Chapter 153 Heading to the LHC
By the next day, Xu Chuan finally received Witten's reply.
"A very beautiful proof method and paper, and the mathematical problems in the proof process are quite essential."
"If you haven't decided which journal to submit this paper to, then I recommend Physical Review to you. Its Series D is very suitable for this paper, and it is a half-monthly journal with a faster review speed. If you want to I’d like to see your paper published in the journal as soon as possible.”
"In addition, I have applied for the LHC proton accelerator for you to solve this problem. The time is on the 25th of this month. Remember to prepare your visa and passport."
The reply email was very simple, only three sentences in total, but it made Xu Chuan instantly excited.
The old professor's three sentences each praised the paper, one sentence recommended him for submission, and the third sentence informed him of the application for the use of the proton accelerator.
Of course, the last sentence that attracted his most attention was the application for the use of a proton accelerator.
This is the most critical thing.
As for the person to whom the old professor recommended him to submit his paper, it was the same as his choice.
"Physical Review" is an American academic journal founded in 1893.
The magazine publishes the latest research results and scientific reviews in all aspects of physics. It is published by the American Physical Society and is divided into ABCDE and other branches.
Area A is atomic, molecular and light physics, Area B is condensed matter physics, material physics, Area C is nuclear physics, Area D is particles, fields, gravity, cosmological physics, etc.
In addition, there are various aspects of physics such as statistical physics and nonlinear physics.
It can be said that "Physical Review" covers all branches of physics, regardless of the popular ones.
But its requirements for papers are not very high. As long as the article is creative enough and the argument is clear, it can be submitted for review or even published.
This is a good thing for academic research, but it also results in its low impact factor and the phenomenon that some papers are waterlogged.
However, the overall quality of its articles is still higher than that of other academic journals.
Because articles published in "Physical Reviews" are required to be sufficiently creative or to solve some of the more important physical problems.
Many major discoveries in physics have also been published in Physical Review, such as the quantum Hall effect, gravitational waves, etc.
Of course, in the past two years, Physical Review has also begun to limit the number of articles published in order to seek to increase the impact factor within a certain range.
But overall, this is quite suitable for the problem of the proton radius puzzle.
After submitting the paper to Physical Review, all that was left was to wait.
Although "Physical Reviews" has many review editors, it still takes a lot of time to complete the review of a paper that can be said to be 'significant'.
This is not a problem of one journal, but a common reaction of all top journals when facing top papers.
They need a long time to ensure that the paper submitted to them has no problems and can be listed in the journal.
Just like the 'A paper on methods for accurately calculating parameter information of distant celestial bodies with the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem' that Xu Chuan submitted to the "Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics", it has been two or three months now and it has not been officially published yet. Journal.
This shows how long it takes for a top SCI paper to be published in a journal.
The previous opportunity for a paper proving the weak Weyl-Berry conjecture to be published in a journal in just over a month is simply irreproducible.
There is nothing Xu Chuan can do about this. This is a rule in the academic world and a necessary process to ensure scientific accuracy.
Even if Einstein traveled through time and wrote a paper, I believe it would still need to be reviewed.
So after submitting the paper, Xu Chuan returned to his normal life at Princeton University.
On the one hand, I followed Professor Deligne to learn number theory and differential equations, and on the other hand, I listened to lectures from other professors.
As for his time for leisure and entertainment, it is far less than other Princeton students, or almost none.
He had never been to almost all the business cards and invitations from various clubs he had received before.
The second time I studied at Princeton after my rebirth was even more exciting than the first time before my rebirth.
Who told him to be a double cultivator in name this time?
Compared with domestic universities, Princeton's doctoral program has many more classes.
Although a doctorate is not learned, and you cannot get a doctorate by just "learning" existing knowledge, it is definitely not possible without learning.
Especially the two courses of mathematics and physics are different from other subjects.
If you want to achieve considerable achievements in the two fields of mathematics and physics, you have to follow the path taken by your predecessors step by step.
Start with the simplest set or category and work your way up to the problem that needs to be solved.
You need to use "definition theorem" to prove that a long logical chain can be formed between these, and many concepts need to be added to form a concept network.
To complete a result, such as proving a theorem, you need to master all the concepts in this network, otherwise you will not be able to understand what you write.
This is the minimum required knowledge, but often it spans several areas of mathematics.
No one is exempt, that's fair enough.
Geniuses may be able to find shortcuts faster and skip some of the details, but the most primitive accumulation cannot be skipped no matter what.
The days passed like this, and the time soon came to mid-July.
After confirming with Chen Zhengping that his experiment would start on the 18th, Xu Chuan asked for leave from Professor Deligne again, then bought a ticket and flew to Europe.
It is much easier to go to Europe from Princeton than to return to China.
Just a few hours is enough time, and there is no need to suffer from jet lag.
When he arrived in Switzerland, Xu Chuan called his instructor, took a taxi according to the geographical location, and successfully found the hotel.
The city where Chen Zhengping lives is Geneva, and the hotel he chose is a five-star international hotel. Anyway, accommodation and other expenses can be reimbursed, so there is no need to save too much.
By the way, when he came to Europe this time, both air tickets and accommodation were reimbursed with Chen Zhengping.
Of course, he can also choose to reimburse Princeton. I believe that both Deligne and Witten will be happy to apply for this business trip fund for him.
Arriving at the hotel smoothly, in the lobby, as Xu Chuan was about to go to the front desk to check in, a Chinese-looking young man came over.
"Junior Brother Xu Chuan?"
The familiar Chinese characters made Xu Chuan look over curiously. The figure he saw made him feel a little familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was for a while.
After confirming that he had not found the wrong person, the young man grinned and said, "Hello, my name is Qi Xishao. I studied physics with instructor Chen Zhengping in the early years." "Hello, senior brother Qi." Xu Chuan called quickly. call.
With such an introduction, he quickly remembered who this person was.
Qi Xishao, a researcher in condensed matter physics and high energy physics.
In 2015, the LHC's Large Hadron Collider bottom quark experiment discovered two new kinds of pentaquark particles, confirming half a century of predictions: "There are actually many kinds of pentaquark particles."
In this discovery, Senior Brother Qi, who was an intern at the time, was responsible for part of the data analysis work.
But physics and mathematics are different.
A mathematician can calculate till the end of time with just a piece of paper and a pen.
But in physical experiments, the power of individuals, especially in this kind of large-scale scientific research experimental projects involving the cooperation of dozens of countries, one person's calculations are too insignificant for the entire project.
However, the results of this research successfully allowed Senior Brother Qi to become a formal researcher of the CERN LHC Cooperation Organization.
Don't underestimate the title of a formal researcher. Considering that Senior Brother Qi is in his early thirties, he can be said to be one of the leaders among the younger generation of high-energy physics in the domestic physics community.
Although science knows no borders, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) LHC Cooperation Organization rarely recruits Chinese as their researchers.
It’s hard to recruit interns, let alone formal ones.
Those who are qualified to do experiments at CERN are basically academicians in China and are also well-known top physics experts.
To be able to become a formal researcher of the LHC cooperation organization in his early thirties, Senior Brother Qi is still very capable.
"Junior brother, this is your first time here."
Downstairs in the hotel, after checking in, Qi Xishao smiled and led Xu Chuan upstairs to the hotel.
Xu Chuan nodded. If we only count this life, this is indeed his first time here.
Geneva is known as the "City of Peace".
Historically, John Calvin and other Protestants who were persecuted in their own country were sheltered here. Rousseau, Voltaire, Byron, etc. began to fight for human rights in Geneva; and the great proletarian revolutionary teacher Lenin also They all worked hard for the realization of their ideals in the "City of Peace".
Today, the city is home to more than two hundred specialized agencies of the United Nations and various international organizations.
Such as the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Red Cross Headquarters, the World Health Organization, the Women's League for Peace and Freedom, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Meteorological Organization, the International Organization for Standardization... and so on.
It can be said to be quite legendary.
Of course, this also has something to do with Switzerland, a permanently neutral country.
It is a pity that in the future, this permanently neutral country will eventually break its reputation of permanent neutrality.
Hearing this, Qi Xishao smiled and said: "If you have time, you should take a walk. There are many famous classics here, especially the St. Pierre Cathedral in the old city. If you have time, you can go and pray."
"Pray? Brother Qi, do you believe in religion?" Xu Chuan asked curiously.
"No, I am a non-sectarian." Qi Xishao shrugged.
Hearing this, Xu Chuan immediately understood.
This is probably the characteristic of Chinese people, they have to bow to everyone they see.
The two chatted all the way up the elevator and soon reached the seventh floor.
Their tutor Chen Zhengping and some other physics experts and professors from China basically live on this floor.
Knocking on the door, there was soon movement inside.
"Teacher, I brought you here."
"Teacher."
Xu Chuan and Qi Xishao said hello at the same time, and Chen Zhengping smiled and put them into the room.
"Sit down, come in and drink tea."
Chen Zhengping smiled and boiled a pot of water and made two cups of hot tea: "You two must have known each other just now, right? No need for me to introduce you."
"This is my former student, Qi Xishao, who is now a formal researcher at the LHC cooperation organization."
"Xu Chuan, my current student, is currently studying at Princeton."
Without further introduction, Chen Zhengping introduced the two of them to each other with a smile.
After the greetings, Chen Zhengping looked at Xu Chuan and asked: "Come here this time, do you still want to apply for an intern in the ATLAS Chinese research group? Or do you want to follow Witten?"
Xu Chuan thought for a while and said: "Sorry, teacher, I'm afraid I haven't joined our country's research group. On the 25th of this month, the Witten instructor applied for a proton accelerator for me. Study the mystery of the proton radius ”
Chen Zhengping smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. No one else can ask for such an opportunity. But then again, how sure are you of solving this problem this time?"
Xu Chuan: "I am afraid that it is impossible to solve the mystery of the proton radius for the time being, unless I can calculate the proton radius simply from first principles calculations without any experimental data."
"But obviously this is not what I can do. What I can do this time is to use the proton accelerator to verify the data used in my paper multiple times."
On the side, Qi Xishao suddenly smiled and added: "Junior Brother Xu, you have done something big this time."
Hearing this, Xu Chuan looked over doubtfully.
Qi Xishao smiled and said: "Whether the radius of a proton is 0.87 femtometers or 0.84 femtometers is a controversial issue in the physics community. Your paper, at least, can bring hundreds of millions of meters of gold to particle physics. New research funding ”
"But~"
After a pause, Senior Brother Qi smiled narrowly and continued: "But I'm afraid there will be many stubborn old guys who will find trouble for you. They firmly believe that the large proton radius is the truth. Be prepared and wait for you. The experiment is completed, you will probably be in a lot of trouble. "
"At least, that bad old man Rich Frick won't let you go."
Xu Chuan's mouth twitched, what does this have to do with him.
It's not up to him to say what the proton's radius is, it's what is actually measured.
He just pushed the real value forward a little.
(End of chapter)