Fox News logo on the TV and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"… And the leader of a new religion." Witten pointed at the TV with his chin and pressed a few buttons on the remote control. He said, "It may be a bit troublesome to explain, you should watch it yourself."
…
Fox Radio.
In the studio.
A tall man with sunken eyes sat on the sofa. He had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, and he was wearing a common plaid shirt. It was easy to associate him with people who worked in science and engineering.
Sitting on the sofa across from him was the host of a talk show on Fox Radio, Ms. Cordell.
Cordell looked at Professor Miro in front of her with a friendly smile on her face. She handed over the microphone in her hand and spoke.
"Hello, Professor Miro, thank you very much for coming to our studio. I heard that something very … very amazing happened in the physics community recently, is that true? "
"Yes." Miro seemed to be not used to the atmosphere here. He looked around a little awkwardly, but in the end, he still took out the calmness of a scholar and said in a positive tone, "What happened recently has subverted many people's understanding of physics."
Mademoiselle Cordell asked with a smile.
"We can see from the comments on the website that many viewers are very concerned about this matter. We know that you are a physics professor at Stanford University and a researcher at the ILHCRC. Can you explain in detail to the audience in front of the TV … What kind of amazing results did we get from the Hadron Collider? "
"The mass expanded above 5.12 TeV!"
Cordell frowned as she looked at Professor Miro, who gradually showed a touch of fanaticism in his eyes.
"Sorry, I may not understand, what … does this mean?"
"This means that at a considerable level of mass, the mass that we are familiar with may no longer be conserved!"
The skinny physics professor's eyes became more and more fanatical, and his voice trembled with excitement.
"For a long time, the building of our physics has been built on a flat wasteland. Through the exploration of the standard model, we have constantly repaired this building, adding bricks and tiles to it, and finally, it has become what it is today!
"However, just a month ago, the latest research of the ILHCRC toppled this building to the ground!
"Unfortunately, you were not there, otherwise you would understand why I was so excited after seeing such a result!"
Cordell looked at Professor Miro, whose eyes were gradually bloodshot because of his excitement. A surprised expression appeared on Cordell's face.
What surprised her was not the content of what he said, but his mental state, which seemed a bit … abnormal.
She used a second to ask the director's opinion through her eyes, but she received a reply to continue the program.
Helplessly, she could only bite the bullet and continue with the program.
"This sounds … a bit unbelievable. That is to say, you proved that mass is not conserved? "
"It is not conserved on a large scale of mass! Wait, it looks like you haven't figured out what this means. I have to explain it to you! "
Without waiting for the host to speak, Professor Miro continued speaking quickly.
"According to the traditional point of view of physics, our universe is entropy increasing, and all matter develops from order to disorder. But now, this view can be overturned! Our physics has finally entered a world that even Einstein could not predict, and our universe will no longer be in an eternal decay, but will move from an old cycle to a new cycle, never ending in the endless reincarnation! "
At this point, Professor Miro's thin body suddenly erupted with a fanatical aura that was completely inconsistent with his physique.
He leaned forward and stared intently at Ms. Cordell, who had a trace of fear on her face. He spoke in a hoarse voice like a spitting lizard.
"Do you believe in God?"
Ms. Cordell, who was shocked by this aura, nodded quickly.
"I … do."
"Maybe he really exists … No, he definitely exists."
Ms. Cordell looked at Professor Miro, who seemed to have gone crazy, and continued while trembling, "You mean … mass is no longer permanently conserved, and the entropy of the universe will not increase forever. These conclusions can be deduced that our God exists?"
"God?" A contemptuous smile appeared on Professor Miro's face. He leaned back on the sofa and said slowly, "It doesn't matter if you want to call it that.
"In a sense, it is indeed omniscient and omnipotent for the universe we are familiar with.
"It is like a ghost wandering in the universe, interfering with us through an invisible hand.
"Compared to a superficial title like God …
"I prefer to call it the spirit of the universe."
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