Chapter 114 The eve and preparation of the seminar on the theory of relativity
While the physics big guys are looking at the theory of relativity with a critical eye, Li Qiwei is also making careful preparations.
He corresponded frequently with Einstein these days, and the two discussed various problems they might encounter next.
This time, the theory of relativity has had such a huge impact on the world of physics that it is almost like the beginning of the world.
Li Qiwei himself doesn't care. Anyway, if he is pushed into a panic, he will take out the general theory of relativity on the spot and absolutely suppress everything.
Then maybe no one in the world can understand it.
Even top physicists like Planck can only look away and sigh, and they don’t even know where to start to refute.
But Einstein was not so calm.
He is only an undergraduate now, has not even graduated with a Ph.D., and is a complete rookie in the field of physics.
To publish such an earth-shattering paper all at once, it would be a lie to say that I am not nervous.
Although he was confident that his theory had no problems at all and was a rigorous derivation based on physical facts, he could not stand up to the overwhelming consensus.
Einstein said in the letter that he is now completely famous in Switzerland.
Teachers and students at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, all the topics discussed recently are the theory of relativity.
Even students who are not physics majors are still very interested in the theory of relativity.
And many people swear that they have found loopholes in the theory of relativity and are preparing to publish papers criticizing it.
This made him feel a little nervous, but at the same time there was also a little excitement, the pleasure of stirring up the physical storm.
Another advantage is that no one will say that he was influenced by Bruce Lee anymore.
Even though the theory of relativity has been questioned and criticized so much, everyone admits that anyone who can come up with this theory is definitely a genius.
This finally made Einstein feel proud.
He felt that the gap between him and Li Qiwei was so small that they could fight side by side.
After reading Einstein's complaints, Li Qiwei smiled knowingly. It turned out that the great master also had moments of nervousness and anxiety.
Especially the questioning passages reminded him of a special scientific research group in later generations: Minke.
Folk scientists, referred to as folk scientists, refer to those who have not received professional higher education and express their views on scientific theories through self-study.
Because he believed that he had subverted the scientific edifice, he proclaimed himself a scientist.
There are civil sciences in every field.
Among them, in the field of physics, the civil sciences are the most famous, so the civil sciences usually refer to the physics civil sciences.
Because physics is closely related to people’s lives, many physical laws quantitatively describe people’s subjective feelings.
And there is a special thing about physics, that is, it does not like to highlight the role of mathematics, but emphasizes a simple and popular beauty.
Through the human brain, we can imagine how the laws of physics work and govern the world.
It just so happens that the truth of the universe is also simple and beautiful, and can often be summarized by a simple formula or one sentence.
Therefore, physics is a gathering place for civil sciences.
At least in later generations, Li Qiwei had not heard of many civilian subjects in the field of mathematics.
Because mathematics does not depend on the fancy vocabulary you use, but relies on formulas. If you don’t know it, you really don’t know it. You can’t even talk nonsense.
He still doesn’t dare to touch those big math guys, that’s why.
There is a saying in later generations that the advanced mathematics studied in university undergraduates are probably knowledge from more than 300 years ago.
As for mathematics within 100 years, it is no longer possible to describe it in words to ordinary people.
It is no different from the Heavenly Book.
However, physics is different. No matter how cutting-edge the theory is, ordinary people can talk about it.
There are several major theories in physics that are the most criticized among civil sciences.
The first is Newton's three laws of mechanics, of which F=ma has been played out.
Second, there are the three laws of thermodynamics and the famous perpetual motion machine, which make Minke the most well-known.
Conservative estimates suggest that Minke has invented at least more than a hundred perpetual motion structures.
Third, it is the theory of relativity, especially the special theory of relativity, which can be said to be the most subversive theory by the masters of civil science.
As for the general theory of relativity, due to the high level of mathematical skills required, relatively few civilians are involved in it.
Several questions that Einstein gave examples in his letter are, in Li Qiwei’s view, classic thinking in civil science.
In fact, Li Qiwei himself has no prejudice against civilian science. Instead, he believes that more people participating will be a good thing for the development of physics.
But he hates some people in civil science, who always like to forcibly replace formulas with concepts.
Create some words that look high-end but actually have no meaning, and then spread out tens of thousands of words without a single formula, and you can say that you have subverted the theory of relativity.
You know, although Einstein also relied on pure imagination to create the special theory of relativity.
But it is based on solid mathematical reasoning. The paper is logically rigorous and can withstand scrutiny.
It's not a so-called word game.
As for the very few high-end existences in civil science, it is really not an easy thing to refute.
Many of their ideas have actually touched the essence of physics.
Maybe there is no way to answer it, and it is almost out of the scope of science and running in the direction of philosophy.
Li Qiwei has always believed that wrong theories and opinions are not terrible. What is terrible is that you have the correct theory but cannot explain what is wrong with other people's doubts.
This can only mean one thing, that is, you have not fully understood the theory you have learned and have not digested it into your own things.
That is, knowing what is happening but not knowing why.
As a Ph.D. in physics from Huaxia University of Science and Technology in his previous life, Li Qiwei was extremely familiar with the special theory of relativity.
However, if a big boss really raised a tricky question, he suddenly realized that he really couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to explain it clearly. Unless he didn't talk about martial ethics and simply transcended the times, but he always felt that was a bit boring.
Therefore, after reading Einstein's letter, Li Qiwei's momentum changed and his confidence increased greatly.
He must rely on his own understanding to compete with the physics giants of the world, rather than relying on prophets to crush them.
For this reason, during this period of time, he even started to learn from scratch, consolidating his theoretical knowledge bit by bit.
If you have nothing to do, go to the library to read the materials of this era and understand the background of the era.
This makes the three Spark brothers extremely happy, and they finally have time to relax.
Thanks to the brain enhancement brought about by time travel, Li Qiwei can still be considered a genius even without the blessing of later experience.
So, his learning efficiency is very high.
Li Qiwei spent the entire March busy and had to deal with various visits and letters.
Some journals have even begun to publish papers criticizing the theory of relativity.
During this period, Li Qiwei discussed with Einstein, Thomson and others and decided to set the first relativity seminar on July 15.
At this point in time, all universities are basically on vacation, and professors and students have enough time to hold meetings.
Also leaving enough time allows physicists to study the theory of relativity more deeply and improve the quality of the seminar.
As for the venue of the meeting, Brother Solvay wrote a letter and begged, telling Li Qiwei to choose Brussels.
In return, Solvay stated that it would fully bear all costs of this conference and provide all support.
Li Qiwei readily agreed. He was very poor now and did not have the financial resources to organize a grand meeting.
Solvay was overjoyed when he saw that Li Qiwei agreed. He immediately started contacting the hotel and started preparations three months in advance.
Since the first Young Scholars Exchange Meeting was successfully held, Marconi's radio transoceanic communication, Einstein's theory of relativity and other physical achievements that shocked the world have appeared.
The value of young scholars conferences continues to rise.
People are even looking forward to whether other participants will also release major results in the future.
As the organizer of the conference, Solvay’s name also spread.
At least in Belgium, Solvay is a household name.
Belgians all know that there is an entrepreneur who loves science and donates generously to provide scientists with the best conditions.
And these scientists did publish shocking papers after the meeting.
This shows that although Solvay himself was not good at science, he had a keen eye and greatly promoted the development of science.
This made him feel happy and felt that he was no longer the same as those vulgar rich people.
And this time, the seminar on the theory of relativity was organized by myself.
Solvay can’t even imagine what kind of influence it will have by then.
This time is different from the last youth meeting.
All the top physicists in the world came here, it was like a gathering of stars.
Many of them may be nobles or rich people themselves, which made Solvay tremble with excitement.
It is enough for a person to be proud to participate in a few major events that will go down in history.
Even the Belgian government came to him and asked him to give his full support to this meeting to ensure that nothing went wrong.
You can always ask the government for help if necessary.
In addition, Solvay has been assigned a special team to solve the problem of foreigners visiting.
This shows that Belgium attaches great importance to this meeting.
That is because of the sensational effect of the theory of relativity itself, coupled with the authoritative influence of Ridgway, the first person to win the Nobel Prize in physics.
Now, the theory of relativity is the most discussed theory in the physics community.
In addition to the criticism from the big guys, newcomers to physics are also racking their brains to study this subversive theory.
Unfortunately, so far, ordinary teachers in many schools cannot actually understand it.
Special phase is not difficult, and the mathematics is simple, but that is all relative to physicists.
For ordinary physics students and lecturers, narrow phases are simply synonymous with obscurity.
The high school students of later generations may have already begun to learn narrow phase, and they think it is just that, and it is easy to understand.
And it can also be calculated using formulas.
However, what they studied were simplified narrow phases without derivation from scratch, and there was a lot of auxiliary information to help them understand.
Students in this era can only learn from the paper published in "Nature".
They don't have any reference materials or guidance from famous teachers. They completely rely on themselves to understand such a profound theory. It's understandably difficult.
For example, classmate Chris Paul, under Li Qiwei’s guidance, is now the leader of the physics major at Trinity College and is envied by countless students.
Early before Bruce Lee became famous, he chose to learn from him. This is the skill of following the dragon, which cannot be learned.
But after reading the theory of relativity, he could only look confused.
For this reason, Chris has been paying attention to Li Qiwei. When he was free, he quickly approached him and wanted to ask for advice.
Li Qiwei was happy to answer him. This young man had done a lot for himself.
But soon, Li Qiwei became discouraged.
He found that after what he thought was a simple explanation, Chris still didn’t understand.
This reminded him of a later saying: If you can't explain the theory of relativity to an old woman on the street, it means you haven't really understood the theory of relativity.
Now, Li Qiwei couldn't even explain it clearly to the top students at Cambridge University. For the first time, he had doubts about his ability.
It seems that I still need to practice!
(End of this chapter)