Chapter 1306
Words:1749Update:22/06/26 05:53:09
Lu Zhou found out that he was on fire.
He was on fire.
Even though this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, this time was completely beyond his expectations. He thought that after his paper was published, it would only cause a sensation in the physics community. He didn't expect that even the Washington Post would give him the headline.
Not just that.
Columbia TV also specially invited Professor Suskander from Stanford University to do a popular science interview for this news.
As one of the founders of string theory, Professor Suskander could be said to be one of the veterans in the field of theoretical physics. Even though the study of the Z particle was not his specialty, his research on general relativity and the curvature of spacetime was quite representative.
Professor Suskander, who was sitting in his laboratory, thought for a while. He then took out a piece of white paper from his desk.
"Do you see the paper in my hand?"
Interviewer: "I see it … But Professor Suskander, what's so special about it?"
"I assume it represents three-dimensional space. Point A is the Earth, and point B is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.22 light-years away from us. Now I will connect them with a straight line …"
Professor Suskander used a ballpoint pen to draw a line and two dots on a piece of white paper.
He looked at the confused interviewer and spoke.
"Normally, when we go from the solar system to Proxima Centauri, that is, from A to B. Even if we ignore all kinds of complex orbital changes and follow a straight line that is straighter than the Golden Gate Bridge, we actually go a long way. This is because our universe is actually distorted, just like this …"
The old professor crumpled the white paper in his hand into a ball and stuffed it in front of the interviewer.
"Do you see this? This is the real appearance of our universe. The white paper representing three-dimensional space is like a ball of paper. Because of the gravitational force throughout the universe, it is distorted in a higher dimension.
"You can see that A and B are actually very close. The two pieces of paper may be stuck together, maybe even less than a fingernail away … But this is from a higher dimension than three-dimensional space.
"Because we are three-dimensional creatures, we can't leave the surface of the paper, so the shortest distance we can actually travel is the straight line drawn on the paper."
Professor Suskander unfolded the ball of paper in his hand and pointed at the crumpled paper as well as the straight line printed on the paper. He continued to speak.
"This straight line is the path the Falcon Rocket will take."
"If it's a warp drive, this route won't appear on paper at all. He'll be in the fourth or fifth dimension … in short, in a higher dimension than the third dimension."
"Just like this!"
Rolling the paper into a ball again, Saskander used the pen in his hand to pierce through the ball of paper violently.
Looking up at the dumbfounded interviewer, the white-haired old man smiled and continued.
"It's best if you can understand it."
"If you really don't understand, just take it that we might have found a shortcut."
"With this method, going to Mars in the future might only take half a day or half an hour."
"If you still can't understand, there's nothing I can do."
The show continued.
However, the second half of the show wasn't very interesting.
Lu Zhou picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room. He gave his own evaluation of this show that evaluated his research results.
"A very vivid interpretation, and the idea is quite novel … There's nothing wrong with it."
The only problem was that it was probably a bit too optimistic.
Even if the Z particle had this magical property of being able to act as a bridge, it was still a bit too difficult to use it to achieve warp travel … At least it didn't seem like something that could be done in 50 years.
Of course, as a science show, Professor Suskander's presentation was quite good.
Especially for people who lacked spatial imagination, it was indeed a very simple method to imagine the universe as a crumpled paper ball, and everyone was a black dot on the paper.
However, Director Li, who was sitting across from Lu Zhou, seemed to have misunderstood his meaning.
The old man's hands were clasped on the armrest of the leather sofa. He was so excited that his beard was about to fall off. His old face was red as if he might have a heart attack at any time.
"Is this true? It will only take half an hour to go from Earth to Mars? "
When Lu Zhou heard this unreasonable speech, he began to sweat.
"… Half an hour is too much, and this is just theory. Do you understand theory? Even something as simple as the atomic bomb, it took more than 20 years from the mass-energy equation to Otto Hahn's uranium fission thesis. "
Forget about the Z particle, which was more difficult to stabilize than ordinary subatomic particles, the applications of a large number of subatomic particles such as mesons, quarks, gluons, and photons had yet to be fully developed. It was too early to consider how to use the Z particle to solve practical problems.
The progress of science needed time to settle. Only when the time was right could it become a technology in the real sense.
Lu Zhou didn't know how long it would take for this day to come.
Based on his experience, he would have to wait at least until the next century, right?
Lu Zhou's eyes were staring at Director Li's fingers that were clasping the armrest of the sofa.
He wasn't very worried that this old man would have a heart attack. This guy's mental endurance was much stronger than he thought. The only thing that worried Lu Zhou was that he would break his own sofa.
He quite liked this sofa.
Many world-famous or soon-to-be world-famous physicists and mathematicians had sat here and had coffee with him.
It wasn't a historical relic, but at least it had some commemorative significance.
After hearing Lu Zhou deny the statement that they could reach Mars within half an hour, Director Li couldn't help but show a touch of disappointment on his face. His rising blood pressure gradually dropped.
He muttered with some regret, "In other words … I can't take a shortcut to Mars?"
Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee with a blank expression. He thought for a while and suddenly sighed softly.
"… It's not impossible."
In an instant, Director Li's blood pressure that had just dropped rose at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This torment from top to bottom didn't cause him any problems.
The old man sat up straight and stared at Lu Zhou with almost fanatical eyes. He spoke sincerely.
"What should I do?"
"Let's start by verifying the theory." Lu Zhou put down the coffee cup in his hand and looked at him seriously. He continued, "For example, send a Z particle clock to Mars orbit first."
Director Li asked immediately, "Then?"
"Then?"
Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly. He smiled and leaned back on the sofa.
"Then we send a pair of photons."
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