Great Country Academician

While Xu Chuan was thinking about how to unify strong electricity, the academic community had completely exploded because of the paper he posted on arxiv.

The paper posted on arxiv was like a butterfly in the Amazon rainforest, flapping its wings gently and causing a violent storm all over the world.

For scholars in the mathematics and physics circles, even if they are already prepared, they have already predicted that the remaining parts of the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap will soon be solved.

But when they actually saw the paper, many people were still shocked.

quick!

It's so fast!

Less than two months have passed since the release of "The Existence and Proof of Solutions to the Yang-Mills Equation" in late May, and the mass gap conjecture has been made public.

Facing this paper, even the most top mathematicians and physicists could not control their inner shock.

Of course, they were shocked not only by how quickly the other party could solve the remaining mass gap problem, but also by the huge amount of knowledge contained in the paper, as well as the theories and ideas used in solving the problem of mass gap.

By performing a high-dimensional twist on the popular, we constructed a canonical quantum field to construct an infinite planar metric space with spontaneous breaking of geometric symmetry or vacuum breaking, and found the mass in the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problems. Particles of m exist.

This is not a very clever idea. After all, in the world of physics, physicists have long calculated the mass m of the particle through the scalar field on the space-time manifold, and the computer simulation results are basically consistent.

The only thing academics have failed to accomplish is explaining it through the language of mathematics.

Of course, this does not mean that this paper is ordinary.

In fact, it is still a treasure of academic circles, especially the mathematical techniques used in the whole idea, which are simply exquisite.

By changing the manifold, the concept of dimensions is introduced, so that the quantum fields at different points in different dimensions and space-time undergo different transformations.

Supplemented by the requirement that the coupling constant be dimensionally non-negative and Lorentz invariant, then, regardless of whether this symmetry is broken spontaneously, particles with mass m in this system must exist.

For the physics community, this is a new mathematical concept logically deduced from the objective existence of elementary particles. It is realistic and feasible.

Based on this new concept in physics and mathematics, the physics community will be able to discover more new elementary particles in the future, further confirming the true existence of this momentum gauge field.

There is even a chance to find the path and method leading to a grand unified theory!

On the campus of Nanjing University in Jinling, after uploading the relevant papers to arxiv, Xu Chuan has been sitting behind his desk thinking about how to unify the strong interaction and electroweak theories.

Time passed by, and it was noon in the blink of an eye. Just when he was about to put down his research and go have lunch, there was a sudden knock on the office door.

Looking up, Chen Zhengping and Yu Yongwang, the dean of the NTU Institute of Physics, walked in together.

"Teacher, Dean Yu, why are you here?" Seeing the two of them, Xu Chuan stood up with a smile and said hello.

"Did you publish the paper on the arxiv preprint website?" Yu Yongwang asked quickly.

Hearing this, Xu Chuan smiled and said, "Are you talking about the article about the quality gap?"

"right!"

Before Xu Chuan could answer, Chen Zhengping interjected: "Who else but him can complete the proof of the quality gap in such a short period of time? Lao Yu, your question makes no sense at all. .”

On the side, Yu Yongwang smiled and said: "I'm not too shocked. In less than two months, I solved the solution proof of the Yang-Mills equation and the mass gap problem. Please let me confirm this without asking. , I really can’t believe it.”

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "It's just a matter of course. The solution to the Yang-Mills equation and the existence of the mass gap can be handled through the construction of the manifold and the invariant coupler of the differentiable structure."

"And from a problem perspective, solving the mass gap problem does not require an accurate calculation of the mass of the M particle. It is enough to prove that it exists."

Hearing this, Chen Zhengping glanced at Zi Xuchuan and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

What I said makes it feel extremely simple, as if anyone can do it.

But is it actually simple?

impossible.

If the mass gap problem is really so easy to solve, why has no one been able to do it in the past hundred years?

The Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problems are not an unpopular field. Not only is it not unpopular, it is also one of the most popular research directions at the forefront of theoretical physics.

The establishment of the Standard Model based on the Yang-Mills equation has brought countless treasures to the physics community, because more than two digits of scholars have won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

But for decades, countless physicists and mathematicians failed to solve this problem.

Obviously, it is far more difficult than what Xu Chuan said.

But at this point, he didn't have the time to think about it. He had already read the paper on the mass gap, but he still had many questions in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Zhengping asked: "How do you explain the quantum nature of the mass gap?"

This issue is the key to the Yang-Mills field theory and the core of whether it can successfully explain the strong interaction. It is also what he did not understand in the paper.

Hearing this question, Xu Chuan smiled, stood up and pulled out a blackboard from the corner, and explained while writing:

"In quantum mechanics, we usually regard the position and velocity of a particle as non-commutative operators acting in a Hilbert space, and fields are used to describe many natural phenomena."

"For example, the electric field and magnetic field in Maxwell's equations, the gravitational field in Einstein's equations, etc. But in the gauge potential in gauge theory, it is mathematically described as a master-slave connection and is closely related to elementary particles and their interactions. ."

While Xu Chuan and Chen Zhengping were explaining some problems in the quality gap paper, the paper he uploaded to the arxiv preprint website was also fermenting in the academic community.

Geneva, CERN.

With the intervention of the United States, CERN's board of directors suspended cooperation with China, and the LH-LHC high-luminosity hadron collider was upgraded and restarted. The bustling place has gradually returned to its former glory.

On the road in front of the central building, two researchers in the field of high energy physics held some conference materials in their hands and walked to a cafe not far away while chatting, seemingly preparing to have afternoon tea.

While chatting, the topic of the two people shifted to the LHC Hadron Collider, which had already started to be upgraded.

"Do you think dark matter will be found after this upgrade of the LHC?"

"Who knows, maybe the Chinese side found it first?"

"No way. Didn't you say that the construction of the collider over there hasn't started yet? The upgrade of the LHC has already started. Will CERN still be slower than China?"

Hearing this, the companion beside him smiled and said: "My friend, exploring things beyond the standard model cannot be done with a collider alone. It requires us to have the most detailed understanding of it theoretically. "

"And right now, the person who knows the most about dark matter and dark energy is not here."

Hearing this, he sighed and said: "I really don't understand why CERN canceled its cooperation with China. Shouldn't research in the field of high-energy physics be done together by the whole world? Now it is divided into two sides."

The companion shrugged and said nothing. At this moment, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He took it out and glanced at the message. He suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked his friend next to him, looking at him curiously.

"The mass gap problem of the strong interaction is solved!"

"This is impossible."

"Professor Xu Chuan has uploaded his paper to arxiv."

Hearing this, the friend next to him was stunned for a moment, couldn't help but take a deep breath, and said in surprise: "If I remember correctly, it seems that he published a paper proving the existence and solution of the Yang-Mills equation. May?”

"And it's only the beginning of July, and the quality gap problem has been solved in two months? Isn't this a bit exaggerated?"

The companion said: "To be precise, it's less than a month and a half."

"Incredible! It's so fast. I didn't even fully understand the existence of the solution to the Yang-Mills equation and the paper proving the solution, and he just made the rest."

"Would you like to have a cup of coffee too?"

"No, I want to download and print out the paper first. Anyway, you can drink coffee at any time."

"Together?"

"Walk!"

The two CERN researchers are just a microcosm. Similar things happen all over the world.

In Deligne's office at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Edward Witten was chatting with Pierre Deligne over a cup of coffee.

"What do you think about the mass gap paper on strong interaction?" Witten looked at Deligne and asked after lightly tasting the coffee in the cup.

Sitting on the sofa, Deligne glanced at his old friend and said calmly: "Don't you already have a decision in your mind?"

Hearing this, Witten smiled helplessly and sighed: "It seems there is really no hope."

For him, solving the mass gap problem is also his recent focus of research, especially after his student solved the existence problem of the solution to the Yang-Mills equation, the difficulty of the mass gap problem has been reduced a lot.

If he can solve this problem, he might be able to win the physics prize together with Xu Chuan at this year's Nobel Prize ceremony. This is something he has always dreamed of.

Hearing Witten's sigh, Deligne glanced at the old man with some pity.

As the father of contemporary string theory and the first physicist to win the Fields Medal, he should have been the most promising scholar to win both the Nobel Prize and the Fields Medal.

But unfortunately, this hope is gone.

The two of them took in an amazingly talented student together, and at the age of only twenty-two, they took away honors that countless scholars could never touch in their lifetimes.

Shaking his head gently, Deligne said: "There is probably no hope for the mass gap problem. Since he has published the paper, I am afraid there will be no problem. However, the problem of strong electric unification has not been solved yet. Maybe you can try it?"

As early as when Witten began to study the problem of quality gap, he was actually not very optimistic about it.

After all, with the character of their students, if half of a problem is solved, there is no reason why they would leave the rest unfinished.

Now that he has started, I am afraid that his good friend, even as a tutor, will find it difficult to compete with his students.

However, there is no hope for the quality gap problem. He thinks that Witten can give it a try for strong power unification.

If you solve this problem, you might even get the coveted Nobel Prize.

Witten smiled and shook his head and replied: "It's difficult. The problem of unifying the strong interaction and the electromagnetic interaction is not that easy to solve. Even now that he has solved the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problems, It’s just that there is some hope.”

After a pause, he looked at Deligne and said with a smile: "Moreover, if he is right about the mass gap problem, I think no one can go further than him on the unification of strong electricity, and no one will be better than him. His understanding is deeper, even if the two of us put together, we may not be able to beat him."

As he said that, Witten was suddenly stunned. After a moment of pause, he looked at Deligne: "Want to try it together?"

Hearing this, Deligne was stunned for a moment: "What to try?"

Witten took a deep breath and said seriously: "Join us and try to solve the problem of unifying strong interaction and electromagnetic interaction. How about a competition with our student?"

Although it is clear that their student is far superior to him in academic talent, as a genius, especially for Witten, he was also a monster when he was young. He teamed up with Deligne to fight against his own in the field of strong electric unification. Students compete, this is probably his last attempt.

Upon hearing Witten's invitation, Deligne also fell silent for a moment.

Not only Witten, he was also a monster when he was young.

So far, there are only a dozen or so mathematicians in the world who have won both the Fields Medal and the Wolf Medal. On this basis, there are only less than a dozen mathematicians who can win the Craford Medal in Mathematics. Count, it can be said that there is less than one out of a billion people.

He is also a player who has won a Grand Slam in mathematics.

After a long silence, Deligne raised his head and looked at Witten and asked: "What if he didn't study the issue of strong electric unification? As far as I know, he has a lot of research and things in his hands."

Upon hearing this question, Witten replied without hesitation: "Do you think he will give up research on the unification of strong electricity?"

Hearing this, Deligne was silent again.

Will Xu Chuan give up the unified theory of strong electricity, the biggest crown in theoretical physics in the 21st century?

impossible!

If you have the ability to solve this problem, no one will give up.

After thinking for a moment, their eyes met again. Deligne nodded and said, "Then let's try it once."

Just as Witten thought, this was probably the last attempt.

Regardless of whether they succeed or not, their era will eventually pass from their hands.

After all, time waits for no one