Chapter 129: Comparing with the Pope
The news that Betelgeuse has a companion star within its hydrogen envelope is truly shocking.
So much so that the scientific researchers at the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory focused almost entirely on this news, and then ignored the data calculation methods used in the data in their hands, as well as Betelgeuse's precise diameter, mass and other information.
After the shock passed, many people began to pay attention to the calculation methods in the literature and the precise data of Betelgeuse and its companion stars.
Although I cannot understand the calculation formulas and calculation processes in the information, I can understand the final answer.
The diameter of Betelgeuse: [889.00712721D⊙]
Diameter of companion star: [67.456799134D⊙]
The mass of Betelgeuse: [23.871911123M⊙]
Mass of companion star: [2.706358293M⊙]
Each piece of precise data about Betelgeuse came into the eyes of these astronomical researchers, causing their pupils to shrink suddenly.
Although I can't understand the calculation process, and I can't know whether the answers are correct, these values are all accurate to eight or nine decimal places without exception.
How was such accurate data calculated?
Are these answers accurate?
If it is accurate, does it mean that the astronomical community has a brand new method of calculating stellar parameters?
So what’s the formula behind it? What's the principle?
Many doubts arise in the minds of these astronomical researchers.
When they thought that there was a brand new calculation method that could accurately calculate the parameters of celestial bodies in the distant starry sky to the eight or nine decimal places of the traditional calculation method, everyone's breathing became a little heavy and rapid involuntarily.
A new method of accurately calculating celestial bodies is so important to the astronomical community.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the world of mathematics, the person who pioneered this method has a status comparable to that of the Pope of mathematics, Alexander Grothendieck.
Pope established a new foundation on the original geometry, introduced the concept of outlines, established a grand and complete "general theory", and completely rewritten the discipline of algebraic geometry.
His influence on the world of mathematics is unparalleled in modern history.
And if the data on the manuscript paper are confirmed today, they are calculated using a brand-new method, and the answers are accurate.
Then the influence of the founder of this method on the astronomical world is probably not weaker than the influence of the Pope on the mathematical world.
Being able to accurately calculate the mass, diameter, volume and other information of a celestial body means that astronomers can have a deeper grasp of the planet's information.
Take Betelgeuse as an example. If this information can be accurately judged, we can more accurately judge on this basis the stage of its life it has reached, whether the hydrogen and helium in the core have been completely fused, and how close it is to a supernova. How long until the outbreak lasts, etc.
This is still a star, and it will be more effective when placed on a planet.
Apart from anything else, the value of being able to judge whether this planet is habitable for humans is huge.
This series of key information can be analyzed from the data, provided that the data is accurate.
Thinking of this, many astronomy researchers in the room gathered around and wanted to ask for advice.
But they found the wrong person the first time and found Liu Xuan from Nanda University.
Liu Xuan smiled and said: "This mathematical method was not developed by us, but by our junior fellow students at Nanjing University."
"In fact, this observation and scientific research project on Betelgeuse is not mine, I am just here to work."
As he spoke, he pulled Xu Chuan over and introduced: "This is Xu Chuan, the proud son of our Department of Mathematics at Nanjing University, a super genius, and a bright new star in the world of mathematics."
"Now that I am only a freshman, I have already proven a world-class mathematical conjecture. I hope to win the Fields Medal in two years."
"This project is related to the mathematical conjecture Weyl-Berry conjecture he proved before."
"Of course, it is now called the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem. Using this theorem, we can perform accurate calculations on celestial bodies in distant galaxies."
"And there may be a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope. In fact, it was discovered by him. He initially calculated two completely different diameters through data, which led to these subsequent discoveries."
Hearing this, the researchers at the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory all turned their attention to Xu Chuan. After confirming that the extremely young boy in front of them was the legendary person, they all opened their eyes and opened their mouths in disbelief.
Is this the big guy?
Most researchers at astronomical observatories have heard of Xu Chuan. After all, there was such a big fuss some time ago. After the "Annals of Mathematics" published the proof of the Weyl-Berry conjecture, even the news reported his deeds. All of you here have heard of it even if you haven’t seen it.
But no one expected that this genius would actually be brought to a poor place like their astronomical observatory.
But it’s no wonder they didn’t recognize him. Since arriving at the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory, apart from meeting the deputy director on the first day, Xu Chuan has always kept to himself and rarely interacted with anyone at the astronomical station. Researchers have dealt with.
Although he has the idea of communicating with astronomical researchers, the precise calculation of celestial information by the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem and whether Betelgeuse really has a companion star have not yet been fully confirmed.
It’s okay to wait until it’s confirmed and confirmed before communicating, so I didn’t interact with these scientific researchers. This resulted in the researchers at the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory basically not recognizing him.
At first, everyone thought he was a student from Nanjing University who was brought here by several doctoral fellows to see the world, so they didn't pay much attention.
In the end, no one expected that this person was actually the real owner.
The top scorer in the college entrance examination, double gold medals in IMO and IPHO, and solved a world-class mathematical conjecture when he was only 18 years old. This resume would be extremely dazzling for anyone, let alone all piled up in one person. .
"Oh my god, the legendary God of Sichuan actually came to our insignificant astronomical station."
“It’s so blind that I don’t recognize the big guy right in front of me.”
"Boss, can you tell me how these data are calculated?"
"Boss, boss, can you sign your name for me! I want to go back and give it to my son, so that he doesn't fail math."
"."
In the computing center, a group of astronomical researchers from the astronomical station surrounded Xu Chuan and flattered him as if they were free of charge.
Of course, the most common question is how the data for Betelgeuse and its companions were calculated.
On the one hand, it is love.
Those who can enter the unpopular industry of astronomy and study it in depth are basically those who love this industry.
Just like mathematics, if you don’t love mathematics, you won’t be able to learn it at all;
The same goes for astronomy. This industry is actually quite unpopular nowadays, and the salary and benefits are actually average even if you go to major universities or research stations.
Moreover, I often have to go to the barren mountains and ridges to observe various data. I am bitten to death by mosquitoes in the summer. I freeze to death when the cold wind blows outside in the winter. I cannot eat well or sleep well. The hardship is second only to geological exploration, and there is no love at all. It’s really not necessarily possible.
On the other hand, scientific researchers are also human beings with families and lives. If they can master a new skill, it can bring them higher wages and bonuses. If they have the opportunity to master it, they will naturally not let it go.
Xu Chuan didn't mind explaining the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem's method of accurately calculating celestial information.
But these things are indeed too profound for the scientific researchers at the astronomical station. Even for mathematicians in the field of mathematics, it is very difficult to accept these things, and they cannot learn them in a short time.
So even if he talked, he just talked about some superficial things,
There is no other way. If you dig a little deeper, these researchers will look confused.
As for whether astronomers can use the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem to accurately calculate the information of celestial bodies in the universe, that will be a matter for the future.
In the computing center, everyone chatted for a while and then dispersed. After all, it was already past two in the morning.
Some are doing observational research, and some are going to sleep. As for Xu Chuan and several doctoral fellows from NTU, they are sorting out the observation data of this scientific research experiment and preparing for subsequent paper releases and news releases.
This time they can say that they have come up with something big. Why don’t they shock the astronomical community by how they can afford to be so busy these days.
Moreover, there are some differences between the publication of results in the astronomical world and the publication of results in the mathematics world.
Achievements in mathematics, ranging from world-class mathematical conjectures to the seven millennium problems, to thesis papers of graduate students and doctoral students, generally everyone likes to publicly throw them on preprint servers.
For example, preprint websites such as arXiv, BioRxiv, ChemRxiv, and TheWinnower.
The purpose of this is to prevent plagiarism.
Publish a good research result on a preprint server first, which can prevent some academically dishonest editors, reviewers, and others from stealing your research results during the long submission process.
On the other hand, it allows others to see your paper and expands its influence.
It also allows the article to be cited by other scholars early, as many Nature and Science articles do.
This has become the default consensus in the academic world.
At least this is what Xu Chuan is familiar with in the three major circles of mathematics, physics, and materials.
After all, you have to know that the average review and publication cycle for traditional journal articles is more than 30 days, and some even take several years.
If the author chooses not to publish the results of the paper during this period, the research progress in this field will appear "out of date". However, the open communication method of preprints makes academic communication smoother, and certain hot fields can develop rapidly.
In addition, some manuscripts are purely for expressing one's own academic opinions. Such manuscripts are generally unlikely to be accepted by official journals, but preprint servers will accept them and provide a publishing platform.
Therefore, the mathematics community generally makes the results public first and then goes through the review process.
This is how Xu Chuan's previous proof of the weak Weyl-Berry conjecture was done. He first posted it on arXiv and then submitted it to "New Advances in Mathematics".
As for the comprehensive process of the Weyl-Berry conjecture, there is no such thing as it was proved publicly at the Princeton Mathematics Conference, so there is no need to worry about this issue.
The situation in the astronomy community is more complicated, but it can be roughly divided into two categories based on the type of telescope.
One type is a general telescope, and the other type is a special telescope.
The users of the general telescope are all astronomers around the world. Applications are usually collected before the observing season. The scientific committee evaluates the applications, selects good research topics, and allocates observation time.
Astronomers who have obtained the observation time can set out to observe according to the allocated time; after the observation, the original data will be obtained through disk or network.
However, this data is only available to the applicant himself. He can use this data to publish a paper after conducting research and analysis. Others are restricted from applying.
However, this restriction application is valid for a period of time. Once the time is up, the observer must open this part of the data to the outside world.
Different telescopes may have slightly different validity periods. Some are 1 year, some are 1 and a half years, and some are 2 years. This is not necessarily the case.
And special telescopes are optional.
You can choose to make it public and let the whole world study it together, or you can keep it private and study it yourself.
There is no way, a large number of achievements in the astronomical community are actually observational and data collection in nature.
For example, during this observation of the companion star inside Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope, a large amount of data about Betelgeuse was collected. Xu Chuan then used this data to calculate that there is a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope.
If these observational data and anomaly data are published, it will be deemed that you have made the data public and other scholars can use it.
The residual value and results mined from these data do not belong to the observer of the data, but to the digger.
At most, others will just thank you when they publish their results.
But if it is not published, you can use these abnormal data to slowly discover other things inside.
Therefore, some results in the astronomical community will basically not be published on the preprint server before they are completely completed.
Either publish the paper directly after the research is completed, hold a press conference directly if there are major results, or hide it and study slowly by yourself.
As for Xu Chuan, the results will probably be made public directly.
Not only the observed Betelgeuse companion star, but also a method paper using the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem to accurately calculate the information of celestial bodies in the universe.
These things will be made public directly.
On the one hand, there is nothing to hide.
It can only be said that it is basically impossible to transform these observational data and theoretical data into scientific research results.
Is it possible that you can use the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem to accurately calculate whether a certain Earth-like planet is suitable for human survival and then directly immigrate there?
Stop dreaming. The farthest probe currently launched by mankind is Voyager 1. It has been launched into the sky for 40 years and has not even flown out of the solar system.
If the Oter Cloud is used as the boundary of the solar system, it will take another 300,000 years to fly out of the solar system.
It’s a little too early to think about immigrating now.
On the other hand, they reciprocate the favor.
Regarding the observation of Betelgeuse, from the establishment of scientific research projects to the application for use of equipment at astronomical observatories in southern Yunnan and Qinghai and the rapid jump in the queue, the higher-ups gave him the green light for almost the entire process.
You must know that just the application and queue for large telescopes will not be available within a few months and half a year.
Although there are factors of winning the Fields Medal to increase his influence, it is undeniable that this saved him a lot of time and energy.
(End of chapter)