Xu Chuan was surprised by the words of CERN Chairman Gross.
From arranging two or three collision experiments to the LHC fully capturing sterile neutrinos, these are two completely different concepts.
From the perspective of CERN, the former is just a project worth investing in, and it may even be based on his status as a Nobel Prize winner in physics.
The latter means that the importance of this discovery has reached the peak of the current high-energy field.
CERN's search for the Higgs particle was in such a state, and the LHC suspended nearly half of its other projects.
Four detectors, from the ATLAS torus detector to the CMS compact muon coil, to the ALICE large ion collision detector, are all exploring for traces of the existence of the Higgs particle.
On this basis, the Higgs particle was successfully discovered in 2012.
He did not receive this kind of treatment when he studied sterile neutrinos in his previous life. Although traces were also discovered in 2018, it was not until 2023 that the detection of sterile neutrinos was finally completed, with a confidence level of 5.2sigma.
Now that the LHC is fully committed to capturing and searching, it seems that this deadline may be moved forward much earlier.
After a small report, several Nobel Prize winners left and returned to the hotel to rest.
They rushed here after a meeting in Europe. They dropped off their luggage and came to NTU as soon as they landed. They were very tired from traveling long distance.
Edward Witten stayed behind, preparing to catch up with the student who had been separated for more than half a year.
"We haven't seen each other for more than half a year, and I didn't expect you to even win the Nobel Prize."
In Xu Chuan's office, Witten held a cup of tea and sighed, saying that he must be one of the people who envy the Nobel Prize the most.
However, his probability of winning the Nobel Prize is too low.
It will take another century or two to prove something like string theory, and it may not even be possible to prove it.
Xu Chuan smiled and said: "I was also surprised. I didn't expect that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was so bold last year and made an exception by awarding the Nobel Prize to me."
Witten smiled and said: "If the existence of sterile neutrinos is confirmed this time, maybe the Nobel Prize will be awarded to you again."
Xu Chuan shook his head and said: "Even if it is discovered, according to the management of the Nobel Prize, I am afraid I will not get this medal."
For the Nobel Prize in Physics, if a certain particle has been predicted and detailed theoretically planned by previous people, such as the Higgs particle, such as
So when this particle is discovered and meets the requirements, the Nobel Prize will only be awarded to the scholar who made the prediction and planning.
CERN makes numerous discoveries every year, big and small. More than 90% of the results in the field of high-energy physics come from there, and many of them are worthy of the Nobel Prize.
But if the Nobel Prize were to be awarded to these achievements, a hundred places a year would not be enough.
After all, these things can be said to be joint discoveries of CERN, and more than a hundred people have contributed to them.
Just like his sterile neutrino this time, although he analyzed it, the detection and analysis of the original data were completed by CERN and Nanda.
It is impossible for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to award the Nobel Prize in Physics to so many people. This is unrealistic.
Therefore, even for the discovery of great achievements such as the Higgs particle and gravitational waves, the Nobel Prize was not awarded to CERN and other laboratory institutions.
From this point of view, it is unlikely that he will win the Nobel Prize for discovering the sterile neutrino, at least he did not win the Nobel Prize for this in his previous life.
It was the future discovery of dark matter that allowed him to successfully win the second Nobel Prize in his previous life.
Regarding Xu Chuan's answer, Witten had a different view: "It's different. Although the liquid scintillation neutrino detector had proposed the concept of sterile neutrinos before, it was ultimately confirmed that it was just a Muir-type reaction. Neutrinos are transformed into electron-type antineutrinos.”
"And the theories you proposed this time are quite amazing."
"It can be said that the physics community has never thought that there is an intermediate form of particles between dark matter and normal matter. If it is confirmed, this can be said to be a great discovery that breaks through the standard model."
After a pause, Witten glanced at Xu Chuan expectantly, and then said: "More importantly, behind the sterile neutrinos, there is hidden the dark matter and dark energy that the whole world has been waiting for."
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"If we can make a breakthrough through this, it will definitely be the greatest achievement of the 21st century."
Xu Chuan smiled and said: "I hope it goes well."
In the office, after Xu Chuan and Witten chatted for a while, CERN Chairman David Gross and NTU President Liu Gaojun walked in together.
"Professor Xu, I have something to discuss with you." Gross came over and said.
Xu Chuan: "Chairman, please speak."
"Well, given the significance of this discovery of sterile neutrinos, CERN needs to hold a press conference to show the outside world what CERN is doing."
"I wonder if you have time, would it be convenient for you to go to CERN?"
David Gross looked at Xu Chuan and asked. Before coming, he had talked with Witten, and he generally knew that the scholar in front of him might not go abroad, but even so, he still wanted to fight for it.
After all, as the chairman of CERN, he naturally hopes that this press conference will be held at CERN headquarters, which can greatly enhance CERN's influence.
Xu Chuan shook his head regretfully and said: "I'm sorry, Chairman, I'm afraid I won't be able to go to CERN recently."
"But." After a pause, he continued: "Why not arrange this press conference in China?"
"Last year, China joined CERN and officially became a member state. There are also resident reporters from all over the world. I believe that my motherland is also capable of holding this press conference."
Hearing this, David Gross glanced at Edward Witten opposite him. Witten shook his head slightly. He knew something, but it was impossible to tell Gross. Even if Gross was his mentor, he was also the ancestor of Xu Chuan. .
Compared with him, Gross's position is different. Neither he nor Deligne are very involved in political matters, but Gross represents the interests of the United States at CERN.
Of course, as the chairman of CERN, he has to consider CERN's interests more.
Seeing Witten shaking his head, Gross thought for a moment and said, "How about holding this press conference here? How about Professor Xu, your alma mater holding the press conference instead of CERN?"
As he said that, he looked at the president of NTU and asked, "I wonder what your school's opinion is?"
Liu Gaojun nodded quickly and said with a smile: "Of course, this is NTU's honor. Please rest assured and leave it to us. NTU will definitely hold this report."
David Gross smiled and said: "That will be a lot of trouble."
Before coming, CERN had actually decided that the report would be released in China, so Gross didn't have much regret. After all, the main discoverer of this discovery was Xu Chuan, and it was impossible for CERN to hold a separate press conference without Xu Chuan. .
After accepting this task in the office, Liu Gaojun said hello to everyone and left.
Being able to host such a press conference instead of CERN will undoubtedly be of great benefit to NTU's academic reputation in the field of high energy physics.
As a top C9 school, NTU has experienced administrative staff. After undertaking this press conference, various administrative departments of NTU quickly held a meeting to discuss the scale of this press conference. It was the first time for Nanjing University to undertake such work, so the administrative staff naturally suggested that it should be held grandly.
Not only because this is the first time such a press conference has been held to the world, but also because the content of this press conference is also quite amazing.
Discovery of sterile neutrinos, connection with dark matter
These things all announce that human physics may be about to break through the boundaries and enter the next new century! The standard physical model will also be updated, and the boundaries of science will once again be expanded.
And the name of this great discoverer, Xu Chuan, will also go down in history like his predecessors and be recorded in the most glorious annals of history.
Even though he already is.
As Xu Chuan’s alma mater, NTU naturally gets more attention and glory.
On this basis, these administrative teachers directly suggested that the press conference should be expanded into a press conference + report meeting.
Xu Chuan and Nobel Prize-winning scholars who came to participate in the sterile neutrino exchange meeting were invited to give a report on dark matter, dark energy, neutrinos, sterile neutrinos and other substances and discoveries after the press conference.
After all, the opportunity is rare. This small lecture led by Xu Chuan included only eight people. There were seven Nobel Prize winners in physics and two Fields Medal winners, and they were basically high-energy physics and particle physics. A giant in the field.
When has NTU ever gathered so many top leaders in the same field?
It can be said that there is basically none.
So if you don't take advantage of this opportunity, it will be really difficult to encounter such an opportunity if you miss it.
In the end, the press conference and report meeting were scheduled for five days.
If David Gross, the chairman of CERN, had not hoped to hold a press conference as soon as possible to announce the news to all walks of life, NTU could have delayed the time further.
After all, the longer the time, the easier it is for top physics professors to free up their own time.
As time went by, physicists who were interested in press conferences and reports and had time began to arrive in Jinling by plane.
This city, which has always had little presence in the international academic community, has a much stronger academic atmosphere.
Especially NTU, as the press conference approaches, a large number of well-known scholars come to visit every day, which makes the school leaders smile.
It is a pity that there is not enough time, otherwise NTU would really like to take this opportunity to make this press conference the world's top academic seminar.
The press conference was held in the auditorium on the old campus of NTU.
The media reporters and physicists invited to attend the press conference have all taken their seats.
Beside Edward Witten, Nobel Prize winner in physics Frank Wilczek was communicating with him in a low voice.
"I heard that CERN arranged for some people to come over a few days ago to exchange analysis data of the ALICE detector with Professor Xu?"
"Yes." Witten nodded and said: "Today's press conference is very interesting. The LHC's collision experiments in the second half of the year will be carried out around the results announced today."
Hearing this, Wilzek was a little surprised and asked: "Is it really a sterile neutrino?"
Witten shook his head slightly and said: "It is not certain at present, but there is a high probability. Moreover, even if it is not a sterile neutrino, there is a high probability that there is a kind of us in the data detected by the internal tracking system. Unknown new type of particles, most likely beyond the Standard Model. ”
"That's really exciting. Perhaps the biggest change in physics is coming." Wilczek said with a smile.
"Yes."
As time goes by, the round clock on the wall points to nine o'clock.
The president of NTU took the stage first and gave the opening ceremony.
Immediately, David Gross, the chairman of CERN, took the stage and made a process announcement for this press conference and report meeting.
Then, Xu Chuan, dressed in formal attire, walked steadily into the auditorium.
As he came on stage, there was an obvious commotion in the auditorium, and everyone looked up at the figure on the stage.
This is the first time the young Nobel laureate has appeared in the public eye since his Nobel lecture in December.
A few months later, I don’t know what results this extremely young top scholar will bring and how shocking they will be.
Standing on the reporting stage, Xu Chuan looked down at the audience and media reporters. He was not very excited.
After all, he has experienced this scene many times.
On the podium, Xu Chuan tried the microphone and after confirming that there was no problem, he spoke in a clear voice.
"Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here. In order not to waste your precious time, I will go directly to the topic."
After the concise opening, Xu Chuan opened the PPT file for the screening.
Of course, this is not the data analysis sent to CERN, but a simpler and more straightforward report document based on it.
After all, today's press conference is aimed at the numerous media reporters, not the many physicists coming from afar.
"In the past 2018, CERN has conducted numerous collision laboratories. Using the Large Strong Particle Collider, we have pursued and explored the secrets of the universe and microscopic particles."
"These great achievements, from the decay of the Higgs particle to the discovery of the pentaquark particle, have given a new look to the world of physics and given us a deeper understanding of microscopic particles and the universe."
"Today, I will stand here to announce another result."
As he spoke, Xu Chuan tapped the laser pointer in his hand, and the screen on the screen jumped, and a new picture rotated out.
It was a star sea map of the universe, with several river systems slowly rotating in the picture.
Looking at the picture, Xu Chuan slowly said: "Before today's press conference begins, I would like to ask everyone present a question"
"When facing the vast universe, what is the biggest puzzle that human science has encountered so far?"
Hearing this somewhat unexpected question, there was some commotion in the auditorium, and some physicists began to communicate with their friends.
Some talk about the speed of light, some talk about the expansion of space, and some talk about the origin of mass and the origin of the universe.
In the audience, many media reporters were busy recording this moment with their cameras.
Of course, many media reporters were curious and thinking about why this young scholar asked such a question and the answer to it while recording.
Have a py wave with the boss, this is a high-quality boss!