Chapter 253 Dark Matter
From the moment humans look up at the sky, they have never stopped imagining the sky, the universe, and the stars.
The sun, the moon, the stars. Everything looks so beautiful and mysterious.
After entering modern society, scientists began to use various instruments and equipment to observe and study the stars in the universe.
It took a long time for them to discover that there may be a huge problem in the universe we live in.
That is, all the materials we are familiar with every day, such as trees, rocks, atoms, planets, stars, and galaxies, together account for less than 5% of the weight of the entire universe.
What the remaining ninety-five percent is cannot be seen and no one knows.
In subsequent studies, scientists conducted a large number of follow-up analyzes on 95% of the substances.
Finally, it was determined through various physical formulas and observational data that there is an invisible substance in our universe that accounts for more than 95% of the entire mass.
At that time, Professor Fritz Zwicky, the first astronomer who speculated to have discovered this substance, named it ‘Darkmatter’. This is the origin of dark matter.
In subsequent research, scientists discovered that Darkmatter is actually divided into two types, one is the dark matter that was originally proposed, and the other is dark energy.
Among them, dark matter accounts for 25% of the entire universe, and dark energy accounts for more than 70% of the entire universe.
Adding the two together, the total mass reaches more than 95% of the entire universe.
Less than 5% of the matter is left to form everything we can observe today.
However, so far, we still cannot specifically observe 95% of dark matter and dark energy.
The study of them is still based on various speculations and observations of abnormal cosmic phenomena.
For example, the movement of celestial bodies, the phenomenon of Newtonian gravity, the gravitational lens effect, the formation of the large-scale structure of the universe, microwave background radiation and other observational results, etc.
These cosmic phenomena indicate that dark matter and dark energy may exist in large amounts in galaxies, star clusters and the universe, and their mass is much greater than the sum of the masses of all visible celestial objects in the universe.
Combined with observations of microwave background radiation anisotropy in the universe and the standard cosmological model (ΛCDM model), it can be determined that dark matter in the universe accounts for 85% of the total mass of all matter and 26.8% of the total mass and energy of the universe.
For the study of dark matter, a widely accepted theory holds that dark matter is composed of "weakly interacting massive particles" (WIMPs), whose mass and interaction strength are near the electroweak scale. During the expansion of the universe, The observed residual abundances are obtained through a thermal decoupling process.
In addition, there are also hypotheses that dark matter is composed of other types of particles, such as axions, sterile neutrinos and other hypothetical particles.
In his previous life, Xu Chuan observed two kinds of matter, axions and sterile neutrinos, indirectly proving the existence of dark matter.
If it were not for the Nobel Prize regulations, he would have won the Nobel Prize in Physics directly for this discovery in 2018 in his previous life.
According to the awarding principles of the Nobel Prize, the medal will not be awarded to the discoverer of particles or some unknown phenomenon that has been theorized, nor will it be awarded to researchers who operate the hadron collider.
Even if the results are sensational in the world, they will only be awarded to the proposer or perfecter of this theory.
Because in the general view of the academic community, although the work of the first two is important, it is not of that decisive importance.
It is the latter's work that is decisive.
For example, in 2012, CERN detected the Higgs particle, and in 2013, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Peter Higgs and Franco Waengler, the proposers of the Higgs boson theory.
As for the CERN researchers who participated in the experiment, although they all deserve credit, unfortunately, the Nobel Prize has nothing to do with them.
His mentor, Edward Witten, was actually a famous scholar of this type.
He proposed M theory and a series of complete theories. If these theories are verified to be true, then he will undoubtedly win the Nobel Prize.
But it is also quite a pity that it is not known how long it will take to verify his theory.
Just like the Higgs boson was a theory proposed in the 1960s, it was not until 2013 that Higgs and Franco Waengler, who proposed the theory, won the Nobel Prize. ten years.
If Witten wants to win the Nobel Prize for his M theory, he may have to wait until he, like Higgs, becomes a bad old man in his nineties.
Therefore, it is impossible for Xu Chuan to win the Nobel Prize for discovering axon particles and sterile neutrinos.
However, if he improves the method he used to calculate the "optimal search decay channel for the Yukawa coupling of the Higgs particle and the third-generation heavy quark" and spreads it to most particles, there may be a chance. Win another Nobel Prize in Physics.
A mathematical model or method that can greatly save scientific research funds, save a lot of manpower and material resources, accelerate the search for new particles, and replace old methods at night. It is as important to high-energy physics and particle physics as the expanded application of the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem is to The world of astronomy is as important as the world of astrophysics.
But I'm afraid he hasn't had time to do this recently.
On the one hand, he has a project in hand, and on the other hand, he has to get the discovery of sterile neutrinos first this year.
After all, this is his own scientific research result, and there is no reason for others to take it away.
Although the Nobel Prize is the highest honor, it is not that he has never won it.
Sterile neutrinos are related to the discovery of dark matter, which in Xu Chuan's opinion is more important than the Nobel Prize.
It's just that he can't go abroad at the moment, so he can only think of ways to see if he can get experimental data from CERN and analyze and process it domestically.
Originally, it was a good opportunity for China to join CERN and become a member country, but unfortunately, the personnel currently arranged by China are mainly concentrated on the two major detectors, LHCb and ATLAS.
As for ATLCE, no personnel were arranged to go there.
This caused him a lot of trouble in finding the data.
Fortunately, his mentor is Witten, and his current identity is completely different from before. The reputation of a Nobel Prize winner in physics can help a lot.
After all, even in CERN, the holy land of physics, there are not many Nobel Prize winners, just a handful.
If a Nobel Prize winner actively participates in the analysis of experimental data, both the team responsible for the ATLCE detector and CERN will welcome it.
Even if he didn't go there in person.
After chatting with Lin Feng about the physics world and CERN cutting-edge information, Xu Chuan returned to his villa.
The annual person of the year event here at Nanda has been completed, and he has nothing to do with the rest.
Picking up the phone, Xu Chuan called Edward Witten. "Hello, Xu Chuan." Edward Witten's voice came over from the other end.
"Tutor, did you participate in the high-energy collision experiment of CERN's ATLCE detector some time ago? Or did anyone you know participate in it?" Xu Chuan asked.
Witten thought for a while and then replied: "ATLCE detector? Let me think about it, I am not processing the data there. The high-energy collision experiment some time ago seems to have processed the experimental data from the California Institute of Technology and the University of St. Andrews." The team is working on it.”
"Why, are you interested in the experimental data of ATLCE?"
Xu Chuan nodded and said: "Well, I heard that the LHC set a collision experiment at the 13Tev energy level some time ago. I am quite interested in the experimental data at this energy level."
Witten smiled and said: "Then you can come to Geneva. You are an official researcher anyway, and CERN will welcome you at any time."
After a pause, he continued: "I believe that the teams at Caltech and St. Andrews University will not refuse the addition of a Nobel Prize winner."
Xu Chuan shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity that I have something to do now and can't go there. If possible, I would like to have a copy of the original data of the collision experiment."
Witten pondered for a moment and then said: "Okay, let me ask for you and see if I can get a copy of the experimental data."
Shrugging, he continued: "Although the time for making it public has not come yet, the teams at Caltech and St. Andrews University don't seem to have analyzed anything useful yet."
"Maybe I can make new discoveries in your hands?"
"After all, no one is better at analyzing these collision data through mathematics than you."
Xu Chuan smiled and said: "Then I'll trouble the instructor."
Witten waved his hand indifferently and said: "It's a small matter, I hope I can find something new."
"After all, nothing new has been discovered in today's physics world for a long time."
After entrusting the acquisition of high-energy collision experiment data to his mentor Edward Witten, Xu Chuan returned to the Institute of Nuclear Energy and continued the second phase of semiconductor material research and development.
Less than two days later, Witten returned the phone call.
"Hey, Xu Chuan, I applied to CERN for the collision experiment data you want, and the analysis teams from the California Institute of Technology and the University of St. Andrews also agreed."
"The experimental data is being packaged and processed now. It will take about two or three days. How will it be sent to you after it is processed?"
Edward Witten's voice came through the phone. Xu Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Please pass it on to my alma mater, Nanjing University. I will go and talk to them and arrange to connect with CERN."< br>
"Okay, I happen to be having a meeting at CERN these two days, so I'll keep an eye on you first."
Xu Chuan said with shame: "It's too troublesome for you, mentor. It's not a big deal. Just find someone to connect with you."
Isn't it a waste of talent for a Fields Medal-level boss to help him monitor and transmit data? For such a trivial matter, just find an intern or staff member.
Witten smiled and said: "It's okay. I hope you can find something new in the data of this collision experiment."
After hanging up the call, Xu Chuan turned around and went to Nanda to borrow the supercomputing center of Nanda.
NTU also has a supercomputer and a supercomputing center, which were established just a few years ago.
NTU's high-performance computing project was officially launched in 2009 and officially established in March 2010.
NTU's more than ten departments, including the School of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Physics, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, are all serviced by the High Performance Computing Center.
The theoretical calculation peak reaches 34 trillion floating-point operations per second, ranking seventh among the top 100 computers in the country and 203rd among the top 500 computers in the world.
In 2018, NTU’s supercomputing center was not out of date, and its performance was pretty good.
There is no problem in at least processing the experimental data sent from CERN.
Nanda agreed to his request without any hesitation, and most of the less urgent tasks of the supercomputing center were postponed for a whole month.
Although the NTU High-Performance Computing Center has been performing high-speed calculations at full capacity, the daily tasks are very heavy. Postponing most tasks for half a month means that many people's affairs will be damaged.
But whether it’s a request from a Nobel laureate or borrowing NTU’s supercomputing center to produce CERN data, it’s a very meaningful thing for NTU.
NTU’s physics department is very strong, ranking at least among the top three in the country. It has always been a partner of CERN, and a large number of students are sent to CERN every year.
Whether it was brought by the professor or applied by oneself.
It's great to be able to participate in CERN, a holy land of physics, to process experimental data, even if it's just hard work, and feel the atmosphere.
There are so many great people there. If you are really interested in academics, I believe you will not miss this opportunity.
Xu Chuan will definitely need the help of a group of professors and students to get the experimental data and process it at NTU's supercomputing center. For NTU, this will help cultivate more talents and apply for more exchanges with CERN next year.
"Then teacher, I will trouble you with the preliminary experimental data analysis."
In Chen Zhengping's office, Xu Chuan said with an embarrassed look.
After NTU connected with CERN, Witten arranged for people to send over the experimental data of the ATLCE detector.
The data are raw data without analysis and need to be processed.
But it's obvious that he doesn't have time now. The second phase of semiconductor material research and development of the nuclear energy project has entered a critical stage, and he can't spare time to do other things.
Therefore, we can only ask Chen Zhengping and Nanjing University to send a group of doctoral students to help process the early experimental data.
Although the California Institute of Technology and the University of St. Andrews have analyzed these data for a long time, it is obvious that it is impossible for them to give him the data they analyzed.
It would be nice to have additional consent to allow him to obtain a copy of the original data for use. After all, this is the project they applied for, and it will still be a long time before it is fully disclosed.
In the office, Chen Zhengping said with a smile: "This is nothing. It is a good thing for NTU students. After all, not everyone has the opportunity to practice at CERN."
"Your complete original data is enough for them to experience the experience of working at CERN in China."
(End of chapter)