In the Thunder Hell, Fernando's magic tower …
As long as he was in Allyn and undisturbed, Lucien had been in the habit of communicating with his teacher about arcana and magic once a week. However, when he entered his teacher's library today, he was surprised to see Brook, the old-school gentleman who was wearing a white wig.
Didn't they dislike communicating with their teacher face to face and prefer to communicate through letters? Lucien thought to himself.
Before Lucien greeted him, Brook raised his gold-rimmed glasses and smiled. "Your paper on the origin of magic has caused quite a stir in Allyn recently. I've received a lot of inspiration from it. Congratulations on the first official model on the nature of magic."
Fernando, who was next to him, muttered, "The 'observer effect' is not a good thing. It will make the world unreal …"
Lucien smiled. His teacher's insistence on the uniqueness of the world made it hard for him to have a good impression of the observer effect, especially when the explanation did not have any solid evidence or rigorous deduction. It was just a terrifying 'prophecy' that a grand arcanist suddenly came up with.
"Thank you. To be honest, I'm just beginning to explore the content myself. There are still many parts in the paper that need to be discussed. The same goes for the 'vacuum ocean of negative energy'." Lucien said very sincerely. He believed that his teacher and Mr. Brook could see it too. Then, he intentionally changed the topic. "Master, Mr. Brook, what are you talking about?"
It would be best if he could avoid his teacher's roar.
"Your idea on the quantization of the electromagnetic field when you studied the spontaneous radiation earlier inspired me. Also, Annick and Sprint's similar treatments on the electron have shown remarkable value. Therefore, I'm hoping to introduce the quantum theory into the classical electromagnetic field theory based on your idea of 'secondary quantization' and establish a quantum field theory so that we can discuss electrons and photons and study the nature of the electromagnetic force."
Speaking of the nature of the electromagnetic force, Brook's slightly slim face seemed to be glowing. It was because his cognitive world had unconsciously interfered with reality.
When they discussed the studies in the microscopic domain, he prudently used photons instead of electromagnetic waves. It was obvious that he had accepted the wave-particle duality of light to a large extent. He did not completely reject the theory that shattered and solidified his cognitive world. Instead, he had an exuberant desire to study it.
Fernando, whose hair seemed to be always messy, said angrily, "Then, he asked me to study it together with him and solve the problems inside, completely ignoring the fact that I was studying the reason for the loss of control of the fission reactor and the preliminary theory of the weak interaction …"
'Weak interaction force' was named by Fernando after the 'strong interaction force', the nuclear force that Lucien and Hathaway proposed.
He seemed reluctant, but his red eyes were bright and energetic. Lucien couldn't help but chuckle. Master, if you are unwilling, nobody can and dares to force you to study the problems related to the quantum field theory. However, it seems that you are absolutely enjoying it and are full of passion and motivation to establish such a system.
Of course, Lucien knew very well that the establishment of the quantum field theory would certainly go through a long and tortuous process starting from the 'secondary quantization' because there were unavoidable, major problems in computation right now. The infinite mass caused by the divergence had to be resolved through new mathematical methods. Also, it was only one of the more obvious difficulties.
"After our studies so far, we have established a general quantum field theory, but it has so many shortcomings that we are planning to publish it in advance so that more arcanists can discuss it." Brook's answer, which was both delighted and thoughtful, was completely within Lucien's expectations. "I happen to have run into you. There are some questions that we can discuss together."
He extended the invitation without any hesitation.
Fernando, who had never concealed his feelings, slightly collapsed. He cursed in a low voice, "Damn infinity!"
Lucien did not refuse. He had always been happy to participate in such arcana discussions, which would help him transform the knowledge in the Library of the Soul into his own knowledge.
Accepting their draft, Lucien browsed through it quickly and pondered for a moment. "It's not a relativistic quantum field theory?"
"That's a plan for the future. Let's settle the general problems first. If you are interested, we can discuss them often." Brook did not keep it a secret. Also, the discussion that he was talking about was obviously one that had the right to sign.
It seemed that his teacher did not invite Mr. President to join the discussion. Perhaps, he was worried about Mr. Brook's relationship with him? Lucien came to a conclusion based on that. However, Mr. Brook was quite right. Studies should be done step by step.
"Douglas is busy preparing for his super long-distance space jump. He has a lot of studies on his own and does not have time to be distracted by other fields. Otherwise, he would've been more than happy to do such work. As for right now, the discovery of planets may be more important than his life for him …" Fernando spoke loudly, as if he knew what Lucien was thinking, not fearing that Brook was right next to them at all.
Lucien had studied the content on the draft in the first place. Therefore, he soon joined Fernando and Brook's conversation and proposed some ideas that impressed them.
Fernando and Brook were not surprised. They would've been the first to believe that Lucien, who proposed the quantization of electromagnetic fields in the first place, had never studied it before.
Time went by in such an atmosphere of discussion. Very soon, Brook stood up in satisfaction and picked up his staff. "Although the most important problems are still standing before us like the Saint Truth, we've finally made some progress. Fernando, submit the paper at the end of the month and let more arcanists see it. I hope that they can come up with more novel and useful ideas."
After the communication just now, he realized that Lucien didn't have any ideas about the most important problems either. Of course, he was already prepared that he wouldn't be able to solve the problems in a couple of years. He had been through a lot of similar situations.
"I don't think there are more than a hundred arcanists in the Congress who can understand and are interested in studying the quantum field theory …" Fernando had always been known for his sharp tongue. "Perhaps they prefer the ocean of negative energy and the source of magic that is created by the weird features of microscopic particles. It satisfies all their fantasies."
"An ocean of negative-energy vacuum. It is indeed a bit surreal because it is hard for us to imagine that we are living in an ocean of negative-energy particles without being able to sense its existence at all. However, it is not entirely impossible. Hehe. Perhaps the vacuum is not empty after all." He said with his own feelings. "Lucien, what do you think of the ocean of negative-energy vacuum? It solves the problems of energy and matter in your magic idea. "
"As a matter of fact, I have my reservations about it," replied Lucien cautiously.
Brook was obviously interested. "You have other ideas? Is it the 'real world' that we can't study for now? "
"I'm starting from the uncertainty principle, Mr. Brook. Do you remember the enormous fluctuations of energy in a very short period of time that I described in my paper?" Lucien did not keep anything to himself as he did to his students but confessed the direction of his exploration. He couldn't keep it a secret from his teacher.
"Fluctuations of vacuum?" As he expected, Fernando simply asked back.
Brook paused for a moment and recalled it too. "Since time and energy are a pair of quantities that conform to the uncertainty principle, the more certain the time is, the more uncertain the energy will be … In a very short period of time, because of the uncertainty principle, enormous energy will suddenly surge out and disappear even in a vacuum. On average, it conforms to the law of conservation of energy and cannot be sensed …"
It was even more unrealistic than the ocean of negative energy. Tides of energy were rising and falling in the space around them all the time, but they did not sense it at all and were not affected at all!
"It can be described as an undulating ocean of energy." Lucien described it closely to the ocean of negative energy so that it would be easier to understand.
Fernando did not reject the uncertainty principle. What he objected to was Lucien's description of the intrinsic nature of matter, believing that there were other reasons for the uncertainty principle. Therefore, instead of roaring at the "undulating ocean of energy", he said solemnly, "It can also explain the source of energy. Also, it has something to do with the field theory that we study. I believe that we can come up with a new model that includes antiparticles if we continue our studies."
"In our previous studies, the intensity of the electric field and the intensity of the magnetic field became a pair of quantities that conform to the uncertainty principle, which means that they cannot be zero at the same time. Then, are there undulating electromagnetic fluctuations around us too?" Brook remembered his studies in the past.
Lucien nodded. "Theoretically speaking, yes."
Brook said solemnly and excitedly, "Then, we may be able to design experiments to observe the electromagnetic fluctuations. If that's the case, the vacuum will be truly marvelous!"
After he left in excitement, Fernando finally said to Lucien, "I feel that there's something that you didn't say in our discussion just now."
Did he see through that too? Lucien smiled. "It's mainly about my opinion on the definition of matter. Since we have regarded electromagnetic fields as matter a long time ago, why don't we go further? Perhaps, the field is a fundamental form of matter … "
"Let me think about it." Fernando rubbed his forehead.
Seeing that he was somewhat tired, Lucien proposed to leave. At this moment, Fernando said solemnly, "The observer effect is not a good theory. You'd better not indulge in it too much."
Then, after a brief silence, he said, "… However, your conjectures about the 'unsteadiness' of the fundamental level of matter, the source of energy and matter, and the undulating ocean of energy in the vacuum are all worth studying."
Lucien was immediately amused. Master, you could've just praised me if you wanted to.
… …
"Weak observer … The ocean of negative energy in the vacuum …" In the Holy City, Benedict III looked at the sunset outside of the window and remarked in a low voice.
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