"Indeed not." Lucien admitted 'frankly'.
Hathaway was silent for a moment, as if she were organizing her words. "I think that your comment is too high, and it will give the arcanists too rash and unrealistic ideas. Although applying the wave nature of electrons to the model of the new alchemy can indeed lead to some imposed quantization conditions naturally, such a comment on a hypothesis that is not guided by any experiments and signs does not make use of the solemn and practical atmosphere of arcana."
Her speech was rather messy, but Lucien still managed to understand her. Because treating electrons as waves could solve part of the problems in the new alchemy, she was not as conservative and stubborn about Dieppe's hypothesis as he imagined. After all, for her, the perfection of the new alchemy was more important, and it was the direction of her future.
Also, she described electrons as' wave nature 'instead of' electrons as waves', which obviously attributed the problem to the special nature of certain particles, just like the supporters of the particle theory explained the image of light quantum diffraction and interference. Although those conjectures were full of contradictions, and none of them had been taken seriously yet, it did not stop Hathaway from referring to similar ideas.
What she really wanted to refute was Lucien's comment, which was too high. It must be noted that all the outrageous and bold hypotheses before were related because of the discovery of certain problems and loopholes. For example, Lucien's light quantum hypothesis was based on the fact that the wave theory could not explain the photoelectric effect.
This time, Dieppe's hypothesis was purely the product of an open mind, which extended the wave-particle duality of light to all microscopic particles. However, whether or not light was a particle was still a question mark, and there was no sign that it was not a unique feature of light. How could it be popularized in the world of particles recklessly and blindly?
More importantly, the hypothesis only seemed to be able to solve the problems in the new alchemy, but it did not explain the photoelectric effect as clearly as the light quantum hypothesis did. Even before precise experiments, it was consistent with all the experiment results so far. Therefore, Hathaway believed that Lucien shouldn't have given such a high comment on such a hypothesis, which would lead other arcanists to propose completely divergent and fantastical hypotheses based on theories that did not have any problems before. The atmosphere of rigorous exploration, practical research, and careful application of arcana would be completely ruined.
To put it simply, she believed that Lucien's praise for Dieppe's hypothesis would lead to a trend of speculative arcana studies.
All the members of the Highest Council on the spot were well aware of Hathaway's linguistic abilities. Fearing that Lucien did not get the point, Oliver added, "If you comment on Dieppe's baseless paper in such a way, other arcanists will feel that they have an opportunity, because they can criticize the mistakes of a classic theory without finding any problems. Then, they can proceed from the fantasy and derive a rigorous deduction process with mathematical methods. As for how absurd the final result is, they won't care."
"For example, I can accuse you of being a spy of the Church without any evidence. With that premise, I will be able to infer what you did and then prove that you published the subversive paper to blow up the heads of more sorcerers or even kill the members of the Highest Council so that the Congress of Magic can be eliminated. Don't you think this is ridiculous? Why are you encouraging such behavior? "
Lucien said solemnly, "I've received some inspiration from the hypothesis that electrons are waves, and I seem to have seen the dawn of resolving the problems in the new alchemy. That's why I gave such a high comment. If the hypothesis can resolve the problems in the new alchemy, it will also be proved."
"Also, if photons can have waves, why can't electrons? Why can't neutrons? Why can't protons? In the microscopic domain, it's a rather traceable hypothesis, not a pure fantasy. "
When it came to arcana discussions, Lucien had his own principles. He could not admit that his comment was too reckless and that Dieppe's paper was too bold and unrealistic just because of the two grand arcanists' criticism. That would be unfair to his professional and authoritative comment, as well as to Dieppe's hard work.
Even though he did not run any experiments to prove it, he would still have the same insistence. The paper that made him give such a comment must have its merits. However, if the loopholes were pointed out or the experiment results refuted it, he would not be a stubborn man either.
"Since when has light been admitted as particles?" Vicente, the pale, middle-aged man in a black cloak, said coldly. The dark red flames in his eyes were bouncing rather hard.
Hathaway looked at the Lord of the Undead and said, "Whether you admit it or not, the photoelectric effect and Brook's scattering experiment are all there. They clearly indicate everything."
"But I think that the scattering experiment can be explained in terms of waves. For example …" Oliver proposed his idea to construct special waves that could show the characteristics of particles.
Douglas, on the other hand, frowned and said, "There are no experiments or theories that can support your idea yet."
"It's not necessarily a bad direction." Said Brook concisely.
…
For a moment, the meeting room of the Highest Council was quite noisy because of the argument between the wave theory and the particle theory. Gradually, as the argument deepened, they even had emotional fluctuations.
"Let's talk about it after you construct your special compound wave first, Oliver." When Klaus spoke, countless light spots seemed to be popping up behind his back, constituting the phantoms of different alchemical items. There were golems, puppets, floating cities, alchemical fortresses, magic steam trains …
Oliver shook his finger. "However you look at it, it is also a way to explain the photoelectric effect and the Brook's scattering experiment. Also, before we discuss my question, you'd better reexamine the particle theory. Perhaps there are never any particles. They are all the special manifestations of waves. "
Scenes of destruction appeared around him one after another, enshrouding the meeting room in the air of doomsday.
"If particles are all waves, are the elements made of those microscopic particles waves? Are the lives made of those elements waves waves? To be more exact, are we waves? " Vicente did not agree with Oliver on that inference. As an authority on the human body and the soul, he found it hard to believe that bodies were waves. How could the tangible body be waves?
Black tombstones seemed to have grown on the carpet of the meeting room one after another, and the silence of death enshrouded everything.
Oliver waved his hands, hinting that his words were not rigorous enough. He said again, "To be honest, although I appreciate Dieppe's hypothesis and want to praise him for opening a corner of the world's curtain, I don't believe that electrons are waves so far."
While talking, he constructed a picture of the movement of electrons in the cloud chamber with magic. The bright mist constituted a splendid trace of electrons, which was full of dreamy and awe.
"I'm not bold enough to believe that electrons with such obvious traces are waves for now. However, now that Lucien agrees with Dieppe's hypothesis, does it mean that he agrees that waves are the essence of light?" While talking, Oliver looked at Lucien.
He was attacking his own light quantum theory with Lucien's comment.
"Like I said, perhaps electrons can show the characteristics of waves under special circumstances, such as when they are bound around the nucleus of an atom." Hathaway stood on Lucien's side again.
Hellen was one of the few legendary sorcerers who did not project their cognitive world. She had been listening to the argument between the supporters of the wave theory and the supporters of the particle theory quietly. At this moment, she couldn't help but interject, "In fact, I've been confused since the light quantum hypothesis was proved. Why does light have the characteristics of waves and particles? Should we consider the question from a higher level like Evans said?"
"It can be explained from the wave theory …" Oliver emphasized his opinion again. Those who could become grand arcanists had to be persistent.
Seeing that the two parties were about to have a 'frank and friendly conversation' again, Douglas hurried to gesture for them to be quiet. The anomalies in the meeting room were immediately gone, and the hellish scene turned back to the real world.
"The conflict between the wave theory and the particle theory has been going on for a long time. There's no need to waste time today. Since Lucien insists that his comment is fine, and it is not the result of the review of the paper itself, I don't think there's any need for further discussion, right?" Douglas looked around.
Oliver nodded. "Allow me to ask one more question. I believe that you are also curious about this. Lucien, in your heart, is light waves or particles?"
"Also, are electrons waves or particles?" Vicente added coldly.
Hathaway, Hellen and the rest of them also looked at Lucien, curious about his real arcana stance.
Ever since the anomalies appeared, Lucien had been observing the situation that was completely different from any other scene in silence. It was a unique scene that could only be seen in the meeting of the Highest Council.
At this moment, hearing their questions and sensing everybody's eyes, Lucien did not refuse to answer. Instead, he looked at his teacher who was acting abnormally and asked back solemnly, "What is wave? What is particle? "
Huh? All the members present were at least ninth-circle arcanists. None of them expected that Lucien would ask the most fundamental question. They were all stunned for a moment.
"Lucien, this is not the time for a lecture, although your nickname is Professor." Oliver said humorously.
There were only two dark red flames in Vicente's eye sockets, and there was only thin skin covering his bones left on his face. It was hard to tell his real feelings. "The definitions of wave and particle are mentioned in the fundamental books of arcana. Everyone's time is precious. If you don't want to answer, just keep silent."
"Wave is a phenomenon. At first, the definition was summarized from the various waves in nature and used for arcana studies. The specific definition is …" Hathaway did not hesitate to introduce the definition of wave and particle to Vicente.
Lucien smiled. "It's obvious that the definition of wave and particle comes from us. It's based on our experience in the real world that can be directly observed."
"Is there a problem?" Brook crossed his fingers and held his chin, as if he had guessed something.
Douglas, Bergner, and Hathaway, on the other hand, seemed to have thought of something. They were all deep in thought. The difference was that Hathaway's face barely changed, and it was barely noticeable unless one observed carefully. The Lord of Storm, on the other hand, remained silent as before.
Lucien did not answer directly but looked at everybody and said, "If you don't think it is a waste of time, I would like to tell a story first."
"No problem." Oliver had always been tolerant when it came to stories.
Now that he had spoken, the other members of the Highest Council naturally wouldn't object to such a trifle. Also, they believed that Lucien was definitely not telling a random story to fool them. Besides, their previous quarrels and questions were all based on arcana and not specifically targeted at Lucien. What was wrong with telling a story if the problem could be solved? It would be fine even if he told ten stories!
"Once upon a time, there was a king who found a dragon that had just died. He was so happy that he put it outside of the palace as a symbol of his valor so that every noble and civilian who passed by could see it." Lucien spoke peacefully, "One day, a bunch of blind people who didn't know anything about dragons heard about it. Curious about what a dragon looked like exactly, they came to the palace together and touched the body of the dragon."
Hearing that a bunch of blind people wanted to figure out what a dragon looked like by touching it, Oliver, Klaus, and the other members of the Highest Council, who were relatively open-minded, all smiled. The other people speculated about the result.
Lucien continued, "One of the blind people touched the wings of the dragon with the help of a soldier. He immediately said in delight, 'The dragon is a terrifying bat!'"
"'No, the dragon is a giant lizard!'" Another blind person who touched the scales of the dragon retorted loudly. Before he was blinded, he once caught a lizard and touched its scales. "
Most of the members of the Highest Council were amused when they heard the first blind man's answer, but they all became solemn after the second blind man's answer. Douglas, Hathaway, and the rest of them who had guessed it and were mentally prepared nodded their heads.
"I don't want to talk about the answers of the other blind people. I only want to ask one thing. Is a dragon a giant bat or a giant lizard?"
"Neither." Hellen basically knew what Lucien meant, but she still replied solemnly.
Lucien smiled. "So, for me, light, electrons, and other things are neither waves nor particles. The only thing that can be confirmed is that they are matter. Of course, I prefer to call them particles."
"Neither waves nor particles?" Oliver slightly frowned. "Are you suggesting that they are actually something else?"
Lucien looked around the conference room and said, "We cannot directly see the electromagnetic waves, including visible light, or the particles in the microscopic domain. We are like blind people when it comes to the studies in those fields. Therefore, we can only rely on the phenomena that can be observed, and we cannot impose the definitions and concepts based on past experience on them blindly."
"Take light as an example. We can describe it as follows without giving it the concept of waves or particles in advance. The matter shows obvious characteristics of waves and particles. In what range of frequencies and what speed it has in various mediums, it is not important what the matter that boasts such characteristics is called. It can be defined as anything. As for why it shows the characteristics of waves and particles, and how the characteristics of waves and particles are combined in it, that is what we need to study further. We have to base our conclusions on the experiment results and the real phenomena."
"The reason why we have been arguing is that we have mechanically applied the concepts and definitions in the past to the microscopic domain, which is closest to the truth of the world. I once said that our experience can deceive us. This is one of the manifestations. Such deceptions are not only reflected in our research but also in our communication with other people."
Speaking of that, Lucien looked around at the members of the Highest Council who had different expressions and said solemnly,
"Only when we learn to abandon the original concepts temporarily and base ourselves on the current phenomena and experiment results can we 'see' the truth of the world in the microscopic world."
After Lucien said that, there was a weird silence in the conference room. Everybody had different thoughts.
"But how can we study the microscopic world without the original concepts? The experiment results and phenomena have to be processed and constructed into a system too." Oliver agreed, but he was more suspicious.
Lucien replied simply, "Mathematical tools."
"How can we know what mathematical tools are needed if we don't know what they are?" Vicente did not quite agree, either.
"The experiment results that can be directly observed can be based on the concepts and definitions in the past, and those that cannot be directly observed cannot be inferred. But they can be inferred from the experiment results, and speculations and hypotheses can be proposed, which can then be confirmed by rigorous experiments." Lucien elaborated his opinion, which was gradually formed and consolidated because of the influence of magic, soul, feedback, and other weird things in reality and the study of quantum theory.
"So, you speculate that electrons are waves? But it hasn't been confirmed by rigorous experiments yet. "Vicente went on. After a long detour, they returned to the original topic.
Douglas nodded his head and said, "I think that Lucien does have a point. We see the same thing because light is reflected into our eyes, and magnification magic is based on the same optical principle. However, light reacts with electrons and causes them to 'jump', which means that their state is changed. So far, it is barely possible for us to directly observe the microscopic world. We can only generalize based on the results of experiments and make assumptions or interpretations based on the generalization. When we make assumptions or interpretations, we cannot introduce too many original concepts, which will restrict our thinking and blind our mind."
"But in any case, it is still too unrealistic to speculate that electrons are waves directly. At the very least, the experiment results so far do not show any signs of it. They all show the features of particles without exception." Oliver shook his head. Hathaway and the rest of them nodded in agreement. At the very least, the features of particles were obvious experiment results, and it was hard to associate them with waves from the distinctive traces.
However, they also accepted that the original concepts could not be blindly introduced in the microscopic world in arcana studies.
"Can we only see the truth of the world if we abandon the original concepts?" Brook smiled with mixed feelings. "But we have been learning arcana since we were little and have accepted all kinds of definitions and concepts. It is possible that we accidentally introduce the original concepts in our studies without knowing it. Also, it is possible that introducing the original concepts can make things easier."
Douglas looked at his pocket watch and said, "It's late. Lucien has expressed his opinion. You can discuss it in private."
"Yes. I will try to reconstruct the model of the new alchemy with the concept of electron waves and provide its wave function to see if the problem can be solved so that the hypothesis can be verified." Brook was very interested in the direction. He seemed to have found a way to reshape his cognitive world.
Oliver nodded his head and said, "I will also put my ideas into the concept of electron waves and try to construct its wave function. Hopefully, I will find something."
Hathaway did not say anything. She had always been silent when she could.
The Lord of the Undead, on the other hand, said to the Lord of Storm with a mocking smile, "Old pervert, why haven't you said anything? Is it because he is your student that you do not want to roar at him in front of us? That's not like you, who has always insisted on the truth in the field of arcana. "
It was not until he said that that the other members of the Highest Council realized that the Lord of Storm had been silent the whole time! It must be noted that when such arguments took place in the past, the meeting room must've been dominated by thunderstorms and roars. Why was it so unusual today?
Fernando, the Lord of Storm, seemed to be holding back something. After looking at Vicente, he glared at Lucien. "Bring it out. They should be able to bear such a shock."
"Take out what?" Lucien pretended not to know.
"Bring what out?" The other members of the Highest Council were full of questions.
Fernando suddenly roared, "I knew that you had completed the experiment when you gave the comment! Bring it out! Show us the truth of the world! Let's see what abandoning the original concepts means! "
"You think that we can't bear such a shock? Especially when it's in an unknown territory! "
The experiment was completed? Oliver, Klaus and the rest of them looked at Lucien in shock. Had it really been completed? Then, didn't Lucien's attitude mean that … How was it possible?
Even the legendary sorcerers such as Hathaway and Hellen, who had been indifferent before, were more or less shocked. They were immediately filled with vigor, as if they were made of flesh and blood.
Douglas looked at Lucien solemnly. "If it's completed, bring it out. The people sitting here are not so narrow-minded and stubborn."
He added in his heart. Most of them were supporters of the wave theory, and some of them were mentally prepared because the hypothesis seemed to be able to resolve part of the problems in the new alchemy.
Lucien looked at them in silence. After receiving a unanimous nod, he took a deep breath and took out a large monocrystal. He then established a magic circle so that the picture could be directly displayed.
Brook did not say anything. He simply raised his hand and launched streams of electrons.
Time seemed to have been frozen. It was unusually depressing and silent. Very soon, the magic circle glittered, and a classic picture that looked like an X-ray diffraction pattern was displayed!
In everybody's eyes, the picture was so familiar and dreamy, but it was also so shocking and unbelievable!
"This is …" There was no telling how many people murmured to themselves subconsciously.
BOOM!
Countless bolts of lightning danced crazily, and thunder rumbled. A black storm enshrouded the sky.
The black magnetic field around was twisted, and the invisible electromagnetic waves were abnormally disordered.
Stars appeared one after another, emitting resplendent light. They distorted the surrounding space and exerted a gravitational force.
White, black, gold, silver … The elements were gathered into tides that looked like an ocean.
In the peaceful and quiet Land of Eternal Sleep, black tombstones were inserted obliquely, brimming with the intense air of death.
The black universe was vast and boundless. Planets were obliterated one after another, caught in infinite waves of destruction.
Snowflakes were falling. The temperature of the entire room dropped by a hundred degrees. Translucent ice was everywhere.
Many anomalies appeared and stirred in the conference room, constituting a terrifying scene where light, shadow, and colors interweaved and destruction and death danced together!
BOOM!
In the illusionary sound of thunder and destruction, they all turned around and looked at Lucien. Lucien was standing there with his hands in the pockets of his double-breasted suit. He repeated Brook's words in a very low voice, "You're right.
"Only by abandoning the original concepts can you see the truth of the world."
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